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Gregory Ormson

Writer, musician, yoga-loving motorcyclist.

COMMEMORATION

Allen Keith Ormson

MONKEY

Uncle Al (Allen) graduated from Barron High School in 1957, and then went to college at The University of Wisconsin, River Falls, where he earned a bachelor’s degree graduating in 1963.

Like many boys growing up with brothers, my father Dean, and his brothers Al and Duane engaged in sibling rivalry. At family gatherings, I heard stories about the time Uncle Al climbed up into the garage rafters, and by the use of secret sauce or brotherly incantation, lured my pops into the garage.

As my father walked underneath, Al dropped darts onto his head. Dad’s revenge was to put nasty stuff in Al’s chocolate milk. These are Wisconsin small-town stories that cement family bonds and create mythologies on whose reverberations family-members ride into the future. My pop and Al became close in later years, something that often happens when siblings grasp the depth of blood and jettison youthful rivalries.

In later years, inflated memories of Canadian fish stories and fantastic recitals of success in conquering Wisconsin buck fever took on Gaudian forms; and while uncle and pop were men of flesh, their noses grew longer at each telling.

Uncle began his career as a teacher, eventually earning his master’s degree from Winona State University and serving as superintendent of schools for 27 years in Rusk and Polk counties. But Al is memorable to me for his great success as a basketball coach. He took the small school Durand Panthers to the Wisconsin State (WIAA) basketball tournament finals twice during his coaching career, before the days when schools competed in separate divisions based on enrollment.

When I was 14, my pop took me to a Panther game. The stands were packed and people were excited to witness another victory. The Panthers were nearly unbeatable during the regular season. I was impressed by the show of young athletes in flashing gold and purple. Cheerleaders were shaking their pom-poms, the crowd was loud, and I was proud to see Al strut onto the hardwood. A furrowed brow and clenched jaw set a bold determination on his face.

Just before the game, players huddled together in the locker room. Tension built as the entire crowd chanted and clapped, “Hey Coach Ormson open the door, let those Panthers out on the floor.” On that night, the Panther’s beat their opponent by 50-points.

Sitting near the high school cheering section, the Durand kids found out I was ‘coach’s nephew.’ That’s when one of them pointed at me and yelled, “Hey! That’s Monkey Man’s Nephew.”

For a few minutes, I became sort of famous among the group of big, rowdy, and loud Panther backers. I was not from Durand, but right then I became a Panther.

His teams were always successful even though they were the smallest school and had a roster with barely a six-footer. Al was mastermind of the X’s and O’s, but more important, he knew how to motivate players, and he coached a rare strategy at that time, a full-court press for the entire game.

The Panthers were tenacious; they hustled and harassed their opponents into mistakes which created turnovers by the dozens, leading to easy layup baskets.  I enjoyed watching the underdog Panthers take it to schools much larger – including my high schools arch-rival Eau Claire Memorial.

Monkey Man was a charismatic figure in my extended family. He laughed heartily and enjoyed a good party. In some ways to me, always looking up to him, he was larger than life; but as an educator, uncle also spoke to me in a way others did not.

When I graduated from U.W. La Crosse, he gave me a present that became a cornerstone in my development. At my graduation party, attended by Al, his wife Mary Ann, and their children David, Jon, and Krista, I peeled the wrapper from a book and told him I was familiar with Ferlinghetti’s work. “Yea, he’s a cool cat,” he said.

The poetry book was a small gift, but like my father opening his wallet and giving me gas money to power my Mustang, I cherished it. The little gifts are important because in that one moment, they hatch potential between giver and receiver.

A book of poems wasn’t just a book. It was potential and affirmation, a statement that the world of creative arts and writing were important, were accessible to me, were an appropriate gift, and were an aspect of family sharing. A book of poems, or $10 gas allowance to power my Mustang were small gifts, but ultimately acts of love.

A few years ago, when I drew my nephew’s name for a Christmas exchange gift, I wanted to offer something literary that would speak to our family heritage. I gave him Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf – an epic myth set in Scandinavia.

I was happy to see Tyler finish his creative writing and English degree from UW River Falls in 2010. It’s the same school that Monkey Man graduated from 47 years earlier and the same school from which my brother Brian graduated in 1991.

Now, in this Chinese Year of the Monkey, on this third day of uncle’s passing, I remember him. I wonder of his journey to another plane and to reconnections. From our family’s Norse ancestry, the ultimate destination has been written in myth as the great hall of Valhalla. In other traditions it’s heaven, cosmic consciousness, another crack at a more fortunate or charismatic life in the flesh next time around. Without proof, I’ll even entertain the notion that our soul’s rising aims toward some unknowable target, connecting us in Bowian Stardust.

