Some Magic for Monday....

About Holding On...even when the Surf is High...some Fleetwood Mac.....

And what connects us all.....The Chain...

Then it was Thursday....

Really beautiful video....I have been tied up with Politics.....

"Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you."
Langston Hughes

Early Friday Morn....

Last Day of Summer....

Hands to Heaven..."Breathe"

Thursday Night Music.....Soothing..Moby and More...

Everloving...

Another Song.....beautiful photos...

Holding Back the years...

Tuesday Night....

need quiet...and some time to think....

September 11 Tribute....

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Posted on Watergate Summer Sept 11, 2007....Post below was written on the eve of 9.11.01, I have never put it on my blog before.I wrote this about 12 hours after the 2nd Tower Fell.I was living in the Northwest in a small town in a little house with a little picket fence at the time, my son was 10,and I was still married.I wrote this sitting on my porch, late at night.I have lived in 5 places since then, and my son has grown into a teenager....I have tried to always make him a Home....and give him a sense of Peace and Community.My own heartbroken path has taken me on spiritual journey that can not be denied....and yes,it is intrinsically woven into this Dark Time in our History and has been drastically affected by This Regime.I am even more sad for this Country, Our Country, then when I wrote this....I still treasure what matters....I blog it everyday.
namaste.
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[Please do read the Comment Thread Below esp the Comments by Deudersson and his life in NYC after 911, it is beautiful]
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Shattered Dreams and Unsung Heroes 9.11.01... 11pm

We went to bed last night and we woke up and nothing will ever be the same.Our televisions brought us such images of death and destruction that have never even been portrayed on movie screens.Not at home, Not in Our Backyard. Not Here, Please not here, not in Our Home Lands.Not in the United States.And then we listen to familiar Voices trying to explain what can not be explained, Peter Jennings and Arron Brown so calmly trying. A New York Skyline resculpted by a monsters plan, a shredded symbol.

As these images flash across the screen I am left with images in my mind of people trying desperately trying to get to those they Love.Firemen groping in rubble and smoke.Unsung Heroes who ran into buildings to help people because that is their calling.

Reporters and cameramen filming while running desperately trying to still get the Truth Out.I am stuck with the realization that hours earlier, they had breakfast,walked their dogs,laughed with their kids..Hours later they may have been clutching perhaps a wallet photo and whispering "Goodbye"and "I Love you " into a cellphone...Courage is found in the Rubble and the Dust,dark smoke does not cloud such Bravery....Rubble,ashes,and paper falling like snow, like tears.....a Deadly Rain.

Tonight my son is drawing SuperHeros with his friend, and they are eating peanut butter sandwichs, and my dog is in the yard, and my cat is still pestering the Canary outside in his cage under such a blue sky, and those skies are so ominously silent.My husband is a flight nurse and I look expectantly at the skies, for the first time EVER I don't want to see him flying.I want his feet on the ground.And I am haunted by the date, 911.. Emergency.

So What do we do now my son asks ? It is a good question. Then he asks about the People Wanting Revenge, and I have to tell him that for this level of destruction and death,there is perhaps there is no Retribution, that Revenge does not measure out when there is Such Evil at Work.We have to stay calm and focused,being careful not to judge What we can not understand.

So what to We Do now? .....Perhaps we try to take care of each other,hug our kids a little harder,check on neighbors,give blood, and we pray and we light candles. Be gentle to each other my friends and have Hope. And remember days like these are full of Unsung Heroes that can be eclipsed by the tragedy of the moment. They are People just like You.

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photo borrowed from Hope's Blog.

Friday Night Thoughts and Music

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I am sick of the politics and the lies and the angst that go with it...the churning of events....Someday I want to be able to fly again...go away...to Sri Lanka..or Thailand or Bali.....it's funny ...but Youtube has enriched my life and even made me homesick for places I have never been...So I am so bittersweet grateful....I hope that we have new leadership...and I get taken off the No Fly List..and we find some semblence of sanity again...I hope I pray...Because I have seen it all come "Undone"...

