Wing to Wing & Oar to Oar

The Master Speed by Robert Frost

No speed of wind or water rushing by
But you have speed far greater. You can climb
Back up a stream of radiance to the sky,
And back through history up the stream of time.
And you were given this swiftness, not for haste
Nor chiefly that you may go where you will,
But in the rush of everything to waste,
That you may have the power of standing still-
Off any still or moving thing you say.
Two such as you with such a master speed
Cannot be parted nor be swept away
From one another once you are agreed
That life is only life forevermore
Together wing to wing and oar to oar

A Candle in the Darkness

Picture it: a dark room and the only source of light is coming from a deep red pillar candle.  The candle doesn't flicker as most flames are assumed to do.  Rather, the flame stands up straight, allowing a clear reflection of the flame to be seen mirrored in the pool of hot wax.  The candle flame draws my attention as soulful music plays in the background.  


Leaning up against the wall, I lose track of time.  Do minutes pass? or seconds? or hours? I don't know.  I am swallowed up in my own prayerful meditation and I lose track of my surroundings.  Although the music is still playing, I can't hear it anymore.  I know other people are walking around, but I don't see them or hear them.  I fall deeper and deeper into this state..... then suddenly someone is by my side and we talk.  We pray together. Although my words were guided from above, these conversations were humbling and my heart goes out to the others.  I wish nothing but the best for you. 


I close my eyes again.  When I open them again, I see the silhouette of someone walking down the hall.  As he gets closer, I begin to smile.  My love.  He crosses the room and my smile grows.  Finally, a very familiar face is sitting next to me, across from the deep red candle.  


Funny, the little snippets of our lives that can be so packed with meaning.  A twenty minute span that holds enough wisdom to write volumes. 

My Current Musical Obsession

I have always loved music - but I'm picky.  A good song can be divided into lyrics and music and each part can stand alone.  To me, a good song can be read as a poem out loud and still hold meaning.  The music can be listened to (without the words), and it still can stir an emotional response within our souls. So therefore, I'm picky.  Real music - music that sacrifices neither lyrical merit or musical genius - is getting harder and harder to find....


Anyway, my current obsession is Adele's Someone Like You.

Friday Morning Inspiration

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. 

- Victor Hugo

Lesson #6

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as

 difficult as that.  -Michael Leunig

Sometimes love is easy and sometimes it is hard. But real love demands that we choose to love each other at the times we feel the most lazy, selfish, critical, angry.  How can we show our love to each other if we first give in to our selfishness? The answer is: we can't.  We must also choose to love as a first priority. 

My dear husband has taught me so much about love.  Through his words? Yes.  But more importantly, through his actions. I only hope I can  love half as much the way he does. 

Letter #12: To the person who caused me the most pain

Letter #12 is to the person who has caused you the most pain.

To the person who has caused me the most pain:

You caused me to question the very meaning and purpose of pain and suffering.  You made me contemplate which is worse: physical, mental, or emotional pain.  Although, I suspect you caused me all three, rolled into one giant mess.  Because you see, sometimes emotional pain is so great it feels worse than physical pain…. And then when you think it can’t get worse, it actually does morph and become physical pain.  The three types of pain morph into one overall painful feeling.  For some people, they just become numb, but not me. For me, I reached a point in my life – a type of unlocked emotional art supply.  I wrote poetry like never before.  I channeled my hurt and emotions into music, art, poetry, lyrics, and melodies.  It was like my raw emotion held the key to understanding all art forms.

Anyway, you caused me to realize the purpose of this pain.  That pain, while I would not wish to endure it again, made me who I am.  I was like gold tested in fire. When I came out of the fire, I appreciated things – LIFE – in a way unlike before.  You guided me to where I needed to be in life, and for that – thank you, my friend.  

Letter #11: To Someone Who has Died

This is Letter #11 in the 30 Letter Challenge: To someone who has died.... I wrote it to two people. 

Dear Grandma & Mum,

You were both such a huge part of my childhood, which helped shape me into who I am today.  Even after you both died, you still helped to shape and guide me.  I don’t know how to explain it…. But Mum, after you left, I would think “Would Mum like this type of music? What would Mum think if she saw me doing this?”  So, in that way, thank you for being such important influences in my life.  I wish I could bring Dana over to your houses for dinners.  Dinner at your houses were both so different, but that odd mixture is who I am.

I hope you are up in Heaven, finally at true peace, watching over all of us.

I love you both. 

A Strange Fantasy

I want a chicken coop.  To which my husband said, "You want to be a farm girl??  Ha, well ... learn something new everyday!" 


I suppose this was a long time coming.  I'm not surprised.  I'm only surprised I didn't admit it to myself earlier. 


I want to move to a house with lots of land. I want to build a garden and a chicken coop.  I want to live with the land and live off of the land.  I want to take a step back, away from all the hustle and bustle and useless worry connected to the go-go-go aspect of our society. 


Am I "green"?  Maybe.  
Am I old-fashioned?  Probably. 
I just want to treat the earth the way it was designed to be treated.  We are supposed to live on the earth, with the earth... not treat it like a garbage dump. 

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.  ~Tennessee William

More waiting....

There's three things for which I am waiting. 


I am waiting. 


Waiting.  


Waiting. 


And now I am waiting for those three things AND my patience to finally kick in.