For Teddy

   

       
     My life is peaceful for the most part these days. Any conflict... inner turmoil, usually involves my animals: my feral cats aren't feral...my dogs don't know their pecking order. Otherwise, while I observe things like international politics and presidential debates, I no longer ingest these things personally like I used to...May be age, may be wisdom, but I find myself resonating more with each passing day to that line in the serenity prayer: those things I cannot change, I leave for others. I've got goats to feed and corn to pick.
     When I DO find myself unnerved by something over which I have no say, I pause to ask myself "Why, Evins? Why does this bug you so? What about this pea under umpteen mattresses (i.e. layers of my life) is sticking in your craw?"
     Today, I hit such a pea. Made no sense why it hit me like it did..but at least one of my friends got an earful on my drive home from Nashville. (Thanks dude, for allowing me to vent. Clearly I'm not quite done yet.)
     Setting:
     If you follow this blog you know, I now live in the country. Nashville is no longer the home I once knew, but is still, a place I go for meetings, and today was chock full of 'em. To allow the rush hour to subside, I stop off at one of my favorite eateries to take home food for the weekend. While waiting, I pick up a Scene. (Note: I've not read a Scene in awhile now; don't think they deliver them as far as Lebanon, but my history with Scene people is rich and it's personal...(i.e. the dudes who founded the original are friends; ditto that for its current owner today. Don't know all its writers, but I know a few...not that this matters.)
     For reasons that make absolutely no sense ( note: I used to read the Scene for its political views and as I have stated, I limit my intake of this stuff anymore) I flip to the "culture" segment of the paper only to find that Shirley MacLaine is coming to Nashville. And to read the article, you'd think she's walking into alien territory.
     Now, for reasons that perhaps DO make sense (for they are hitting a button BIG time in me), I feel my blood pressure rising. The article ends with Ms. MacLaine's response to the question: How do you think you'll be received (by Nashville) ...Answer: "I don't know. Let's see...They probably think I'm crazy. Let's see what happens."

     (I'm sure there's an emoticon for this somewhere, but bug eyes, wide open come to mind.)

     You don't KNOW? Seriously, Miss MacLaine? You've got no clue about Nashville and her people and curiosity about these things?
     Wow. That's a shocker. For a woman whose interviews cost us sponsors in the day...For a woman whose trans-channeling guru (Kevin Ryerson) played at TPAC to a sold out auditorium thanks to Teddy Bart....I'm surprised that you can remember at seven years of age, a past life holding a pistol, and can't remember 25 years ago, a man who dared to interview you when certain clergy in this town preached we were going to hell. (I know. I walked out of my own Nashville church the day it was said... It's now starting to dawn on me why this is hitting a nerve.)
     I hold no angst. Hope her show's a big sell out, after all Shirley's provided us many a good interview. But to set the record straight Shirley, Teddy interviewed you both when you went "Out on a Limb" as well as when you wrote "It's All In the Playing" Best sellers, and not-so-best sellers, Teddy was there for you.
     Props to Abby White for nabbing the interview. But I'm sorely disappointed in you Shirley MacLaine for acting as if you have no clue how Nashville will respond.
     Today, these topics are safe thanks to the visionaries who blazed the path. In the 80s...it took nerve to give an hour of air time over to someone that could've gotten a host killed, or at the very least, condemned to hell.
     Just gotta take a moment to speak up here on behalf of a partner who saw this day coming and sadly didn't live to see it take place.
     On the other hand, I'm kinda glad Teddy's not here to see it. He would've been so proud that topics like life after life and reincarnation have made it to the Schermerhorn. On the other hand, I think it would've made him very sad to think no one remembered that he, not only interviewed them, yes here in the buckle of the Bible belt, but HE took the hit when people made a mockery of folks like Shirley MacLaine AND himself, Teddy Bart--one of the best and bravest interviewers to ever grace a mic. That he approached those interviews with the same dignity and respect he approached EVERY interview... well that was just the way he rolled. (So for those of you being ridiculed by everyone else back then...you lucked out.)
     Rest in peace Teddy Bart. What you said would happen, IS happening. But sadly, no one seems to remember you were there first.
     (But I do...and while it's not very spiritual of me to admit this, it kinda pisses me off.)

     I now return to my regularly scheduled goat feedings. (THIS is why I moved to the country. I'm done venting now. Sorry to take up space normally reserved for cute goat faces and big, fluffy white dogs. Just goes to show, I'm as human as the rest.)

Birds and Bees

   

Couple more days and I'm naming him. I thought it might be Minks.
I'm now thinking it may be Teddy (bird) Bart...
(From our Beyond Reason days we always said we'd send signs.)

