September 11

The news media is filled again, as it is every year, with recollections of September 11 - how we recall with clarity where we were, what we were thinking, what we were doing on that blindingly bright morning in 2001. "It was THE day our world changed forever," said one newscaster. My mother used to tell me she recalled perfectly where she was on December 7 when she heard the news of Pearl Harbor. "I was having a chocolate sundae with my girlfriends at the Purple Cow Sweet Shoppe," she said.

For her, that was THE day that changed her world.

What we so often fail to realize is that it doesn't have to be a tragedy to change our world, ourselves. Every day can be THE day we resolve to begin again to make our little corner of life better - to work toward leaving the world a bit better than we found it. All it takes is the resolve to make it so.

Dad's Flowers

For the 20th year in a row, the purple, white and yellow crocus blossoms are popping their heads up in my garden beds. From twenty bulbs, they have managed to multiply and spread underneath the liriope and ramble beneath the wild strawberry groundcover. And to think I planted them upside down that cold November day in 1986. That was a week after my dad died and I had been so grief-stricken that I'd put all the bulbs in the ground the wrong way. Somehow, each flower managed, over that long, cold winter, to turn and right itself just in time to bloom. What a testament to sheer will.

Every year at this time I think of my dad - and how he would want me to continue to use that same strong will to press on through all of life's struggles and fears - searching for the bits of happiness and grace that can be found in every moment--if only I look close enough.

New Directions

My second book is about to go to the publisher and I've just finished a very nice profile on one of the top eye surgeons in the world. I'm proud of both pieces but it's time to re-evaluate my writing career--where it's been and where it needs to go next.
Though banging out stories for the local newspaper is easy money and has allowed me to meet many interesting individuals, I've come to dread working on yet another deadline and for very little pay. So this week, I'm going to let both my editors know I'm taking a leave of absence. I want to love writing again--something I've not felt in the past year or so. I want to read and re-read something I've created and just swell with satisfaction knowing I put such a great story together. Other than Robert Osher's story, I haven't felt that way in a long, long time.
Now I want to play around with creative pieces and, if I'm going to devote long stretches of time to projects, I want them to be substantial and worth the time I'm investing.
For a person who abhors change, I have to admit this one feels pretty good!

Life Sucks

This Valentine's Day ...

One of my best friends was diagnosed with Stage 3 Mantle Cell Lymphoma ...

A co-worker's wife died of melanoma ...

and I realized the heavy responsibility of the word "friend."

A Poem for 2/14/2007

This is one of my favorite poems ...

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Silent Sounds of Winter

I intensely dislike winter--the gloom of it, the cold grip it brings upon our days. But alas, in order to make peace with it, I've contemplated some things I could--and do--like about this frigid season ...

The R & R that cold, dark days bring offering time to retreat from the world, to repair, restore, and rest the spirit.

The appreciation of another's touch, the delicious feel of another warm body against cool sheets ... spooning close, heat against each other ... one alone + one alone = two together.

The rich taste of a well-made hot chocolate--made with whole milk, a trickle of peppermint, and a fat dollop of whipped cream to top it off. Instant water-made concoctions should be banned.

The warm feeling of soup as it makes its way from mouth to stomach ... nourishing every chilled cell.

Blankets scented with lavender heaped heavily and scrunched around the neck and nose so that breath will warm beneath.

And the sound of wind whipping its stinging tails of frost against the window glass... of snow shovels scraping against concrete, and then ... the silent sounds of snow ... muffled, blanketing ...a world in white.

The Good & Bad of Animal News

Benji a/k/a Henry a/k/a Sam found his forever home yesterday. A happy ending for one little wheaten/west highland terrier. Like the starfish thrown back into the sea, we made a difference for this one.

And the bad ...

2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro lost his battle with the injuries he sustained after the Preakness this morning when his owners and vet put him down. What a fighter he was! We rarely see that kind of spirit, drive and courage in anything human or animal - and when we do - we are blessed.