1911-2009

Here was a man
loved working on Peugeots
loved his many grandkids
loved hiking in the Trinities
not over educated
but a lifelong learner
a genial companion
with whom I shared a bus ride
from Billings Montana
down to Nicaragua
that was an adventure
we're unlikely to forget

Without his son's girlfriend
we never would have made it
she was the one who owned
a San Diego car lot
installed a new radiator
found a couple of spare tires
those were the two things
that saw us through the trip

Back in his teens
Jesse was an outlaw
carried a gun to school
could have ended up in jail
somehow he found
good teachers to help him
put his life in order
came back to the West
found a strong woman
to marry and leaving
behind the evangelicals
chose the Unitarians
a more accepting faith

Born to missionaries
in the Belgian Congo
no place for a baby
in 1911
so his folks booked passage
on the latest liner
a ship called the Titanic
and we know the rest
but as luck would have it
their ferry hit a sandbar
on the Congo River
and they missed the boat

Thinking it over it
makes a strong case
for a kind of equanimity
facing all kinds of luck
Jesse had that quality
living in the moment
thoughtful appreciation
never slow to laugh

I like to think on the
stories he told me
one about his grandma
she was only twelve
the older of two daughters
but no helpless child
when a prairie fire threatened
to destroy their Kansas farm

Her parents away in town
she saw smoke in the distance
ran to the barn
hitched the horses to a plough
made furrows all around the house
and when the fire came through
it left the farmhouse standing
with burnt fields on every side
says Jess that was my grandma
never at a loss

Jesse was a lumberman
worked in the woods
a faller who I think had seen
men killed on the job
by the time I met him
he was ready to retire
wanted me to teach him
classical guitar
this was a pleasure
I like to think for both of us
exploring the music
of the Spanish master
beautiful melodies of
Fernando Sor

Jesse was the one
introduced me to the Trinities
we had some sweet times
hiking the high country
I'd had no experience
of backpacking until then
this was a revelation
a deep and lasting joy

Once when we were hiking
below Sapphire Lake
I heard beside the trail
the dry buzz of a rattlesnake
Jesse just ahead of me
kept moving toward the sound
I grabbed him by the shoulders
he hadn't heard a thing
he'd lost a lot of hearing
working in a lumber mill
that snake gave us a moment
something to talk and laugh about

Raised by his grandparents
Jesse was a goldmine
of antique expressions
words to bring a smile
"steep as a horses face"
"safe as in God's pocket"
he always knew the right
time to pull them out

Jesse lived a long life
died at ninety-seven
I'd moved away by then
we'd hardly stayed in touch
I came with my wife
for the memorial celebration
lots of folks I recognized
lots of moving tributes
I said very little
finding it difficult
to speak of someone
who has meant so much