TIME FOR GRATITUDE

I think of November as the month of gratitude. Being thankful should not be relegated to
just Thanksgiving Day. I have found that every day provides opportunities to be grateful, whether I am aware or not. 
Years ago, I lived in a third world country, Tanzania, East Africa. At the boys' boarding school where I taught for two years, there was no electricity , no running water, no motorized vehicles,  no choices of food to eat (Ugali....breakfast, lunch & dinner) and no indoor plumbing. Taking a shower was a luxury that happened rarely, and soaking in a tub....never!
When I am thinking about it, I am grateful and thankful for the "simple" things I take for granted...things that 80% of the world's population do not have. I was born to a good family (ovarian  lottery) in the U.S. instead of Africa, something in itself to be grateful for. I can eat the foods I want; can get the medicines I need and have transportation to anywhere I need to go. I want to remember to be grateful, not just for a month, or Thanksgiving Day, but everyday to be more conscience and aware of my many privilages and blessings....and not complain if my dishwasher stops working!                                                                                                                            * Ugali: stiff Cream of Wheat cereal with 0 taste.                                                                                                                                          

HALLOWEEN, 2019

Today is October 31, 2019, HALLOWEEN, and it is snowing! I can only think about those
desperate parents who now have to put coats over the expensive costume they bought for their daughters and sons, and what they will have to do if it begins to rain, sleet, and continue to snow. Why is it that October 31st seems to have the worst weather of the year? Seldom has Halloween provided balmy, fall-like weather where the kids can hop from house to house collecting all kinds of candy which makes millions of dollars for dentists! When I was growing up, Halloween was my very favorite holiday....maybe because of all that candy! I was one of seven children, and my mother made all of our costumes. We would begin thinking about "what we would be" early in October, and then my mother would get out her sewing machine and go to work. We were princesses, cow-girls, ghosts, pirates, and anything Mother could put together. Some years, we wore the same costume as the year before, or had passed it on to a younger sibling. 
We carried pillow cases and hoped to fill them up by the end of the evening when we would come home, sit in a big circle and begin the exchange. First, you had to sort the kinds of candy into piles of Snickers, Baby Ruth's, Peanut-butter cups, Almond Joys, Milky Ways etc. We would then begin to bargain with each other to score our favorite candy. You could almost never obtain a Snickers for anything, but the Almond Joys went quickly. Sometimes, we got things like, pennies or tooth-brushes (who would do that?) and no one wanted these. I don't think that  our parents put  a limit on how much candy we consumed Halloween night, but some of us were quite sick in the morning. This, however, was not a reason for not going to school. 
When I was a mother, Halloween stopped being so much fun! We had two daughters who were as excited about Halloween as I had been as a child. There were still no Halloween stores where you could pick out and buy a costume. I had to make whatever my kids were going to wear and I agonized for weeks over what they could be. The simpler, the better, but that was not always what my daughters had in mind. And, almost every week before Halloween, they changed their minds about a costume usually based on what their friends were going to wear . I wanted to tell them to just go as themselves; that they were driving me crazy! But then, by Halloween night, I had somehow created a costume that they found satisfactory, and off they went with their friends to gather as much candy as they could. I made dentist appointments for the following month.
Happy Halloween!

OCTOBER 15, 2019     

NATIVE AMERICANS

Yesterday, most of the country celebrated CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DAY.  This day has
been set aside to honor the man who has thought to have discovered America. In fact, "America" had been "discovered" long before Chris got there! Native Americans were there long before, and had already established a community and culture that honored the land, revered nature and understood community. If we want to continue to celebrate this day, we should call it what it is: the conquering of native, indigenous groups of people by selfish, greedy white men. Adventure and exploration are natural traits in us all, so it is not surprising that this part of the world was taken over and dominated by its conquering aggressors. And in so doing, a GREAT culture was lost!  Just like putting the Japanese (U.S. citizens) in contained barricades, we enclosed the native Americans on reservations. We did nothing to help them better themselves or to have a life beyond hopelessness. Years ago, when I marched in the "Poverty March," in Washington, D.C.  I worked with a group of native Americans who I came to know well, and love. These are the Indians who are now housed on Reservations and struggling with alcohol and hopelessness. A Native American prayer that I recite often, I would like to share here: 

