Thursday, July 30, 2009

Slow But Steady, Never Too Old To Learn, & Keeping On With The Dream*

Mother Teresa said it well, "Do small things with great love.", as we continue on our paths... "turtle power".

Just a few new goals of progress on the horizon of life in the computer world for me.  I'll keep you posted, as I haven't really written about it much.  The one main hint is our "Children's Book", which my good friend & I completed 3 years ago, [which is destined to become a series], gives me great hope to know that this project is moving forward-- "slow, but steady", as family & friends have been asking the question for some time now; "When is it coming out, what is it about?"  "Slow & Steady, {hmm, which Greek fable/story teller said those words?  No one of course can ever expect to endure like Aesop over the millenniums, but a good story is just that, a good story, & in time we will be able to share ours with "yaz".  "Yes I'm a dreamer, & not the only one", certainly influenced by the Beatles, the music that defines our generation.

Love, Salam/Shalom to *All

*Amen*

Every Step Of The Way, Learning & Growing, What A Lesson From The Garden*


As this week began 4 days ago I garbed myself in the usual haphazardly fashioned gardening clothes-- old jeans, tee shirt, an old lab coat w/ tight fitting cuffs which are excellent in keeping out the various insects we are accosted with in our neck of the wood, thick socks that fit well with all purpose hiking/gardening boots, & of course my over sized billed "Ninja Turtle" hat. The walk from our house to my first, in the series of Peace Gardens up here is about 1,000 feet from the house, about 1/4 of a way up our driveway.  The big terracotta sun face fell off it's frame, & was in several pieces at the foot the massive tree from which it hung.  I went to figure out what to do in order to artistically figure out how to replace this piece.  It obviously came down due to the frequent storms we've been having up here since spring.  Just in July alone, the record for rainfall in this part of the northeast is unmatched.  It certainly has taken it's toll on the gardens, our Yucca had diminished blossoms this season, & we've also noticed a lessened population in butterflies too.


Anyway if I can make a long story short, of which I will try; what happened next was right out of Winnie the Poo-- as I was checking out the sun shaped frame, I felt a pricking sensation at my right ankle, thinking I must have stepped on a vine with some prickers on my walk down here, I just kept puttering around thinking of ideas of how to refurbish my garden sculpture which was shattered & ruined, & then in mere seconds it happened--  there I was, alone, surrounded by a swarm of bees/yellow jackets, they repeatedly stung at my right ankle, though the thick socks, & were swarming around my entire body, but due to the aid of the over sized sunglasses I was wearing & my "Ninja Turtle" hat, my head & face were spared from the attack. It was much like an episode, right out of a Nature program.

As I was simultaneously screaming, & running to get away from the stinging activity, I was also thinking, [it is amazing truly how the mind works]  "What is the point here, what point is this, to be made with me?", & it was then I "got it" as I walked up the drive to our house, I totally "got it".  This of course may sound like an episode on Seinfeld, nonetheless, it's how my mind can work.  So I became refocused once again--  the book my good friend & I had completed 3 years ago is still in need of an illustrator, so on Tuesday of the same week I made sure I kept the appointment for the "One On One" tutoring lesson, & was then able to email our book manuscript during the lesson directly to a really neat gal who has agreed to be our illustrator, as she has been waiting for this manuscript for some time, & the rest, well the rest will continue to unfold, also during these moments of unbelievable pain & horror of not being able to get away from these angry creatures, I knew once I got the book project in full motion, & only after an assurance that a hard copy reality of this project were to happen, then , once I got the manuscript sent it would be time once again to reconsider a puppy.  As Snoopy said way back then, "Happiness is a warm puppy." & I say once again, "Life a work in progress."

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A Little Night Music*









Don't you just love a rainbow & it's reminder of hope, how could one not.  It was around 6:20pm earlier this week, the preceding storm was very powerful, the thunder, lightning & vast torrents of rain would not detour my husband's goal of Monday Night Jazz in his favorite city, Hartford & the show went on, slightly delayed, but nonetheless with the usual high end quality of jazz, that Hartford has become known for, Mark Twain & Harriet Beecher Stowe's, Hartford.   

