The following appeared in our Courier-Journal today in The Incredible Inman column.
Dear Inman: A few years ago, James Garner narrated a Chevrolet commercial with something that sounded like a poem. That was a very difficult time for me because my daughter was seriously ill. When I heard those words I had peace of mind, if only for a few seconds. Where did the words come from? -- D.J.C., Nashville, Mich.
Dear D.J.C.: That poem was written for the commercial by an advertising copywriter named Patrick O'Leary. And it went like this:
There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it
but me.
The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it
but me.
It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon
and the sea.
And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it
but me.
It is interesting to me that this poem brought some peace to this man during a difficult time. I remember the commercial well. I was quite impressed by it, a thing of beauty. This is a sort of poem that I like very much and could not write very well. (Maybe once or twice I wrote something akin to it.) It takes me back to A Child's Garden of Verses by Stevenson. I still love some of those poems very much. I hope Mr. O'Leary writes poetry on his own time and will one day publish a volume. I would think publication would come more easily for a copy writer in an advertising agency with the contacts he must have.
These two pictures are taken beside the park from just one vantage point. All along the road similar damage can be seen. Some trees are down from the root ball, really sad.
Back yard. These huge branches have trapped and bent over a crepe myrtle. I am not able to move them away from it.
From the white oak.
If you look closely you can just see the huge gash in the white oak at the top of the picture.