Duran Duran..."Saving a prayer"....

I just want an "Ordinary World"...again....somehow,,,

I am just waiting for a New Day...."Sunrise"

Wednesday thoughts and ponderings....

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Charles W.Cushman 1930's
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I have to believe in "Better Days" ....( music by the Goo Goo Dolls )

Baltimore....(or how Randy Newman stopped a Riot during a Snowstorm)

The Story Behind the Song....

I was telling my son about Baltimore, I have many stories from that era of my life....and I was telling him about my First Randy Newman Concert. It was winter,many years ago and it was bitter cold and snowing....It was in an old Dance Hall, and people showed up mostly for the Main Act which was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Now This was the same year that "Short People" came out and believe it or not Little People would come and protest at Randy's Concerts.

So outside waiting in the snowstorm was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Fans ( alot of Bikers ) and then the Protesting Midgets and Dwarves. And I am not sure why, but they were not getting along.So then the Parrotheads arrived, somehow they were there to see both bands. So they were in their Full Margauritaville Gear with Hawaii Shirts and funny hats. So The Management let all of us in. I was with my sister who was in a DISCO phase and really pissed at me for dragging her to "this dumass circus of a concert". There I sat in my Hippy gear, patched jeans , Indian top, and 2nd hand coat and clogs smoking clove cigarettes. It was not a Sisterly loving event. ( I invited her because her date cancelled and I had an extra ticket.)

So the Dance Hall is packed every old battered wooden theater seat is full and Everyone has made their way in, the Pissed Off Little People, the Rowdy Bikers, and the Parrotheads.... So the waiting begins.

Well, it turns out that the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was not coming...and would not be coming. And that supposedly their Bus had broken down somewhere. Now the Audience had to be told this....So there are Pissed off Little People marching up and down the aisles, and then now the Bikers were about to be given a bad blow. So a little tiny wisp of a man came out to deliver the bad news....

" I have some troubling news, I am not sure when or if the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is coming. But if you want to wait for them, because they had some bus trouble, then I am sure they will be here when Randy Finishes playing, Maybe"

His voice cracked and rose off and on, sweat ran down his little face. By the time he was done the Bikers were on their feet yelling " We want our Godamn Money Back NOW !!!!

Meanwhile the Parrotheads have all settled in to watch the show- and are getting stoned and blowing up HUGE Beachballs and bouncing them around the audience. Meanwhile the angry little people are still stomping around the aisles.And the Bikers are now stamping their feet and Yelling and getting ready to Break Something.

My sister sitting there in her leather pants and her Donna Summer tube top was looking disgusted, and " I wish I was anywhere else!!". Someone handed her a Flask and told her " Here Darlin' have some Courage", She mellowed considerably.

And while the Tension rose and the Noise got louder, the Little Man on the stage said, "Without Further ado- I give you Randy Newman".......

So out comes Randy, still putting on his jacket, looking a bit rumpled like he just fell off the bus....He quickly gauged the room... and came out on stage and sat at the Piano and started talking....as soothing as a Fine Southern Gentleman , telling the Bikers not to worry that he would keep them happy until The Band arrived, and apologizing to the Little People, and even making nice jokes about his gratitude to the Mysterious Parrotheads and their doobies and beach balls. ( No one was even sure why they were there...). He had a rambling style like a traveling Medicine Man offering some sweet bottled Sunshine and promises out the back of a wagon as he stroked the piano keys.

He sang it all Blues, Ray Charles, Some Jimmy Buffet, and some Willie Nelson.....all of it...He used his music to make peace that snowy night.....

And this Song was how he began his show....".Baltimore"....a much longer version....

And no the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band never showed....but 20 minutes into Randy telling stories and singing songs Something Wonderful happened.....

Peace in the Garden...

My Oasis....

Zen Meditation Journey.....