Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com March 1, 2017 Traveling with Gypsy Jane My good friend, Charles, is not an educated man as far as school years go, but he is the wisest man I know and one of my best friends from my Seattle years. He's the one who helped me move out of my fourth fl oor co-op apartment and fi nished the job when I didn't have an ounce of energy left. (I notice I took notes for this story in 2003; that's 14 years ago!) Charles and I met many years ago when I lived in Seattle. I was at my fi rst Earth Save meeting, a vegetarian pot- luck. I expected about ten people, but the large room was full. (Seattle is a very environmentally- conscious city.) I looked around the crowded room for a place to sit, and one person stood out: CHARLES. There he was with a great, big smile on his face, and he was looking straight at me. How could I resist that? I looked around to be sure he wasn't smiling at someone else. Yep, he was smiling at me. His smile didn't waiver as I made my way across the crowded room, sat across from him, and intro- duced myself. We hit it off right away. Even though my inner voice said, "Jane, sit at a different table each time, meet people, mingle," I sat at Charles' table every single time. I know a spe- cial person when I meet one. We discovered we didn't live far from each other; so we'd often at- tend noon concerts in various Se- attle parks. Charles would bike to my home, and we would bike to the concert together. Charles was never late, always arriving fi ve to ten min- utes early. He would ring my bell, and I would tell him he was early, and I'd be down soon. (While I was never late; I was never early.) When I got to my porch, Charles would be there -- just sitting. He called what he was doing "neutral time." He said he liked to arrive early; so he had time between activities to "just be" -- a kind of transition time -- like my walk between work and home. Now I always try to use neutral time. A good example of this is my yoga class. It always amazed me how anyone could do something so meditative as yoga after rushing in to class at the last minute. I used neutral time, arriving early, and lying down in the dark well before class started. Ahhh..... Charles is one of my GREAT teachers (like my teachers from India only without the red dot on by Jane Finley writer * artist * teacher (stretching, exercise, relaxation, meditation) My good friend Charles 6/10/03 (revised 2/19/07) Santa Fe, New Mexico his forehead). He is such a happy, upbeat person that one time I said to him, "Charles, do you ever have problems?" Of course I knew the answer. EVERYONE has problems, but I wanted to hear his answer. He said, "Of course I have problems. I just try to stay on top of them." Charles talks a lot about spirit -- that inner force that guides us and makes us who we are. He was born poor in the South without a lot of formal education, yet he is one of my great teachers -- just goes to prove "book larnin" ain't everything. I know what I learned about life I didn't get in col- lege. I attended the "school of hard knocks." All my lessons are either hard or expensive or BOTH! How can I explain my good friend, Charles? First, as I said, he is the wisest person I know and the fi rst person I seek when I need advice. But mainly, he "makes me feel good; he makes me feel good" (like the Lyle Lovett song says). Secondly, he is loved by everyone. I said to him once, "Charles, you make me feel like I'm the most important person in the whole world." He replied, without skipping a beat, "You are." That is his gift AND the gift he gives to others. Now I don't suffer from the delusion that I AM the most important person in the world -- even his world -- or that I'm the only one he says this to. I think he makes everyone feel this way, and that's OK. It's important to spread the love around... Originally, this story was going to be called "Charles and Joleen," but that was 14 years ago, and the last time I saw Charles in Seattle, I learned that they had a falling out, and Joleen had moved on. I never met Joleen, but I felt like I knew her. I would always ask Charles about her, and he usually started his reply with, "Joleen, that little sweetheart." One day he said, "Joleen says to tell you hello." I was a little surprised until I realized he must talk about me to her as much as he talks about her to me. I like Joleen even though I've never met her, just from what Charles tells me about her. For one thing, it was clear that Joleen was a very independent woman who thought for herself. One story I loved about her was that every time someone brought up the subject of marriage, Charles told me Joleen would say, "Don't use that M word around me." We bonded over that; I feel the same way and now often use the phrase myself. I wasn't surprised when Charles sent me an article from a Seattle newspaper naming him a "Home- town Hero," an honor given to a very few select people in Seattle who have contributed tremendously to the Seattle Community. Charles is defi nitely a KEEPER! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into fl ame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light... ~ Albert Schweitzer ~*~*~*~*~*~ Jane's book is WANDERINGS: Living the Ordinary Extraordinarily (Stories from the Road). For an update on Jane's travels and writing, visit her website (janefi nley.com) and/or read "Traveling with Gypsy Jane" and "Po- ems from the Road" in The Desert Mes- senger (desertmessenger.com) begin- ning March 5, 2014 (contact: janefi nley@yahoo.com). Quartzsite Beauty Salon Perms, Colors, Haircuts. Men & Women HOURS 9-5 Monday thru Saturday Walk Ins Welcome! 250 E. Main Street Quartzsite, AZ 928-927-6664 THRIFT STORE Benefitting the La Paz County Animal Shelter in Parker Supported by your generous donations! 455 E. Main St. Quartzsite Open Tues. thru Sat. 9-3 928-927-4223 401 W. Hobsonway Blythe, CA 760-922-2126 160-B E. Main Street Quartzsite, AZ 928-927-5484 D & L Auto Parts, Inc

• Cover