Some things from Kahlil Gibran that fell into my lap recently, clipped from Sand and Foam; with smart-ass remarks added by some fat-headed clown.
Category Archives: Relationships
Starring Nuala’s Maple Tree
(continued from Nuala’s Tree and Concordia post)
Nuala’s Tree is a red maple (Acer rubrum) with four partly intertwining trunks rooted at the edge of a big old pine stump. I dedicated the tree to Nuala in 2009 or earlier. The oldest picture I have is from 2009, below.
June 6, 2009. Viewed from south.
September 13, 2019
The brighter background is because of the logging next door. It changes the habitat of Balsamea forever in several ways. I try not to think about it anymore.
Concordia is a park-like area of about 0.3 acre surrounding Nuala’s Tree. Almost all of the development of Concordia occurred in August-September 2019. Before that, there was just some minor maintenance to keep the tree from being overgrown by pines and balsam firs.
I don’t need to give special attention to a tree for it to have personal meaning, nor need I seek personal meaning in a tree. However, sometimes a tree seeks it in me, like a contemplative interaction probing the soul. That’s Nuala’s Tree.
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I live in a world of turkeys
This morning while washing hiking water bottles, one of our many wild turkeys enjoyed browsing the abundant wild food near the edge of the yard viewed from my kitchen window.
This is not an unusual sight here. Common, really. But not for me, and not for the turkeys, since they never get accustomed to being stalked by me. I am never common to them.
Turkey photos at Balsamea, June 20, 2018, ~7:30 AM. CLICK ANY PICTURE FOR FULL SCREEN VIEW.
On Loving and the Seizure of a Balsamean
Buddy, Prince of Balsamea
Balsamea’s new veterinarian, Dr. Nick Sherman summed up the change when he said of Buddy, Prince of Balsamea, “He’s a seizure dog now.” That was the night he gave me a supply of phenobarbital, because Buddy had four general (i.e., “grand mal” or full-body) seizures in one day, February 10, 2015.
So he’s “a seizure dog” now, but he retains his royalty, and reigns here as ever.
Dennis Koenig, The Balsamean, from Long Island to the Adirondack Mountains
The Balsamean; Scribblements from Balsamea (thebalsamean.com or thebalsamean.worpress.com) is a blog by Dennis Koenig under the pen name Balsamea Walker, beginning in 2012.
The places and roles described here do not necessarily indicate the degree of their importance to me. The most important influences are not here.
This list is merely biographical bits and pieces to help you to determine which of thousands of people named Dennis Koenig is me. I created this identification page in June 2022.
There is more to read below the list.
- Baby Boomer.
- Graduated from Riverhead High School.
- Served in US Navy for 6 years; Aviation Electronics Technician; tech school at Naval Air Technical Training Center, Millington, TN; served with Fighter Squadron VF-102 at Oceana Naval Air Station (Virginia Beach) and aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence (Norfolk, VA).
- Worked as service manager for computer dealerships in Riverhead, Rockland County, and Syracuse before joining the New York State Judiciary.
- Worked for the District Administrative Judge of the ten-county Sixth Judicial District in Central NY, based first in Wampsville, then Binghamton, NY.
- Founder and director of the first statewide information technology unit (and converted it to four departmental units) of the four Supreme Court Appellate Divisions, including their statewide agencies: Mental Hygiene Legal Service, attorney discipline units, law guardian units, law libraries, court clerks / administrative offices, judicial chambers, and assigned counsel units.
- Worked for a large law firm based in Rochester at that time.
- Retired to Balsamea, a private forest preserve in the Adirondack Mountains. Balsamea is named for one of the most abundant trees in Balsamea, the balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Hence, The Balsamean.
- No Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other so-called social media accounts except YouTube Channel of (pen name) Balsamea Walker mainly containing things posted in the blog, and YouTube Channel of Dennis Koenig. I do not post videos of my own creation. I only share playlists.
- Formerly married to Jovita, then Ann. Two stepchildren.
- To contact me, use the CONTACT PAGE. Also available via encrypted communication services by request.
As to the content of the blog:
If you disagree with me, or want to enlighten me with a candid piece of your mind laid out in plain talk, I will respect your doing it reasonably, here in public comments or in private email. Try it. We may both come out of it better than we went in. Thank you.
If you agree with me and want to heap praise and hugs and kisses on me, you’ll find a way. Thank you.
Have a great day. It will benefit the world.
The Balsamean 