Monday, July 20, 2009

A New Week, & Off To The Hairdresser, Who Could Ask For More--



Monday Night Jazz, Bushnell Park, Hartford, Ct.


As we retired on the lawn of the capitol, some of the music had just begun, meanwhile our legislators were in session, attempting to override some of the governor's vetoes. Time will tell.  

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Food For Thought & Other Thoughts Too*

Not a bad pose, taking a break--
Tomorrow is now & yesterday was then, a day in a life, what was I thinking....
It was a beautiful summer day, nothing more, nothing less.  I made some "new fashioned/old fashion"
Rice Pudding this evening.  
What made it "new fashioned" was that it was made with rice milk instead of cow's, for some friends who are recovering from various medical procedures, & the rice milk content should make it a bit easier to digest.  It has the usual eggs, sugar, raisins & cinnamon.  My husband & I had some this evening, the milk replacement worked, it was very good.  Simple yet good.  There was a local meeting tonight in a neighboring town on alternative energy, it would have been nice to go, but at the end of the day, a person has only so much creative energy, & I had been wanting to make this Rice Pudding for several days now, as it will make me feel good to know that these friends, that are so in my thoughts, have some sweet thoughts; from our household to theirs. Though life can be extremely hard at times; food for thought, sweet food, for sweet thoughts--  always rings so true. 

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Things That Weigh Heavily On My Mind--


The things that weigh heavily on my mind are as varied as the wind, depending on the direction & the overall weather of well being.  When I say well being it includes of course family & friends.  My friends all my life have been my lifeline, no matter where I lived or how many times we moved, God has included me with that special aspect/ blessing.  Friends are my chosen family & I keep this delicate blessing seriously & very close to heart.  I am as you can easily gather a sensitive person by nature, a poet as far back as age 9, & here it is so many decades later.  Not much has changed on that. I do try each & every day to live my truth, with no masks & no regrets, a work in progress, I keep trying.

These past two seasons; spring into summer have been a true oxymoron of life--  a good friend's Dad, ill & battling a complicated illness, of which he passed on from.  Several dear friends of mine facing various illnesses & or surgeries, & amidst all that the seemingly ordinary days with joys & miracles of life which presents itself, combined in all the creative chaos we live.  I do ponder at times just how brilliant our creator is, to make a world seemingly so together, with workings as predictable as the sun rising each day with the phases of the moon & galaxies beyond.  How could I not contemplate all of this, it still amazes me.  My life too is an oxymoron, for when I look up at the sky, especially in the night, or when I stand at the top of a great mountain or gaze into the sea, my smallness is so obvious, yet I do & have always felt very connected to what I have been raised to call God, our creator.  To me it has never mattered that different people have different faiths.  What has always stood out in my mind is the sameness, the differences in our appearances & our thinking's have only made this small life far more interesting.

It is a very delicate balance living in the 21st century, yet this balance has always existed.  If humankind needs a solution, the solution has always been with us, "swords into plowshares" & "do unto others". Last winter I saw a program on the life of Walt Whitman, the author of "Leaves of Grass", he was quoted repeatedly as saying that he needed to publish, [his now infamous book] in order to "Prevent the Civil War", we all know how little he was listened to back then.  He also said that when he witnessed one man suffering, he too suffered.  Not much has changed on that front either, as there are numerous hard working compassionate people dedicating their life work for the better good.  There have always been scoundrels amongst our species, & one Wall Street villain is now in jail for 150+ years, for literally robbing people blind.  Ultimately that kind of person will remain the minority, no matter how full our jails become, because human kindness is what human beings ultimately crave, that is our natural state.  Kindness cannot be legislated, it needs to be taught by example, as it comes from the heart.  

So I've made some of my decisions for this day anyway & I will try to stay on task, which can be a problem at times as I am prone to distraction.  A dear friend, my coauthor & I completed our first children's book three years ago.  We had  selected a very talented illustrator who was very interested in working with us.  The list of items she presented to get done came across this computer screen & the thought of any investment in a self publishing venture got way too intimidating especially with where our economy was heading, but ultimately I am determined to see this through, to have this book illustrated & in book form to share with the world, it is the dream of the 9 year old that lives inside of me.  My first dream of what I wanted to be when I grew up was to be an author, the second was to be a nurse.  The nurse part was readily fulfilled some 4o years ago, it's this author, poet, artist part of me that keeps me going, this possible dream of sharing creativity & healing in yet another way.

