Monday, January 30, 2012

Day By Day~


Every day's a new beginning, & with that said I just need to add~

Through life there has always been the good, the bad, & the ugly, it's how we take it in, & what we do with it, is what makes each & every human beings experience unique unto them. Yours & mine, there is no difference. If I were to say, of which I am sure billions have already~

what ever did I do
to deserve
this...

my
oh
my

what ever was I thinking...

who am I
to think
that
I
am exempt

ever

from some of the
rather
unpleasant
aspects
of
our
collective
human
experience

never
ever
can
that
ever
be
so

*************************


Thus this concludes today's long awaited addition to the Peace Garden's ongoing~
Poetry A Muse In Motion project.



Our 76th country visited the Peace Garden today~ "Welcome Bangladesh", w/ eternal thanks to Billy Preston.









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© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Deliberate Quiet Thoughts~

Above is the newest addition to our kitchen. We saw a grouping of jasmine plants last week when my friend Tima & I stopped to do a little light shopping at the Trader Joe's along our way home from the writers group session of which Tima our very talented teacher runs & facilities. This gorgeous plant is getting ready to bloom any day now, & if this lovely jasmine remains happy, the show I've been told is to be so worth the wait.

The oil painting above which was just done today is titled,~
Mother Love
which of course has a lot of deep meaning.

The piece below, is a collage of~ oil on linen with pistachio nut shells,
nothing too yummy, but an experiment of materials, color & texture...


Note the developing talent & skill of our friend Sima in an example of only her second still life displayed below, take the tea cup for example..
Sima, our friend Sharon & I are taking these wonderful oil painting classes taught by our friend & artist~
Laureen Hylka
who is most accomplished in all sorts of art media. Laureen has been recently working with pastels, & her talent & passion are most apparent in her still life compositions & all sorts of landscapes. Experiencing art together among friends has been a source of pure joy, & deep revelation.



Well here it is Monday, Monday~

My mother remains in a rehab-nursing home situation down in Florida after being rescued from her dire situation on 12/30/11 . Since then her extended family has been working ever so hard to have her return to New England so we can all be with her on a more regular basis. In the meantime, my husband & I have been back from Florida after spending a week with my mother for a little over a week now. Time will tell just how soon it will be before we can have her back here with us, as there are quite a few medical details to arrange on her behalf.
On this end every day's a new beginning as this situation blankets my mind, & can be the source of real anxiety if we don't take proper care of ourselves. Writing & experimenting with art, have always been my true means of channeling my energy in a positive way. Whatever works.

For today I finally returned to my painting class, & though I'm no Klee, or Picasso by any means,~ just a gal who's trying ever so hard to breathe, enjoy the colors of the day, & taking it, one stroke at a time.

This entire ongoing situation that my extended family is going through in trying ever so hard to do what's best for our mother is about as complex & delicate as a snowflake. We'll need those snowshoes for certain to walk the walk.











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© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Our Visit to Infinity Music Hall & Bill Frizell's Beautiful Dreamers

Just one of many still life's & settings at the Mountain View Inn.
We were getting ready to return to our neck of the woods, after a wonderful birthday breakfast.
Our fam's Birthday guy, who is the music man of this family.
Our gracious hosts Dean & Jean Marie Johnson.
On my husband's birthday eve 1/26/12 awaiting the performance with true excitement.
The headliners for our special evening~
Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers

It was all so worth the wait, & the 2 1/2 hour trip across the state up to the Berkshires.
At the box office just before the performance, of which every aspect of the evening was handled with true TLC by all the staff involved, making us feel most welcomed.
This sweet gal one of Infinity Hall's staff was a pure joy to encounter & most helpful too.

Just one of many beautiful rooms at the Mountain View Inn of where we stayed. All the oil paintings placed so perfectly were done by Dean Johnson host of the Mountain View Inn.


The artist & his work along side his sunflower which brings so much beauty & joy into the space that Dean & Jean Marie so lovingly share with their guests in their beautiful Victorian home.

It's been nonstop for us & only now do we have some time to stay put & to pause. In honor of my husband's birthday we were off this past Thursday for an out of town jaunt to Norfolk, Ct. to attend a Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers Concert at Infinity Music Hall. It was of course a wonderful get away. We stayed overnight at the Mountain View Inn, right there in Norfolk, & were treated like royalty by Dean & Jean Marie Johnson. Every aspect of our stay was wonderful, including the gourmet breakfast of fresh made granola, yogurt, quiche, sausage, pumpkin bread, & apple strudel. The Happy Birthday breakfast dessert of a wonderful fresh baked cake, candle & whipped cream really did top the chart!

Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang, & Rudy Roystan truly played the music of beautiful dreamers. The music at times was truly other worldly, as I would close my eyes, to listen to the beautifully blended jazz of electric guitar, viola, & drums, to be transported to where one goes when they are experiencing being one with the music. When they transitioned into their own original version of~ In My Life & then later Strawberry Fields, it was as if the sensation of a personal birthday gift was being given to my husband Steve amongst all the heavenly notes.

We will certainly return to both locals, as it was a wonderful jaunt, that filled all the senses, of a much welcomed get away into the mountains, with culture & style.











