Sunday, September 24, 2006
Miracle's Second Chance
On September 18, 2006 I had the honor of looking into the eyes of a white buffalo calf named Miracle's Second Chance. Because it’s 2006, I’ll now refer to this sacred creature as M2C.
The news of the birth of M2C came to me via a news story and photo on the internet a few days before I was to make the trek to Spooner, Wisconsin to see my parents. Back in 1994 when I was living in Minneapolis, a white buffalo named Miracle was born on this same farm in Janesville, Wisconsin. I remember hearing how sacred this was to Native American tribes throughout the country. This same article mentioned that Miracle died in 2004.(My visit came a day before Miracle’s 2nd anniversary) A Native American elder was quoted in the article saying Miracle’s task wasn’t quite done yet. A prophesy states that the white buffalo will reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world. Since I would be passing through Janesville, I thought I would stop by and check it out. Great photos, news, and stories can be found here M2C's Website
Not knowing what to expect, I was quite surprised to find the birthplace was a small 45-acre farm nestled between neighboring houses, a highway and a river. I pulled up the gravel driveway and parked. The scene was one you might expect on a small family farm. Ducks, geese chickens and peacocks wandered about. Horses and other farm animals went about their business. The gravel path extended beyond the buildings and led to the fenced areas where the buffalo roam. There was a modest building where one can buy buffalo meat and buffalo souvenirs and view gifts given to Miracle and the Heider’s, including a cloth from the Dali Lama.
There were a couple of guys with cameras chatting and standing by the fence, waiting to get a good shot of M2C. There were about 10 buffalo of all sizes standing around. Baby buffalo nursed and played. Adults stood proud and kept the little ones in line. In the back corner of the paddock a small white buffalo calf, 24 days old nursed from his mother. After a while M2C turned and looked at us. His black nose and deep dark eyes stood out from his fluffy white coat. There was something special about this moment. I felt fortunate and honored to have this opportunity to look into the eyes of this animal which Native Americans revere as sacred. I was born into the Catholic religion and people of that faith have similar experiences. A woman gets on the front page of the newspaper for discovering a big glob of chocolate that resembles the Virgin Mary. Traffic jams result from the congestion under a bridge where people flocked to look at a water stain in Mary’s likeness. I do not wish to discount the spirituality in any of this, but for me I found connection looking into the eyes of this living, breathing animal. Miracle, M2C and Jesus do have a lot in common. They were all born amongst farm animals, people came from all over with gifts and people looked at them with a greater connection to their higher power.
I drove away from Janesville in silence with my thoughts. I decided to let Miracle’s Second Chance be the theme of my week-long getaway. I also had a second chance. This would be my second visit to see my parents this summer. The first time was busy and chaotic with our immediate family reunion. Seven of us (8 counting Blossom) all crammed into a standard-sized house trailer forced us to be creative with our sleeping arrangements. For the second straight year I slept on a cot mattress under the kitchen table. My nephew slept in a chaise lounge lawn chair in the living room. The important thing was that we were all together. I have happy memories from that experience. But this would be different. It would just be the three of us (4 with Blossom) and there was work to be done. The biggest job was patching holes in the basement ceiling. (Yes, my parents live in a trailer with a basement- they’re very wealthy, you know!)
Working with or for my dad has been an interesting journey. Growing up in the country there was always work to be done. I wanted to spend my summer vacation watching “Family Feud” and “The Love Boat” reruns. Dad had this idea of instilling a good work ethic in his children and made us work in his half-acre garden for a whole hour every day. I was sure he was breaking child-labor laws and I resisted the whole way. I boycotted eating strawberries because I hated picking them. Jaime and I would be embarrassed to have friends over because Dad would have all of us picking beans or peas. It really sucked when our friends thought it was fun. “THIS ISN’T FUN!” We weeded the garden, stacked firewood, and dug our way through 10-ft high snow drifts to get to the garage. And then there was the annual putting up the snow fence family event. What? Didn’t your family put up 300’ of snow fence in your front yard every November?
