Papa Bear

Scott Weiss was my friend! I don’t know how many real friends he had, but I didn’t have many growing up – not true friends anyway. I was reminded of Scott while watching TV recently. Here’s how my mind works (Of course, these thoughts surfaced and unfolded in just moments):

Pam and I were watching a fixer upper type program where the design/construction team renovated a house for a couple moving to town. The wife had to look at the properties and choose one with her husband looking at videos from afar. They selected the house without him ever seeing it in person.

This is important because we watched about 50 minutes while the house was renovated before “meeting” the husband. When he showed up for the reveal, he was using what appeared to be a home-made, wooden walking stick, not a cane, to support his walking. I couldn’t tell what medical condition afflicted him. He may have had a stroke.

The walking stick reminded me of the walking stick I’ve had since high school. I made it from a branch collected from a birch tree while walking in Walnut Woods near Des Moines. I broke off the branch at the suggestion of Scott Weiss (Papa Bear) who suggested it would make a good one. I took it home, stripped it, stained it, and coated it with urethane. I still have it. I even used it on a day hike in Glacier National Park in 2002. The center pic below was taken with a 35mm film camera, before I converted to digital. The lake is Grinnell Lake. Check the link to get a different perspective on where we were. Zoom in to see the path we were on.

That got me thinking of Scott. He died from Pancreatic Cancer in 2010. His passing hit me hard. I knew him as Papa Bear though his obituary just calls him “Bear.” Scott and I spent much time together during our high school years. He was 2 years older and went to a different high school, but we were connected through synagogue and youth group. We were both deep searchers and experimented with various religious doctrines, philosophies, and drugs. I remember reading Be Here Now, my first try with lousy Iowa ditch weed, and staying up nights expanding our minds and contemplating the Universe. We mixed Boone’s Farm Strawberry Wine with McDonald’s Strawberry Shakes, mostly to hide the wine. I could go on with many stories of our escapades. Learn a bit more on this on my Songs page where Papa Bear – Ode to Scott Weiss lyrics are posted.

Our lives crossed at various times after marriage and while rearing our children. Just thinking about this brings back fond and fun memories.

Later in life, after he moved to Louisiana, we got together periodically when he came back to Iowa. Unfortunately, it was typically for someone else’s funeral like his Dad’s, or for our mutual friend, Bill “Grouch” Ohringer. We never lost our connection and enjoyed our time together. Scott’s Mom died while I was away on other adventures so I wasn’t around to mourn her passing with him.

So it was not too difficult to write a song in Scott’s honor. But it did take a while and though I have music for the lyrics, the song is challenging for me to play on the guitar and I have not practiced it much nor recorded it. I do have plans to include it on my next album, whenever that happens. Meanwhile, I am posting the lyrics on my Songs page. In my mind It is still a work in progress, but I want to post it while I’m remembering Papa Bear. I still feel his absence whenever I do. Hopefully, you will appreciate its sentiment.