     My mornings begin earlier than ever now that I have a new bird alarm. The tap, tap, tapping begins around 5:30 and the singing is incessant. I now have white dogs, a black cat, a blue (betta) fish and one red bird who, for reasons unknown, starts at my bedroom window and follows me throughout the house as the day progresses. (Oh, and let's not forget the 50 shades of grey goats. I'm like a walking Crayola box of critters over here...)

Boo ponders the bird.

     Re: the bird, responses have varied from "It's seeing its reflection" to "It's there to eat your bees" but because it goes from window to window as I go about my day, I'm convinced it's here to see me, so I shall continue to study it, speak to it, ask it why it's here, etc...(If it does more than sing, I'll let you know.) As to reflections in the glass, he's definitely seeing in as he gets annoyed when I turn my back or do something as to ignore him (as I did several times while on a call yesterday...ticking the little dude off immensely).
     I'm told he's a Summer Tanager (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Summer_Tanager/id) and that he likes wasps (good news) and bees (not so good news, though I've not seen him on the bee side of the farm).  I do have wasp nests near where he is, so he is free to knock himself out (on wasps that is...preferably not my window pane).
     Meanwhile, if it is bees he's after, he's in for a smorgasbord~ My keeper was by two days ago to check the hives. Seems we have very happy bees, which should come as no surprise. They not only have a veggie garden in full bloom, but a lavender grove and wildflowers now in their immediate proximity. Seems they've doubled in population since arriving on my scene.We've double and triple stacked the hives and anticipate adding more. (Nothing like happy birds and bees amongst your flowers and your trees and your moon up above....and that thing called love!)

   
   

Godspeed Teddy Bart

     I have a soft spot in my heart for kids coming out of school, trained and eager to embrace the world without a clue as to what they want to do with their lives. I have a soft spot...because I was that kid.

     Having graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in advertising, I hit the ground running, so proud to have landed a job with an ad agency immediately after graduation. Dating all the way back to childhood, I knew I wanted to be in advertising. Something about solving the world's problems 30-seconds at a time appealed to me. More than that, I wanted to create.
     Sadly, I wasn't a match for agency life. What some found exciting I found stressful. With an ulcer and a diagnosis of Crohns, I headed home to the country thinking my life a pure failure, and to keep myself from spiraling into depression, I threw myself into a renovation project hoping somewhere along the way God would send a sign.
    While driving to Nashville to pick up materials, I tuned into a radio show that would forever change my life. It was a new show...only in its first week. It was called "Beyond Reason" --Its host and creator-- Teddy Bart.
    Teddy's was a household name. As a child I had watched my grandma swoon over his Noon show good looks and Eddie Fisher voice. As a grade schooler, The Waking Crew accompanied our morning school commutes. I was aware he did commentaries....vaguely recalled him as anchor. But the show I was hearing was different. It was about the unknown. Reincarnation...Life after Life. Questions we all seek answers for, but questions only Teddy Bart would be brave enough to ask. It truly was "...for those who dared to think."
     I heard he had a live audience, so I made my way to Vanderbilt Plaza and quietly took a seat in the back of Snaffles lounge. I remember it like it was yesterday. His guest was Ruth Montgomery...a respected White House correspondent who had covered every administration from Roosevelt to Johnson, but whose life and writing took a dramatic shift after she interviewed famed medium Author Ford (the man who broke the Houdini code).
     A self-proclaimed skeptic, Ruth agreed to attend a seance and cover the story for her newspaper following, but when a message came through from her deceased father who (as she writes)"gave [me] evidential information that Ford himself could not have known" her life was forever changed. She would go on to write more than a dozen books about the future of our planet and the world beyond, along the lines of Edgar Cayce or Nostradamus. (Only Ruth was in the here and now. And Teddy had her on the line.)
     Gripped by what she had to say (all very new for a Church of Christ girl raised in the South)  I raised my hand to ask a question and the rest as they say, is history. After the show I asked for a job. Given I had no background in radio and he had no openings, that went nowhere flat. The next week I returned and asked if I might intern. "If I could just read the books" I thought "I could stick post-it's on the pages, offer up different angles on questions..." (Little did I know they call this producing.)
     After 3 months of my free internship, Teddy's real producer got a call from a larger market, and I got a shot at her job. Six months later, while lining up an interview with a psychic made popular by Shirley MacLaine, an assistant confused our CST time zone for east coast time, meaning our guest was no longer available. (Some psychic, huh?) With minutes to go before the opening music Teddy turns to me and says, "Mic up kid. We've got an hour to fill."
     We talked about what happened and other behind the scenes stories. We shared our favorite guest moments and which topics intrigued us personally. We opened up the lines and let the listeners ask their questions. It was my foray into talk radio. To say I was mentored by the best would be an understatement. Teddy didn't mentor, he groomed. Little did I know at that time the life he was preparing me for.
     Within a year I was given an opportunity to audition for "Teddy Bart's Round Table" (then on WLAC). The next 20, would find us side by side on a host of creations ranging from mid-day call ins to Music Row lunch shows to weekend political recaps. As so many have already noted, there was no one better at the art of the question than Teddy Bart. There was no one who studied his craft, or worked to perfect his talent more rigorously than Teddy. He was a student of the best and a student of life.
      Teddy's love of the question was born of his insatiable curiosity for the unknown. Of all he created...of all that intrigued him, Beyond Reason was his platform for his one true passion...what lies beyond.
     Teddy believed the journey continues...
     Today Teddy knows.
     Teddy was my mentor, my business partner, my teacher...But more than these, he was my best friend. While profoundly sad for my own selfish loss, the bliss of his gain brings me hope and lends peace. And while I have no words for a moment such as this...if I did, goodbye would not be among them.
     May the angels protect you dear soul...
     May the journey be every bit the outpouring of love we've been told of and then some, for if anyone is deserving, it is you.
     My heart is heavy with sadness...yet full of gratitude for the life we shared.