     OH GREAT SPIRIT
     WHOSE VOICE I HEAR IN THE WIND
     WHOSE BREATH GIVES LIFE TO ALL THE WORLD, HEAR ME
     I AM ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN; I AM SMALL AND WEAK
     I NEED YOUR STRENGTH AND WISDOM
     LET ME WALK IN BEAUTY AND MAKE MY EYES
     EVER BEHOLD THE RED AND PURPLE SUNSET
     MAKE MY HANDS RESPECT THE THINGS YOU HAVE MADE
     AND MY EARS SHARP TO HEAR YOUR VOICE
     MAKE ME WISE SO THAT I MAY UNDERSTAND THINGS
     YOU HAVE TAUGHT MY PEOPLE
      LET ME LEARN THE LESSONS YOU HAVE HIDDEN
      IN EVERY LEAF AND ROCK
      I SEEK STRENGTH NOT TO BE GREATER THAN MY BROTHER OR SISTER
      BUT TO FIGHT MY GREATEST ENEMY....MYSELF
      MAKE ME ALWAYS READY TO COME TO YOU
      WITH CLEAN HANDS AND STRAIT EYES
      SO WHEN LIFE FADES, AS THE FADING SUNSET,
      MY SPIRIT MAY COME TO YOU WITHOUT SHAME.

                                            LAKOTA...………..CHIEF YELLOW LARK  1887

      I WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMND A GREAT "READ" CALLED "THE MIRCLE LIFE OF EDGER MINT"BY BRADY UDALL DEPICTING A YOUNG BOY GROWING UP ON AN INDIAN RESERVATON.....BRILLIANT AND VERY FUNNY. 
      

     
     

50'S MUSIC

Nothing makes me more nestalgic than listening to 50's music! Recently, I pulled
out my collection and sat quietly in a chair, and just listened. What memories these
songs evoke!🔺 (like 'Stop in the Name of Love.)
My High School years, from 1054-58 were filled with these "rock & roll" tunes. I loved
listening to them over and over again with my best friend, up in her bedroom, while our
parents thought we were doing homework.  For fun, I made a short list of some of my 
favorites. What were some of your favorites?

   # Moments to Remember
   # The Great Pretender
   # Rock Around the Clock
   # Sha-Boom
   # Three Coins in a Fountain
   # Little Things Mean a Lot
   # Blue Swade Shoes
   # On the Street Where You Live
   # Ain/t That a Shame
   # Tenessee Waltz
   # My Special Angel
   # Please Mr. Postman
   # Mac the Knife
   # Release Me
   # Blueberry Hill

     On Thursday of this week, I am giving a presentation about the poet, Robert Frost. Robert Frost is to Anerican poetry what Norman Rockwell is to American art. I chose Robert Frost for my presentation because he has quite a few poems about the Fall Season....i.e. "After Apple Picking Time" and one actually called, "October." What has been said about Robert Frost is that he delights our senses with his attention to detail, and then, is known for his depth of feeling, and the wisdom his poems evoke. His themes are universal, tapping into the joys, delemas, ponderings and the challenges we all experience. I would like to share Robert Frost's poem called "October" and ask that you share any ideas about the themes that  lie just below the surface of this poem. I think I know what he is talking about here. 

OCTOBER

Oh hushed October morning mild
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call,
Tomorrow they may form and go
Oh hushed October morning mild 
Begin the hours of this day slow
Make the day to us seem less hurried
Hearts not adverse to being beguiled
Beguile us in the way you know
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf,
One from our trees; one from far away
Retard the sun with gentle mist
Enchant the land with amethyst
Slow! Slow!
For the grapes sake, if this were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost
For the grapes sake, along the wall. 

What do you think " the grapes" might represent?

