Thirty Days Have September With October In The Wing*

That ole familiar song we sang in grade school-- "Thirty days have September, April, June & November..." It all certainly cycles fast. I love our autumns, as short lived as they are. The four seasons; interesting, colorful, sunny, breezy, stormy, & at times gray. Yes, we humans can relate, as we flow from one season to the next, in our interconnected circles of life & change being our only constant.

The Buzz About Our Book--

As of this afternoon-- It's just a matter of time & a new blog for our upcoming book will be launched before too long. The rough draft of the blog's banner is in the works & this new blog will definitely be out in time for any pumpkin fests you have in mind. This will give us the proper time needed to have our book published in the fashion we so have in mind. We just loved creating these characters, & we're so excited about finally being able to introduce them to you. Time is of the essence, so when time permits for you, we hope you will be able to stay tuned for any upcoming updates.*

What can I say, really it's beyond words right now to describe having finally come to this point. Our book project had been in the works for so many years, & it is a real pleasure & an honor to work with my dear friend of many years, my coauthor, she makes me laugh & so infuses our characters with great life & joy, we've become quite the collaborative team, & here we go off to a bookstore & library shelf near you. "Broadway here we come!"

My Mind Is A Garden Of Thoughts*

Today the rains came. It may be dreary out, but all in all a quiet & peaceful Sunday. As I go about the day I am well aware that this is the eve of Yom Kippur, the most solemn of all Jewish Holidays. My husband is at a New England Patriot's game this afternoon, with a dear friend & a family member, & me, well all is good on this rainy puppy bound afternoon.

Dolly had a lot of quality family time with us this weekend, with her freedom to romp with an audience in attendance, & walk on a leash too. She's becoming quite the dogie companion. I may attend religious services this evening I don't always go, but tonight may make it a good choice as our UN International Peace Day event was canceled due to rain. For the past few years I've attended this event, & just recently last year & this, my husband & I became members of the Greater Putnam Interfaith Council. This is the same wonderful group of people who planned & held a candle lit vigil in downtown Putnam, days after the 911 tragedy. I had attended the event with our youngest son, & his friend, along with the several thousand people that evening, we all had a strong need to come together & mourn. It is a real honor & pleasure to be working along side such caring & compassionate individuals who are dedicated & devoted to world peace.

So as tomorrow's Day of Atonement comes closer, & though our local peace day celebration became rained out, it is what's in the heart of every person that counts, those invisible thoughts, which manifest as our actions & deeds. As I've shared we are an interfaith family & we also have dear friends of various faith based communities, often I would enjoy hearing the Priest say during Mass,-- "Peace be with you." & the congregation would answer "And also with you." Our work is cut out for us, & all we can do, is to do it, one step at a time. Events in the park are colorful & fun, & it helps to fortify us by giving back to our community in this way. So until next year when we will try our hand at this again, for we shall be so ready!

As this day slowly becomes evening, one of my main reasons to attend religious services tonight is to have the opportunity to share some of our non perishable food items from our kitchen, with the local food pantry of which we are told there is a tremendous need. My husband volunteers at this food pantry occasionally & also works for a local Meals On Wheels program. Food, clothing & shelter so necessary, yet not by bread alone.

I wish you peace.

*Amen*

Tomorrow May Be One Of September Rains--

The above is a hand made peace flag from a dear friend's garden, & the lower work of art is of course a child's eye view of the good in all of us.

Our local celebration of the United Nations International Day of Peace, may not be an event in our neck of the woods after all, time will tell... My car remains half packed in preparation for the event nonetheless & if it has to be canceled due to a September rain, then so-be-it. Ultimately when it's all said & done it's truly, the intention that matters.

So with that, there's nothing more to be said, though our sky may choose to weep.

{My closing statement is of course a bit tongue in cheek, for in all actuality, for an event to be called off due to rain will never be the end of the world. For a topic of that seriousness in nature to exist would of course have to be the arms race. Now that would be an event worth calling off, permanently-- no more arms race. Questions, thoughts, comments, are we there yet? We can all be the judge of that.}

Truly As The World Turns, The First Day Of Autumn, Change Is Colorful, Change Is Good *

This colorful & interesting relief sculpture was on display at the New Britain Museum of American Art of this past winter of '09. A snippet photo you see here, in no way does justice to this piece, truly for this one, seeing is believing. The colors as you can tell really did jump out at you, & the overall size was mammoth. The construction of this work, made totally from plastic cups, what a way to recycle. How's that for change being good!