I’m happy to say I transformed my attitude about working with my parents. Actually, I wouldn’t mind having them for bosses. We all slept in. I started each day taking time to write before having a nice big breakfast. We went to the basement and started to work but before I knew it, they were already talking about lunch. We ate a huge lunch and it was ok that I worked on some of my own things before going back to work. We worked a little more then it was time for supper. We ate a lot and worked a little. We stayed up late playing games and watching videos. We got the work done. We relaxed. We visited. We even went on the boat. We all had a great time. I was present to the love and the fun and the opportunity that it was. I give thanks to that little white buffalo for it was that experience of seeing Miracle’s Second Chance that had me stay present and live in the moment. Perhaps that’s the miracle. The world looks a whole lot different to me when I’m living in the present. A line from one of my Christmas parodies, “Harmony (That’s What I Want)” is “you say that you want to have peace worldwide, well the first thing you do, you got to look inside…” Perhaps M2C will fulfill the Native American prophesy and reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Peace, Love and Donuts,
Danny
The news of the birth of M2C came to me via a news story and photo on the internet a few days before I was to make the trek to Spooner, Wisconsin to see my parents. Back in 1994 when I was living in Minneapolis, a white buffalo named Miracle was born on this same farm in Janesville, Wisconsin. I remember hearing how sacred this was to Native American tribes throughout the country. This same article mentioned that Miracle died in 2004.(My visit came a day before Miracle’s 2nd anniversary) A Native American elder was quoted in the article saying Miracle’s task wasn’t quite done yet. A prophesy states that the white buffalo will reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world. Since I would be passing through Janesville, I thought I would stop by and check it out. Great photos, news, and stories can be found here M2C's Website
Not knowing what to expect, I was quite surprised to find the birthplace was a small 45-acre farm nestled between neighboring houses, a highway and a river. I pulled up the gravel driveway and parked. The scene was one you might expect on a small family farm. Ducks, geese chickens and peacocks wandered about. Horses and other farm animals went about their business. The gravel path extended beyond the buildings and led to the fenced areas where the buffalo roam. There was a modest building where one can buy buffalo meat and buffalo souvenirs and view gifts given to Miracle and the Heider’s, including a cloth from the Dali Lama.
There were a couple of guys with cameras chatting and standing by the fence, waiting to get a good shot of M2C. There were about 10 buffalo of all sizes standing around. Baby buffalo nursed and played. Adults stood proud and kept the little ones in line. In the back corner of the paddock a small white buffalo calf, 24 days old nursed from his mother. After a while M2C turned and looked at us. His black nose and deep dark eyes stood out from his fluffy white coat. There was something special about this moment. I felt fortunate and honored to have this opportunity to look into the eyes of this animal which Native Americans revere as sacred. I was born into the Catholic religion and people of that faith have similar experiences. A woman gets on the front page of the newspaper for discovering a big glob of chocolate that resembles the Virgin Mary. Traffic jams result from the congestion under a bridge where people flocked to look at a water stain in Mary’s likeness. I do not wish to discount the spirituality in any of this, but for me I found connection looking into the eyes of this living, breathing animal. Miracle, M2C and Jesus do have a lot in common. They were all born amongst farm animals, people came from all over with gifts and people looked at them with a greater connection to their higher power.
I drove away from Janesville in silence with my thoughts. I decided to let Miracle’s Second Chance be the theme of my week-long getaway. I also had a second chance. This would be my second visit to see my parents this summer. The first time was busy and chaotic with our immediate family reunion. Seven of us (8 counting Blossom) all crammed into a standard-sized house trailer forced us to be creative with our sleeping arrangements. For the second straight year I slept on a cot mattress under the kitchen table. My nephew slept in a chaise lounge lawn chair in the living room. The important thing was that we were all together. I have happy memories from that experience. But this would be different. It would just be the three of us (4 with Blossom) and there was work to be done. The biggest job was patching holes in the basement ceiling. (Yes, my parents live in a trailer with a basement- they’re very wealthy, you know!)
Working with or for my dad has been an interesting journey. Growing up in the country there was always work to be done. I wanted to spend my summer vacation watching “Family Feud” and “The Love Boat” reruns. Dad had this idea of instilling a good work ethic in his children and made us work in his half-acre garden for a whole hour every day. I was sure he was breaking child-labor laws and I resisted the whole way. I boycotted eating strawberries because I hated picking them. Jaime and I would be embarrassed to have friends over because Dad would have all of us picking beans or peas. It really sucked when our friends thought it was fun. “THIS ISN’T FUN!” We weeded the garden, stacked firewood, and dug our way through 10-ft high snow drifts to get to the garage. And then there was the annual putting up the snow fence family event. What? Didn’t your family put up 300’ of snow fence in your front yard every November?
I’m happy to say I transformed my attitude about working with my parents. Actually, I wouldn’t mind having them for bosses. We all slept in. I started each day taking time to write before having a nice big breakfast. We went to the basement and started to work but before I knew it, they were already talking about lunch. We ate a huge lunch and it was ok that I worked on some of my own things before going back to work. We worked a little more then it was time for supper. We ate a lot and worked a little. We stayed up late playing games and watching videos. We got the work done. We relaxed. We visited. We even went on the boat. We all had a great time. I was present to the love and the fun and the opportunity that it was. I give thanks to that little white buffalo for it was that experience of seeing Miracle’s Second Chance that had me stay present and live in the moment. Perhaps that’s the miracle. The world looks a whole lot different to me when I’m living in the present. A line from one of my Christmas parodies, “Harmony (That’s What I Want)” is “you say that you want to have peace worldwide, well the first thing you do, you got to look inside…” Perhaps M2C will fulfill the Native American prophesy and reunite all the races of man and restore balance to the world. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Peace, Love and Donuts,
Danny