HAVING FUN

I think that when they passed out the "FUN GENE," I was otherwise occupied. For better or worse, I inherited my Father's serious demeanor, unlike my Mother's which was all about Fun! I have had many enjoyable moments in life, and a great deal of happiness. But, FUN, not so much! I thought it would be "fun" to try to remember those moments in my life that were moments of  pure unabandoned bliss which is my definition of fun. As a young child, I remember how much fun I had on our family toboggan with my siblings, flying down our neighbor's snow-packed hill, one of my brothers yelling "lean to the left; lean to the right." Another really fun memory was playing Hide & Seek, Kick the Can, and Capture the Flag with the neighbor kids well into dark. I never wanted to come home. Riding the Roller-Coaster at Coney Island was sheer joy, excitement and fun! In High School, it was fun to prank my friends, listen to favorite 45s (Rock Around the Clock a favorite) and laugh with my girlfriends. The most fun I had in college was playing Bridge. At Marygrove College (definitely not fun) we use to get up to play Bridge at 4:30 a.m. before going to class. Sometimes, fun comes via a person you meet. Being in Africa, traveling, and visiting my friend, Peter Cervi was some of the most, non-stop fun I have ever had! Some people are just born with a sense of fun, and Peter is one of those people! He always makes me laugh!!! Living in the Homestead Farm neighborhood in Colorado was eight years of fun! From partying together, camping, skiing and sharing holidays, our friends there knew how to have fun and made it a priority! My list of fun moments began to wane when I moved back to the Midwest. I know that one must make there own fun, but with my personality, I need help! I am now in search of possibilities that will bring FUN back into my life. Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome. 

BEING LUCKY

I spent some of my childhood looking for four-leaf clovers believing they could bring me  good luck. I was familiar with other good-luck symbols like a rainbow, a rabbit's foot and a lady-bug, but none spoke to my Irish soul like the four-leaf clover.  My mother use to say that luck was when preparation met opportunity....that you made your own luck! There certainly is some truth to that, but some things come to us unannounced and by fate, I think. Warren Buffet talks about the "ovarian lottery" and suggests that the luckiest day of our lives is the day we are born. This, of course, can be good luck or bad luck, but I hit the jack-pot being born to two very smart, energetic, and talented people who provided me with everything I needed to be happy and successful in life. Sometimes, luck depends upon the choices we make. I am thinking about Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken." He ends his poem with, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference to me." I sometimes wonder about those "other" roads, and ask myself, "What if?" What if I had married my "first" love? What if I had not had a courageous & adventurous friend who covinced me to go to Africa in the Peace Corps? What if, by chance, I had not met my wonderful husband o a street in Washington, D.C. ? What if I had not had my two wonderful daughters who have provided such joy in my life?  We are constantly making choices and decisions in life that affect our fate and fortune. Hopefully, all our yours will be good ones!

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

It has been years since I posted anything on my Writer's Web Site. And I have missed it!
I have decided to post again on a regular basis, and I am not sure what that means,
other than the intention to write again about "this & that" and everyday life.
. I would like to suggest that this is for all of you who read this, but it really is about satisfying the writer in me. I absolutely love to write!
Today is a beautiful sunny day in Normal, Illinois and a very hot one!
 I have just returned from a vacation in northern Michigan where it was cooler, but without much sunshine. I remember something  I always told my two daughters: you will never get everything you want, and you will surely  never get it all at once. The ups and downs of life will always be with us! What I try to remind myself to do is to  focus on what is going right and be appreciative of that! I do not always find this easy to do!
As many of my readers know, I love to read almost as much as I love to write! I am always
reading a book, sometimes several books at once. For this reason, I hope to suggest books I have read, or are reading, and tell something about them in case you might have an interest. A book I am presently reading is called, "The Power of Meaning," by Emily Esfahani Smith. Like everyone else, I struggle with the challenge of "what makes me happy?" I love a great book, fresh flowers on my table, reading a thought-filled poem, classical music and a Fall walk in the woods to name a few. At the same time, I want to know the underline factor that makes people more content than others. I found the answer to this in this well-researched book about finding meaning in my life. According to this author, having a meaningful purpose in life, pursuing something that contributes to the enhancement and betterment of others, and mankind,  creates the most sustaining contentment in life. Happiness is fleeting, comes and goes, but contentment is lasting over time. I have found this to be true in my own life. I am most happy when I am pursuing ways to help others. I do not think of myself as altruistic. I have just found the secret to a fuller, more contented life. The philosopher, John Stuart Mill says, "those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness. "