Written in 2009 while working on the www.lincoln55plus.com seniors paper.
From time to time, my wife and I take care of a neighbor’s Golden Retriever while his
Ma and Pa travel to visit family
or go out on a golf weekend.
Although I have no personal
knowledge of Brodie’s breeding
lineage, to me, he is pure gold.
He has all the great traits need-
ed to be nothing but loved. He
always wants to be near us and
sleeps in the bedroom all night.
He sits on our feet to be in
touch while we scratch his ears.
Brodie gets along famously with
our two dogs and even our cat.
He is respectful of other’s pet
food and he loves exploring our
back yard. AND he loves his
rawhide chew bones.
One chilly morning, I was fas-
cinated to watch Brodie and our
big ol’ yellow lab, Amy, laying in
the grass, chewing on their
respective rawhide. They faced
each other as if at a dining
table with their paws to the front
and crossed to hold the bone in
place. The chewing was intense
and completely focused. There
was a perfect harmony in their
time together as they needed
nothing but space and a little
time to gnaw and chew.
I stood there for full 15 minutes wondering if either would break away from the task at hand to look for some other object of interest. Instead they remained dedicated to their work. During that time, I had several thoughts about what they were doing. I realized that chewing was good for their
P.1-16 Lincoln 55+
teeth but that was certainly not
important to them. I assume the
rawhide had a good flavor but
decided that there was more to
it.
Chewing on a bone must
have an inherent challenge.
The rawhide starts out stiff but
begins to soften as they work
on it. Then a tooth catches hold
and progress is made, little bits
at a time. The rawhide bones
provides a push and a pull
while the dogs try to transform
it into – into – into what. Into
nothing?
And then it dawned on me!
The Lincoln 55+ Seniors Paper is my personal rawhide bone. It has a form that starts out rather stiff but seems to offer up something – like clay that wants to be molded into a form. So I chew and I chew and it begins to soften. Soon, it begins to give off an essence that something is about to hap pen. Maybe a new ad will reach the right people and the businessman will report that the ad is paying for itself. Or the Lincoln Artist Guild will report a 25% increase in membership. Maybe a group like the Oscher Lifelong learning folks will double their membership and secure a million dollar endow- ment. This old bone has some pretty nice flavors.
So I chew and chew and
once the paper has reached it
highest state, I start to deliver
them to all the businesses in
Lincoln. This is a good flavor
also as I visit with store owners.
They report how well liked the
paper is. And the people I see
often claim they read the paper
cover to cover. And some that I
meet are potential advertisers
or have a story to tell. All are
more good flavors. And then
the 15,000 papers are all gone
– just like the chew bone. But I
am left with great memories of
the flavor and the challenges
met and the wonderful thought
of that next chew bone. Move
over Brodie and Amy. I need
some room at the table.
When the great Sufi mystic and poet Jalal-ud-Din Rumi died at sunset in Konya, southern Turkey, on December 17, 1273, he had composed over 3,500 odes, 2,000 quatrains, and a vast spiritual epic called the Mathnawai. Now with A Year of Rumi from acclaimed Rumi scholar Andrew Harvey, you will receive a hand-selected poem from this incredible visionary’s life work every day for the next year (365 poems total.)
Keith N. Larsen - Lincoln NE 
29 Aug
My Chew Bone
Posted by Keith Larsen Blog Site Collections in 55+ Seniors Paper, Commentary, Inspiration, Lincoln Nebraska. Leave a comment
Written in 2009 while working on the www.lincoln55plus.com seniors paper.
From time to time, my wife and I take care of a neighbor’s Golden Retriever while his
Ma and Pa travel to visit family or go out on a golf weekend. Although I have no personal knowledge of Brodie’s breeding lineage, to me, he is pure gold. He has all the great traits need- ed to be nothing but loved. He always wants to be near us and sleeps in the bedroom all night. He sits on our feet to be in touch while we scratch his ears. Brodie gets along famously with our two dogs and even our cat. He is respectful of other’s pet food and he loves exploring our back yard. AND he loves his rawhide chew bones.
One chilly morning, I was fas- cinated to watch Brodie and our big ol’ yellow lab, Amy, laying in the grass, chewing on their respective rawhide. They faced each other as if at a dining table with their paws to the front and crossed to hold the bone in place. The chewing was intense and completely focused. There was a perfect harmony in their time together as they needed nothing but space and a little time to gnaw and chew.
I stood there for full 15 minutes wondering if either would break away from the task at hand to look for some other object of interest. Instead they remained dedicated to their work. During that time, I had several thoughts about what they were doing. I realized that chewing was good for their
P.1-16 Lincoln 55+
teeth but that was certainly not important to them. I assume the rawhide had a good flavor but decided that there was more to it.
Chewing on a bone must have an inherent challenge. The rawhide starts out stiff but begins to soften as they work on it. Then a tooth catches hold and progress is made, little bits at a time. The rawhide bones provides a push and a pull while the dogs try to transform it into – into – into what. Into nothing?
And then it dawned on me!
The Lincoln 55+ Seniors Paper is my personal rawhide bone. It has a form that starts out rather stiff but seems to offer up something – like clay that wants to be molded into a form. So I chew and I chew and it begins to soften. Soon, it begins to give off an essence that something is about to hap pen. Maybe a new ad will reach the right people and the businessman will report that the ad is paying for itself. Or the Lincoln Artist Guild will report a 25% increase in membership. Maybe a group like the Oscher Lifelong learning folks will double their membership and secure a million dollar endow- ment. This old bone has some pretty nice flavors.
So I chew and chew and once the paper has reached it highest state, I start to deliver them to all the businesses in Lincoln. This is a good flavor also as I visit with store owners. They report how well liked the paper is. And the people I see often claim they read the paper cover to cover. And some that I meet are potential advertisers or have a story to tell. All are more good flavors. And then the 15,000 papers are all gone – just like the chew bone. But I am left with great memories of the flavor and the challenges met and the wonderful thought of that next chew bone. Move over Brodie and Amy. I need some room at the table.
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