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© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Sunday, January 22, 2012

In The Sunshine It All Seems Right







Just glanced at the thermometer & the outside temp is 31 degrees, quite a contrast from the balmy mid 70's we were experiencing down in Florida. Yes the world does turn, & often upside down with the various news of the day. My family is no exception to the traumas & dramas that go on in any given family here in our neck of the woods & all over the globe. As we go forward I will continue to count my blessings, & view my glass, yes my coffee cup as half full. For sure.

As you can see we're in the throws of brrrr winter up here, & even for the few moments when I went out on our deck to capture a few scenes of this Sunday morning I needed to don my boots with cleats, & put on the heaviest of coats. There that said & done, here we are experiencing Sunday morning in the northern hemisphere. We'll make it work, we've always had, & my husband & I will continue to do what it is to keep ourselves healthy & well, for at this stage of our lives we've become our own full time jobs. Doing the walks, riding the bike, going to the gym, & or the pool. It certainly is true what they taught some 40+ years ago in good ole nursing school, you loose what you don't use. So today a bit of northern sunshine before it fades is certainly in the cards, along with a little determination of organizing my art supplies, as I've been looking forward to our painting class tomorrow, & also keeping up with what our writing group has been doing, as it was necessary for me to miss several sessions. But I'm all good with it as life does happen while we're making other plans, & to go down to Florida to be with my mother, & to continue to intervene as necessary is for us the right thing to do. As the one & only daughter, in a family out of a baby boom era when the role of ones function to the unit as a whole was pinked at birth, no matter how many sons were born. For in that era they were supported, raised & conditioned much differently than the daughters, so many decades before The Feminine Mystic was published & a woman's liberation era was born. True some families though few & far between were already liberating their daughters, but not back in our hometown which existed under the ugh shadow of a giant military industrial complex. True it gets frustrating, going round & round sometimes like a puppy chasing it's tail in an arena of trying to make attempts to get all our family members together, but ultimately love is & will always be the key. So with that being said I will continue to count my blessings, & take in the good advice of the Torah based faith I was raised in, along with the simple yet inspirational teachings of the Dali Lama, & continue to go forward, with prayer in my heart, & doing the best that I can do to help our mother as we all continue in our circles of life,~ the welcoming of the intertwining~ of one life, & the sharing in another. For these life lessons as we know are invaluable, & stay with us a lifetime. As we all help others to heal, we too are healed. None of us will ever be perfect, or leave this earth alive, so we must continue to continue~ listening to our own hearts, & knowing this is what we are meant to do.

~Amen~

Have a wonderful winter one & all, & will be in touch again as this week unflolds.












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© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Even When Life's Not A Beach, Life's A Beach~


I have decided to take in the recommendations of the Dali Lama, my own personal faith & teachings of the various faiths I have learned about & studied over the years. My husband & I have a true sense that the professionals who are taking care of my mother are very good at what they do, & will do their best to provide the best care for her that they can, in what professionally can be a very challenging situation depending on the events of any given day.

Well we've returned to Connecticut from Florida just in time for snow, but for the time being I will leave you with a relaxing scene, that is cool, not cold, as that is what it is right now, right outside our door. And just at freezing too, a present 32 degrees, & yes snowing~











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© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

To Return Sooner Rather Than Later~

Hi dear friends, have been off the Peace Garden grid for awhile as we've been way out of town as my mother has been very ill. I am of course due to add a posting or two in reguards to my thoughts & concerns on this matter so please stay tuned as I'll be back.

Thank you, & In Peace Always,


Mother Lightning





Sunday, January 8, 2012

Tis' The Weekend, Have A Good One~

temp.jpg


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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

So Comes The Morning

The plate of cookies above are made from our Grandma Anna's Newly Twisted Ruggula Dough, the beautiful Ginger Snaps you see next are a speciality of my sister-in-law who aparently has inherited her mom's wonderful talent for baking.
The Sara Bernhardts displayed in our final pic from Athan's bakery & coffee shop in Brookline, Ma., seemed an appropriate photo to take, not only does this pastry look beautiful & elegant, but the name reminds me of a relative of ours, who's temperament has been compared to Ms. Bernhart.

Well I'm done. I completed a good amount of baking for the season, can't say it's of the most healthy variety, but nonetheless taste bud good!

As we ended 2011 slipping into 2012 a relative in our extended family was in the midst of an epic crisis. This heath crisis finally stabilized on New Year's Eve, of this we are most thankful, but in all honesty these are still serious times & a challenging road we are upon. So for now, every day I call the hospital, & make calls to my siblings, & am gauging myself & making preparations to be on the ready for a vast out of town sky miles trip if necessary. In the meantime we've been visiting with extended family & friends, exchanging greetings & good wishes for 2012, which is always very meaningful & marks the start of the New Year in a joyous & positive way. Doing a double batch of cookies from my grandmother's dough recipe has been another good way of ringing in the new, as we honor the old.

So tomorrow it's off to the Post Office, to snail mail this newer variation of cookies from our Grandma Anna's dough, & also to do the various errands that are necessary to coordinate for this new year. It will be a long long time, before I bake again, that much I know is certain, as my will power has been weak. In the past I have always stuck to painting & crafts for getting through this time of year, it is a method that has proved successful time & time again for me in avoiding o-d-ing on sugary carb treats. Today my husband & I took a two mile walk on our Audubon Trail, that is certainly the way to go. One step at a time, without the cookies, which are way too good.











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