     Godspeed Teddy Bart. I wish you peaceful travels, endless peace...and only love.
   


   
   

The Wobbling Jeep

     It was a moment worthy of a post. Probably should've kept both hands on the steering wheel rather than shoot video, but this activity had gone on long enough. I decided to use my social media moment and ask for help. What the HECK was going on with my steering wheel?
     The Facebook post netted me all sorts of info, scariest of which was,  mine was not the first Jeep to have this problem (dubbed the "Wrangler Death Wobble" which was enough to make me park the thing immediately). Sadly, I had already been to the dealership...even left the vehicle overnight, so they could take it for a drive themselves, but they insisted it must've been a one time thing, and returned her to me with all recalls updated. Sadly, the wobbling began again, just as soon as I hit 440, where it happens regularly, (though it happens other places as well).
     While sorting it out, I am reminded of one of our livelier Beyond Reason interviews, wherein our guest had a unique take on people and cars. On a show titled "Your Car/Yourself" Elizabeth Marshall shared that our etheric bodies extend beyond our physical boundaries (i.e. skin) affecting the aura zone around us, meaning that whatever was going on with your car was a reflection of something going on inside of you. It made for a most thought-provoking hour as she fielded calls from folks with a myriad of car problems, each of which she interpreted individually, as something to going on inside their bodies.
     For instance, engine problems were heart related; cracked windshields - something visual or something you didn't see coming now hitting your world. One guy's car horn kept going off, which she equated with his voice wanting to be heard. My own at the time, was that my clutch kept going out, which she explained had everything to do with me not dealing well with changing gears.
     Not sure if she's still on the planet, but if so, I'd be curious her take on my wobbly steering wheel. I'm betting she'd tell me I'm in need of sturdier direction in my life...or perhaps I am to steer clear of things that appear dangerous.  Or maybe she'd tell me that at this particular point in time, my life could go in any number of directions and I'd be wise to seek serious answers, and you know, she would be right.

Time for a Flip (in Consciousness)

   

     While clearing the basement I've been listening to archived interviews from radio days past (in classic cassette format, no less! Talk about Throw Back Thursday!) Can't help but marvel at just how timely the topics are even today.
     While the reference in this particular interview involves a former president and not our current one,  it's the same angst and frustration applied to whomever's up top that I find fascinating. (In other words, nothing's changed in 10 years.) While Jon Bonet Ramsey is no longer the lead story, sadly today's news still leads with missing children. But most intriguing of all is the feeling this guest points to that he sees in growing numbers (as do I...even more so today)...that sense of "What's it all about?" and "Is this all there is?" born of our overly consumptive society, feeding on junk food, junk programming and adrenaline pumping entertainment. (Like what's our fascination with the dark side?)
     According to Jared here, it's time for a "flip" --a shift in consciousness... where, instead of flipping out, we flip inward...from flipping out of the old paradigm and onto real living.  It made sense 10 years ago. It's still making sense today. Now to get there~
     May you find meaning in conversations of radio days past~
                                             http://beyondreason.com/mp3s/rosen.mp3