The Changing Seasons Bring With Them The Promise Of Change & With That Hope--

It has been sung by Simon & Garfunkel-- "The wisdom of the Prophets are written on the subway walls..." I will agree.

Yesterday was the second day of Rosh Hashanah, in the evening was a two part service. The first was the symbolic casting of one's sins into the water with bread. How fitting, as man/person, does not live by bread alone & one's person's sins are another creatures feast. The ducks, geese, fish & heron on the river, I'm sure were pleased with this development, & I well, that's a long story. I really won't go into much of my spiritual journey at this time, but will say, I as many people of my generation, choose rather carefully, of the religious practices from their youth. I am no longer a traditionalist of my childhood faith. Over the years I've retained the spirit of having been raised in the faith of my fore bearers, yet to this faith I have also added a Zen full perspective, to how I view & live my life. It all just naturally evolved.

Human beings over the course of history have been known to label & libel those who believe differently from them, these personal & historic perspectives too, are a portion of the clay I was spun from. Not a pure perspective in either sense when it comes to human beings. Is that not why we are always becoming, hopefully better than the contaminates we were exposed to.

Real, doses of real reality. I find it necessary to choose as best I can, situations of as wholesomely good as possible, for the world will never lack in the opposite, no matter the dreamer I be, & the animalistic tendency of our specie at times rears it's head with the exploitations of those who may be perceived as the weak. In the animal kingdom this is natural, yet some human beings have this trait too finely developed, much to their determent, but that of course indicates those individuals have fallen ill to mind based illness & have not totally adapted, yet as far back as the Greeks the ills of the world would be attributed to Pandora. Who would have thought in the 60's one could wear a beautiful angora sweater with her name in the label. What's in a name? For another discussion time no doubt.

High Holiday Meditations

Sole/Soul Searching

Soul/Sole Searching

Been there, doing that

an active

act

of living

It's the attachments

& guilt

of this life

that beat upon

the sole

soul's

heart

not just,

the doing

unto others,

but

being kind

to

self,

the knowing

that,

that too

is intended

and is

the right

of every

blessed

soul/sole

"Rock a my soul"

*Amen*

{Rock a my soul refers back to a spiritual song I sang during our summer bus rides to Girl Scout Camp, every camper of that long ago time would probably still sing along, do you know it---

Rock a my soul in the bosom of Abraham

Rock a my soul in the bosom of Abraham

Rock a my soul in the bosom of Abraham

Oh, Rock a my soul

Today Is 5770, "Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life"--

I've learned a very important lesson today regarding conflict. Even when one may try so desperately to do what another expects, of what they are conditioned, of so very deep within, if it's not something that is true to them, & the inner battle rages ever so strong, & on such a day as this, the very first day of the year 5770, then one finally, as to further not allow, for once, may tell themselves, "dyneau".

It's a very new feeling, this feeling of true self preservation. I know I, as all human beings have a strong sense of this, but on the emotional level the conditioning of decades ago, needed to be strongly changed. In no way was any of this easy, but if one is to choose despair & depletion over a conditioned sense of doing, for the sole purpose of a completing the other, for that "sole/soul" reason, that is now, no more. The pulling oneself up is a blessing & the not doing, is the doing.

My sense of relief of finally being able to choose a mode of self preservation & not being plagued to the depths, is truly a new years resolution that I can continue to work on & continue to develop. Through such turmoil I have been given an essential tool. Living one's truth is not intended to be the truth of others, yet it can at times be a universal truth. Love & time heals all, but in the process one must be certain proper elements are available & replenished. Time to heal means just that, all in good time. It's taken a lifetime.

*Amen*

{Dyneau, is word topic. It is from a popularly requested song of the Passover Hagadah meaning-- "that would be enough", in reference to God having brought forth the peoples of my heritage out of Egypt, & all the miracles that were performed in having been brought forth out of bondage.}