Lightning Bill

Here’s to You
Life Begins at Eighty-Three
Mountain Top Hop
In This Game to Play Ball
LIV-2-FLY

Here’s To You
Fire fighters’ one big family
Brothers and sisters we all are
With the loss of anyone of us
It can be felt near and far

In the beautiful Methow Valley
Such a tragedy has taken place
Four members lost in action
Reality hitting us in the face

It is hard for us to swallow
The pain we cannot bear
Tears welling up within our eyes
Everyone hurting everywhere

Our blessings to those injured
Your bravery you have shown
Wish you well with your healing
And our thought of you be known

We will continue what we are doing
May our comrades rest in peace
Let us learn from this disaster
As our sorrows slowly cease

One thing we have in common
Fire fighting is our love
Here is to our brothers and sisters
Up in heaven high above

©Ralph W. Austin “Lightning Bill”
Goat Peak Lookout
July 19, 2001

Nine days earlier, four US Forest Service firefighters died in the Thirtymile Fire in the Methow Valley. A memorial exists at the site of their death. Follow the link for more information.

 
Life Begins at Eighty-Three
One of my oldest visitors hiked up today
Did great for eighty-three
Along with his fiancé
Soon his wife to be

She is seventy-one herself
Never hiked a trail like this
They came up with a camping group
This hike they couldn’t miss

Obsidian Summer Camp members
Eugene Oregon’s where they’re from
A different group the past few days
Goat Peak Lookout’s where they come

Ray told me of some buddies
Eight-six and ninety-one
He wants to bring them up here
Before his camping trip is done

He also is a skier
And tennis he does play
Ray and Gwen made me feel so good
To have them up today

I hope they come again and visit
Lookout Turk and Lightning Bill
Life begins at Eighty-Three
To remember as I hike this hill

© Ralph W. Austin “Lightning Bill”
August, 1995

Mountain Top Hop
There’s many names to many dances
But our own we did invent
As thunder cells did their prances
Through the lookout the flashes went

There was the booming of the thunder
And the wind with a song of its own
Turk and I began to wonder
As this old lookout began to groan

The storm was getting stronger
Turk was lying on the floor
He couldn’t take it any longer
So he headed for the door

A blinding flash our eyes did see
As our hearts came to a stop
Turk went dancing right by me
Doing the mountain top hop

Then I found myself a hopping
Along with Turk we danced around
Onto the bed without stopping
Where our safety could be found

We have invented a new dance for sure
Called the Mountain Top Hop
It’s the dance we both prefer
When the storms don’t want to stop.
© Ralph W. Austin “Lightning Bill”
September 2000

In Memory of Turk

In This Game to Play Ball

Your head spins as time ticks by
60 seconds in a minute - an hour, 60 minutes in it
Twenty four hours a day

Our dreams are to hit that high fly
As we grow older - feeling a little bolder
A home run before life slips away

Instead of making the most of it
A lot of us waiting and not relating
Just how precious this time we live

So on the sidelines some of us sit
Nowhere we are going - slowly slowing
In the end we have nothing to give

For it`s time to wake up and realize
There`s nothing to wait for as our bodies get sore
From sitting around doing nothing at all

And our dreams can not materialize
If we don`t get moving and start proving
We are in this game to play ball

© Ralph W. Austin “Lightning Bill”
March 2001

LIV-2-FLY

It`s amazing - man’s creations
Paragliding is one some do
Flying freely with the birds
Floating in the sky of blue

A bird Bruce Tracy should of been
For flying was his love
High and far he`d try to get
Towards the jet streams up above

From Goat Peak many a time
With the Eagle and the Hawk
Circling for the thermals
Veiwers on the ground in shock

He lived a life of danger
But to him that was his style
Taking it right to the edge
Loving it all the way

Now that he`s no longer with us
As I look into the sky
Every bird I see is Bruce
And yes, he did LIV-2-FLY

In memory of Dr. Bruce Tracy
©Ralph W. Austin “Lightning Bill”
October 2001

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