It's been two years. Time for a second book. Time for more of Roger Geiger's personal memory journal.
And so Roger has published "Follow the Frog," a book that follows "Face the Bear," his first personal narrative.
Roger is of the Eagle Landing community near Avinger in Cass County. It's a retirement community of many unique individuals, of which he is one.
Roger is telling of his growing up, having started in Canada and still under way now in Texas. He can out-story-tell Texans. This is because he understates things. And he writes so smoothly one just buys in.
In "Face the Bear" Roger told of "laugh'n, cry'n and learn'n" on the North Sea above England, in Africa and the deserts of Saudi Arabia and guiding nine lost campers out of the Canadian wilderness without a map.
Also in this book Roger tells of his most difficult task, that of being a father and losing a child.
In each of these adventures, Roger did what his father had early shown him as a child. That is, his dad had overcome the fear of facing a bear in the woods. Roger would do the same himself on another occasion and with similar things in life.
And so his life became "stories full of mischief. I've tried to maintain that twinkle in my eye in living and when I write," Geiger said.
The title of his second book, "Follow the Frog," is meant to urge an openness to life. Does one know where, when or why a frog is going to jump? No. But those jumps, while random, sure lend themselves to important consequences.
And so Roger tells about hitchhiking in his teen-age years, traveling in Thailand, college life at Hydrospace Technical Institute in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and winters in Canada.
And he tells of coming to Texas, fighting off depression over the loss of his daughter before giving up on psychotherapy and other traditional faiths. He has now turned to writing and in this book includes several of his poems offering "a fleeting glimpse into one man's journey past grief."
"I've spent much of my life following the many frogs that crossed my path," Roger writes. In other words, he's jumped, irregularly, a lot of times.
One of those jumps in this book tells of his love of the ocean and beach. Sure, everyone likes beaches. But Roger lists how many beeches he has frolicked on around the world. Here's that list:
"Beaches all over the world have felt the imprint of my flat feet. Over the past 50 years, I have rested my rear overlooking an ocean in: Africa, Alabama, Australia, Bimini, British Columbia, California, the Canary Islands, England, Florida, Greece, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Mexico, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Texas, Thailand, Wales and Yugoslavia."
Here's the book's concluding poem on beaches, written for his wife, entitled "Our Beach."
"For over 20 years my love
We've walked our beach of sand.
Some days our course took different paths
On others hand in hand.
"Good times of carefree holidays
Two children at our side
Sad days when loss and solitude
Came flowing with the tide.
"As storms drove in upon our shore
And winds of grief did blow
Faith strengthened us o're broken ways
We didn't want to go
"We've carried on through sun and rain
Nerve strengthened with each mile
When I got low, I hope you know,
You freed me with your smile
"Yet somewhere way off that-a-way
Still far beyond the bend,
Although we failed to see it now
Our beach is sure to end
"But on this beach we can't get lost
Our destination's clear
As long as we've got sand ahead
I'll walk with you, my dear."
Roger is still walking beaches.
"The good news is that my days are not done. Tomorrow I will rise early, head out my door, and look to find a frog. Then, I will follow that frog around the next bend "