Time Out

Taking a break...thanks everyone.

Good Night

Quiet is here, finally. It's 3:20 am and all I hear is the hum of the computer fan. All here are asleep but me, and the dark around the edge of the lone light in my office shining over my computer envelopes me like my quilt with a warmth that is finally calling to me. It's time to be off to the quiet of my bed.

At first when I wrote years ago I was a second shifter, but when I really began to do my columns well over three years ago I began to pull all nighters. It's funny how the uninterrupted silence that comes when all the world is asleep makes for the best writing and editing times. No phone calls, no people at the door, not even those constant questions from the kitchen...there is only the soft, thought provoking silence. I'm truly, finally tired.

Night all.

Poetic License

Usually spring makes such a quiet entrance here in West Michigan. Unlike the month of March which can come rather like a roaring lion, spring creeps softly on the April rains and suddenly bursts forth with first the snowdrops and then the tulips and daffodils before the trees drop the leaf casings and those small pale green leaves unfold like many crepe paper wonders hand made and dropped to those tiny tips on branches throughout the trees in front of my home.

I love this season so much. Today I got to play with dirt and seeds as I readied the cold frame to hold those seeds in our cold April days and to keep them warm as they begin to grow. Three trays of herbs, and flowers began today, and as I closed the windowed lid I hoped I would get three trays of living plants for my gardens.

I hope you can get out where ever your feet roam near home and find some signs of this season of new birth and the greening of all that grows.

Who Am I?

Right now,
I am no author.

Right now,
I am a writer
of actions!
of anger!
of events...

Yet I write
only for
one.

I am
content.

One
is enough.

Hail!

Today's weather took me back to the week we moved in over 30 years ago...and not in a good way! We had severe weather roar through and got 2 inches of marble sized hail thrown at us by really ugly skies. Add to that over 2 inches of sheeting rain at the same time and we had a real mess here in Western Michigan!

The rain and hail came down so HARD!

This was at the very beginning and we only had a bit...










It was a lot that peppered the our home. My poor dogs went crazy. Mac yelped and headed under the bed and Foxy threw up again and again as the white marbles hammered us.





When it was safe to go out, I got this picture. I guess I should be thankful - at least this time it came down straight instead of being blown into our windows which happened the last time in 1975 when we lost 10 windows to the hail!

Good Medicine for Hard Times

Surviving in a world where multitasking can drive anyone to distraction in this fast moving society is not always an easy task. Everyone seems to have a way of dealing with it, but for many the strains of a song can make the world seem an easier place to deal with and make any day a little better. In fact music has become the drug of choice for many of us these days.

Music has been proven to sooth the beast in many of people over the centuries, and today it has become a must between the craziness and intense pressures that seem to populate our personal worlds.  But, it can also drive our passions, and certain kinds of music are really great for getting physical work done fast!

There are so many kinds of music out there and all of us have favorite types of tunes that make our everyday lives survivable or even make them exciting. For me, as many of you know Celtic music is a main driving force, but it certainly is not the only music I love. When it comes to what I love on the music scene today, I am more than a little bit eclectic. The music that captures my attention ranges from some of those oldies from the 60s (I am after all a baby boomer!); any and all types of Celtic from all over the world; 30s and 40s big band and swing; and of course all kinds of classical music.

So does the music we love really define us in anyway? Well, we know scientifically that music does affect our brains in so many ways and for those who are living with Alzheimer's disease music is often what stays with people longer than words or language.

It amazes me that when the people who have the disease don't have the memories of names or even relationships and seem so lost in their not knowing. But when a well known piece of music from their past is played they seem to come alive and often can sing it through to the end of the song. It also often changes their whole demeanor because it is still some how is a vital part of life that they can respond to though so much of life is gone for them.

Why is music so important to the very places in our lives that makes it such an integral part of our emotions? When 80 to 90% of the people when asked say that if they've had a bad day they turn to music you know it is the emotional strength that we often totally rely on. If we examine the phenomenon of the iPod it is hard not to see the importance of the lyrics and tunes in our lives.

The most interesting research over the past few years has come from those who deal with all kinds of diseases and infirmities. From music therapy to a simple need to escape from the world to the images and sounds that music can create, our connection to music, the tunes, the rhythms, and lyrics have been proven over and over again to be some of the strongest connections in our personal histories. John A Logan, a U.S. senator from our country's past said it best, "Music's the medicine of the mind." It is a medicine we can all use more of these days.

T'is the Season!

The season of green has come again. No, not springtime! It's that season of the Irish better known as St. Patrick's Day! if I am honest today it is also crocus day since my first crocus is blooming, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is what I saw a week ago next to our home - the first greens of the daffodils. There's not much here, but just those tips conveyed such hope!



Today we had such long and waving daffodil leaves! The smallest wind set them to dancing.





And then, I walked the yard and found this tiny fragile flower - but it certainly was not the only one in the garden!







This deep purple wonder
caught my eye a moment later.



I have to admit, it is St. Patrick's Day and the sun is shining, but it also seems that spring has chosen the day to make her appearance in her fancy garb!

Happy Springtime everyone!