Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Stratoz, the suitcase leaves the closet

On Facebook I have friends from elementary school, high school, two colleges, years spent in MA, OR, and IL, from church, work and craft shows... but none from the time I was known as Stratoz. You see, I had to walk away. It took years to leave him behind me and yet, I called myself Stratoz when I started this blog. What you may not know is this, it was Stratoz hit rock bottom.
"After all was said and done
There was nothing left to do
The hardest mile I ever walked
Was the one I walked away from you" 
Kim Richey

But emerging was a bit of a rocky road and I fell back a few times.  Maybe luck kept me from dropping to lower levels of bedrock. OK, luck saved me many a time. But not all the time. A relationship lost. Opportunities missed.


"But I’m alright
Sacked down but I’m still standing
Yeah I’m alright
Little banged up from the fall
But I’m alright
Still shaky from the landing
Yeah I’m alright after all" 
Kim Richey

Stratoz was a young man who came close to letting go of caring for anything. I remember where not caring took me, so when students tell me that they don't care about me, my class, or an assignment; I often respond with, "That's OK with me, as long as you tell me one thing you do care about."

When a friend returned a wise comment with a wise comment, I had to ponder art by Stratoz, so I dug this dusty suitcase out of the closet. It is filled with what I would now call Stratozpheric doodles. Some are relatively recent, others stretch back closer to Stratoz. I doubt anything goes back 32 years, but one day soon, I'll open it and take a journey. I would imagine some of those old designs will ask me to take them into the realm of glass. 
"And every now and then I think about you
Oh every now and then I cross the line" 
Kim Richey

2 comments:

  1. We all have baggage, Wayne. It is especially poignant that yours is so perfectly represented by an actual bag. When we are a safe distance from it, we can examine the contents with curiosity and not dread. This is a wonderful and moving post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i wonder how many people i've been, and i wonder what what happened to them.

    ReplyDelete

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