And with thoughts of embracing my dreams, I wish your dreams come true too.  I wish you health & healing, & peace in body, mind & spirit.

*Amen*



  

Thursday, July 2, 2009

You've Got A Friend*

Here in the Northeast weather wise it's like we've been living in a cloud.  So much for the weather report, only to say, when the sun does come out, which of course so far on our mystical planet, it always has, [so far].  It reminds me just how temporary it all is & to savor each & every moment, even as we live through the bad.  The sudden tragedy of Michael Jackson on a global scale, due to his talent & fame, he made himself larger than life, & he will be sadly missed.  For the rest of us it's not that kind of need for adulation.  Fame & notoriety of a superstar status is very confining & at times a black hole of a lonely existence.  For the rest of us it's an entirely different trip, even though some of us may have been born into families that have their own divas or egocentric types, but that is a story for another time.

Today as I enjoy the rays of the sun, doing something quite ordinary, washing & dicing some celery for a potato salad, which is so good when it is homemade.  I tend to have my quiet thoughts as I chop away, or reach in for the spices that are a must for me beyond the usual salt & pepper.  Celery salt & lemon pepper give my potato salad just the right zip, & since I'm literally a child of the '60's-- the first of the "tv nation", I will confidently say--  "Try it, you'll like it.", with no need of applause, ratings or reviews from tv land.

As a child of the '60's these are times of reminiscing.  Some of us may have been fortunate enough to have been in touch with childhood friends our whole lives.  For me that hadn't been the case as I moved around a lot, [but recently this past year I have been in touch with childhood friends], by the time my husband & I became parents we chose to move away from former stomping grounds of our youth, setting forth on a fresh path in our journey together for our family. We were & still are a very small part of that "back to the land movement".  We are so very Blessed to be living in an area totally surrounded by Mother Nature's Grace.  Within this beautiful environment which fortunately included excellent public schools, & good health care, it is the down to earth kindness of the people, generous of heart & inclusion that has kept me a happy child of the green forest.  As I've said before I am by no means a Pollyanna in any way, & I too have encountered my fair share of individuals who have been less than nice, even in our neck of the woods, what you could consider to be the bullying types, but they are few & far between & once I work it through, become re centered & remind myself that an individual who had acted in a way that was disrespectful, less than nice, it was probably due to the fact that they were still a victim of their childhood & though when times like that have arisen, it became necessary for me to let them know that the doormat was not out, yet to continue to treat the other with respect at all times.  The bullying always subsided, & in many cases resolved in a positive outcome.

The aspect in life that I have found to be the most challenging, especially as I've entered this new decade is when people I love & care about become ill, or are faced with serious & challenging medical, or other life changing dilemmas.  It is most difficult because those are the times we are reminded that ultimately we have no control.  For if necessary we can stand up to a bully in a forthright way without loosing ourselves in the bile & the mud, but when the people we care about, those that have rooted us to this time & place are faced with serious situations, all we can ever do is continue to nurture, support that growth, love, respect, accept & know that truly we never walk alone, no matter what faith we may or may not have been brought up in.  The line from the song we sang during my high school graduation rings true, a Broadway tune, from "The Sound of Music"--  "you never walk alone", no matter the storm.  Our lives & the people we care about & love are a blessing.  As we continue to go forth into time we will, all of us continue to support & be there for one another, in our actions, deeds & intentions.  "To be or not to be, that is the question?"  My reply continues to be from a '60's soundtrack, or a Broadway song, you have to listen very carefully.  Can you hear it....

To the special people in my life, the challenging times you are facing, of which face you, please know-- love & support, is always there.  The soundtrack now is Carol King & James Taylor, they each sing so sweetly, "you've got a friend".   A true, true song, it's never dated. 

*Amen*