4...Swallows

"To far off lands the swallow now is speeding

To warmer climes and sundrenched foreign shores..."

I first heard La Golandrina, "The Swallow", performed by my friend Estella Mendez in the town of Santiago Capitiro, Mexico. The swallow is a metaphor for migration, and Estella knew all about that. Today in the town associated with swallows, Capistrano, a requiem mass was said for my cousin John Lear at San Felipe de Jesus Catholic church. In the midst of the miasma of trip prep I, Ken, could not be there. But I want to take a moment to remember my cousin John Lear.

from left to right, me (Ken), my cousin John Lear, my sister Diane, and John's brother, Bret

John, my Uncle Robert's oldest son, grew up in the Imperial Valley, where my mother also spent her childhood. He was only a few years older than myself, a sobering thought. My fondest memory of John involves shooting pellet guns behind Grandpa Lear's house in Holtville. John pointed the gun at his brother Bret and said "Dance." Bret got mad and grabbed the gun from John. John ran and Bret shot him in the rear cheek.

Well, as an adult John migrated around the country and it took him awhile to settle down, but he spent the last few years married and living peacefully in Capistrano.