But no matter the landing place, to lift off we must deal in this sweaty and beautiful realm of basketball, sibling and school board squabbles, poems, and the sweet and messy full-court press of love and family.

Maybe now, in the halls of Valhalla, where men and women reside in peace and contentment, uncle takes his place at the table of brave warriors, the table of contest where the monkey in his mutable nature drops from the rafters and alters the outcome of every game and the shape of 2016.

I like to imagine the Great Hall of Valhalla, and imagine Jon, and Grace, and Harry, and Dean greeting him with the full weight of blood; and in some unexplainable way, I’m comforted by my imagining yoked to a greater vision linking all of us in great poetry of words both redacted and poetic:

Lo there do I see my father.

Lo there do I see my mothers and my sisters and my brothers.

Lo there do I see the long line of my people back to the beginning.

Lo they do call to me.

They bid me come and take my place among them

in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever.

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Filed Under: Midwest, Writing Tagged With: #gregoryormson.com, Coaching, Ormson, Poetry - literature - writing, Teaching, Wisconsin Leave a Comment

About Greg Ormson

Musician, writer, yoga-loving motorcyclist teaching yoga for bikers (Yoga & Leather) at Superstition Harley Davidson in Arizona.

Free diving in Hawaii, Greg learned the importance of breath management and has translated that into teaching Yoga-Breath, Breath of Life workshops accompanied by his band, Sat Song.

He’s traveled through five countries and most of the US to study world religions and other non-formal spiritual expressions. His doctoral degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary was cultural interpretation through a theological and psychological lens. He focused specifically on the power of touch for healing in ritual environments.
He widely on yoga with nearly 100 columns in 18 publications with a combined followership of over 5 million; his writing often categorized under #MotorcyclingyogiG. He contributes regulary to OM Yoga Magazine (UK).

In 2017 he won the Lyric Narrative Non Fiction Award from Eastern Iowa Review for "Midwest Intimations," and in 2016 won Indiana Review's contest for 13 word stories. His nonfiction has earned finalist mention in New Millennium and The Bellingham Review.

Dr. Ormson is an alumnus of The Chicago Theological Seminary; Chicago, Illinois;
The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse; La Crosse, Wisconsin;
Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan;
Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio.

https://gregoryormson.com
Twitter: @GAOrmson
Instagram:#motorcyclingyogiG

His yoga articles have reached millions of viewers through social media and have been translated and shared in Portuguese, Tamil, French, Hebrew, and Spanish.

They can be found searching links the following titles and sources:

98. “Yoga & Leather’ NMU alum leads class for bikers,” The Mining Journal, Marquette, Michigan July 23, 2020
97 "Yoga and Leather: how yoga is helping Harley riders and other bikers to find their Ze3n on and off the highway,” " OM Yoga Magazine July 2020
96 “Clearing Space,” OM Yoga Magazine
95 “Why We Need Yoga Now More than Ever,”
94 "Seniorgrams from the Successful,"
93 “Jesus, Yogi” Asana Journal
92 “Yoga Precis: six steps to a complete yoga practice”
91 “Yoga’s Outliers: Men” OM Yoga Magazine
90 “Yogatecture: Building Your House of Truth,” OM Yoga Magazine
89 “Conducing Heat to Cleanse the Self,” Yogi Times
88 “Silence and Slow Time,” OM Yoga Magazine
87 “Rough Road? Breathe . . .” HOG Magazine
86 “Yoga and the Pure Consciousness of Healing,” Asana Journal
85 “Conducting the Awesome,” OM Yoga Magazine
84 “Yoga: A New Road for Bikers,” Yoga Magazine (UK)
83 “The Way to Sacred Being,” Bad Yogi Mag
82 “Let It Be: When Your Yoga Becomes You,” Bad Yogi Mag
81 “Yoga as Commencement Ritual,” Yoganect
80 “Yoga, Jesus and the Pure Consciousness of Healing,” Bad Yogi Mag
79 “Traveling OM: rediscovering the abiding peace of coming home in a frantic world,” OM Yoga Magazine (UK)
78 “Conducting the Awesome: What I’ve learned from 7 years practicing hot yoga,” elephant journal
77 “Nine Ways you Give Back to Yoga,”
76 “Your Yoga Mat: Dimensions of Healing,”
75 “Yoga and Spiritual Questions,”
74 “Making Contact with Yourself and Your Practice,”
73 “How Many Limbs are Required,”
72 "Por que Precisamos de yoga mais do que nunca.” Why We Need Yoga Now More than Ever. www. boayoga.com.br/por-que-precisamos-de-yoga-agora-mais-do-que-nunca-gregory-ormson
71 “Fixing our Backs, Riding our Bikes: common benefits of yoga have every day application to motorcycling." AZ Rider Motorcycle News
70 “Hatha, Hawaii,”
69 “Armor On, Armor Off: The Psychology of Yin Yoga,” Sivana Spirit
68 “Yoga Script for Health and Joy,” Sivana Spirit
67 “Namaste: Nexus of a New Identity,” Sivana Spirit
66 “Embraced by Joy and Bliss,” Sivana Spirit
65 “The Delight Song of a New Architecture,” Sivana Spirit
64 “Transforming the Emotional Body,” Asana Journal
63 “The Real Power of Savasana,” Sivana Spirit
62 “Intention: Your Golden Egg for Change,” Sivana Spirit
61 “Yoga Tips: 6 Easy Ways to get the Most out of Your Yoga Class,” The Health Orange
60 “Mantra for Me and You,” Sivana Spirit
59 “Slow Down and Breathe,” Asana Journal
58 “Tradition Trumps Trendiness,” Asana Journal
57 “Yoga Teacher Training: Revelations Encountered” HelloYoga
56 “How Yoga Ruins our Lives” elephant journal
55 “Yoga Teacher Training: Encountering Self,” TribeGrow
54 “True Presence,” Asana Journal
53 “A Parable of Unmaking,” Asana Journal
52 “Yogatecture: The Elegant Arc of Change,” Asana Journal
51 “Truth Force on Your Mat,” Asana Journal
50 “What You Give to Yoga,” Yogi Times
49 “Enter the Master, Enter the Child,” Asana Journal
48 “The Honorable Yogi,” Asana Journal
47 “Finding Your Depth,” Asana Journal
46 “Teaching Yoga: It’s Not About You,” TribeGrow
45 “In the Midnight Hour: How Yoga Brought My Soul Back,” HelloYoga
44 “Gifts from the Core,” Asana Journal
43 “Release into Savasana,” Asana Journal
42 “The Bridge Within,” Asana Journal
41 “By a Thread,” Asana Journal
40 “Coaching Up: Yoga for Newbies,” DoYouYoga
39 “Your Beautiful Feet,” Asana Journal
38 “Lessons from Yoga and Freediving,” Asana Journal
37 “Five Tips and One Requirement for Coaching Yoga,” Seattle Yoga News
36 “The Immigrant Asana,” Asana Journal
35 “Making Heroes” Asana Journal
34 “Namaste: Nexus of a New Identity,” Sivana Spirit
33 “Sphinx Pose: To Rise in Righteousness,” Asana Journal
32 “Storage Wars and Yoga’s Emotional Rescue,” Asana Journal
31 “Asana Back to the Innocent Age,” Asana Journal
30 “The Year of the Monkey and Yoga’s Counter-Cultural Mathematic,” elephant journal
29 “The Missing Link,” Asana Journal
28 “Your Portable Home” Yoga International
27 “Yogi, Heal Thyself” Asana Journal
26 “Health and Joy, Why Not Us?”
25 “A New Planting, A New Harvesting,” Do You Yoga
24 “Three Stages of a Yogi’s Transformation,” Do You Yoga
23 “Peace: Just a Pause Away,” Yogi Times
22 “How Yoga Helps Us Release,” elephant journal
21 “Why Unpolished Prayers are Still Good Prayers,” elephant journal
20 “Yoga and the Place of Soul,” elephant journal
19 “Yoga’s Covenant: The Promise of Change,” Yogi Times
18 “What is a Kind Yogi,” The Yoga Blog
17 “Yoga and Social Responsibility,” The Yoga Blog
16 “Who Moved the Yoga Mat,” Yogi Times
15 “Yoga’s Touchy Subject – Touching,” DoYouYoga
14, “A Yoga Parable,” Yogi Times
13 “The Yoga Pose that Healed My Back Injuries,” elephant journal
12 “Becoming Your Own Life-Changing Quote,” The Yoga Blog
11 “Finding Your Mantra,” DoYouYoga
10 “Will You Yoga 30 Years from Now,” The Yoga Blog
9 “Ego, Injury, and Your Yoga,” elephant journal
8 “Silence and Your Practice,” The Yoga Blog
7 “Your Breath, Your Center,” elephant journal
6 “Your Practice, Your Inventory,” The Yoga Blog
5 “Aligning and Refining,” elephant journal
4 “Understanding a Yoga Teacher,” The Yoga Blog
3 “Yoga and the Unconscious Mind,” The Yoga Blog
2 “You’re Not Alone on Your Savasana Cloud,” elephant journal
1 “Changing My Story: 365 Days of Yoga,” The Yoga Blog

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