The Fool - The Hopeful Free Spirit

I rarely draw the Fool card, but it is a Major Arcana that represents hope, and the free spirit within and one of my favourites. A person can never have too much hope and having a free spirit may frighten those who rather play it safe and can't embrace that side of themselves. But life means risk if we want to grow in faith, trust and in hope.

And so it's always a much welcomed card and to see today, this first day of October. As I write, I can hear the duck hunters. I can't say I hope they get some ducks. But I do wish them safety, as I do the ducks.

When I think about hunting I reflect on my grandfather, who was an expert marksman. He was never really so interested in hunting. He he did get the odd duck I know, but had no passion for in big game hunting. I remember a family photo of him sitting on the back of a moose that had been sick and he'd nursed him back to health. Granddad simply loved living with nature,  he loved animals, the country life and was a creative, gentle, sensitive and kind soul.

As a teenager I loved nothing more than wearing his old canvas jacket with a rap around inside pocket at the bottom of the coat, for gathering up ducks. It always made me feel close to him when I wore that coat. Summer days spending time with him out in his garden is a special memory. He didn't talk much because he was hard of hearing and wouldn't wear a hearing aid. But it didn't matter so much because I always knew he loved me and wanted to spend time with me whether it be in the garden or just spending hours playing checkers.

My grandfather Roy Winslow Milner's heart and mind were open and faithful. His love of music and reading was also very evident, as he was always reading and played a number of instruments. I know his life was difficult, living through the Depression and working all of his life in the Foundry where he was a molder, working in such an awful very unhealthy place, in order to earn a living to support his family.

In spite of my grandfather's hardships, he was a man that instilled hope in me as his granddaughter, because I inherited his love of music, reading and nature. Like the Fool, embodied in the mythic figure of Dionysus, my grandfather in spite of what happened to him in life, his right brained, intuitive, and creative nature allowed him to connect to his hopeful and free spirit. I'm blessed so grateful to have known him as my kind and loving grandfather.

Roy Winslow Milner

Grandfather and my mother, Sarah Helen Milner