Spring!

I am excited for spring for a variety of reasons. I usually like the cold winter weather, but I am looking forward to spring's warmth, to be able to sit on my deck and watch the delightful birdies who visit my feeders. I feel like I've come through a cold season in my life, not because of breast cancer, but because of a closing of my heart for very many years. The breast cancer was my awakening of how valuable life truly is, a realigning of priorities, and a realization that I do need others. I seem to be in a season of transition, of wanting to move forward, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. As our Divine Mother clothes the earth in the beauty of springtime, I sense a renewal of my own spirit. And I'm excited!

Another one of my favorite things ...

Go ahead and stand up .. you know you're gonna have to dance!



Baby take off your coat
Real slow
Take off your shoes
I'll take off your shoes
Baby take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes

You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on

Go over there, turn on the light
Hey, all the lights
Come over here, stand on that chair
Yeah, that's right
Raise your arms up in the air
Now shake 'em
You give me reason to live
You give me reason to live
You give me reason to live
You give me reason to live

Sweet darling, (you can leave your hat on)
You can leave your hat on
Baby, (you can leave your hat on)
You can leave your hat on
(You can leave your hat on)

(You can leave your hat on)

Suspicious minds are talkin'
They're tryin' to tear us apart
They don't believe in this love of mine
They don't know what love is

They don't know what love is
They don't know what love is
They don't know what love is
Yeah, I know what love is

There ain't no way
(You can leave your hat on)
You can leave your hat on
(You can leave your hat on)
Give me the reason to live
(You can leave your hat on)
You can leave your hat on

A Prayer for the First Sunday of Lent

Holy Father, help me renew my faith in you.
Help me cease my judgment of others,
Turning instead to inspect my own life, my own faults.
Holy Father, help me grow in your Spirit.

Divine Mother, help me share your kindness.
Help me replace the emotion of hate
With the virtue of forgiveness.
Divine Mother, help me be an oasis to others, as you are to me.

And that's ok ...

I didn't realize it was Valentine's Day until this afternoon. It's been a little over ten years since I heard the words 'I love you' (other than family & very close friends). And that's ok.

I've loved in my lifetime, perhaps one time too many. I recognize that I'm not likely to love again .. closed hearts rarely re-open. And that's ok.

I once described my heart as residing in an inner chamber in a stone fortress. Very few are invited in. It's cool, it's protected. And that's ok.

On this Valentine's Day, I celebrate the love I see in others. I don't look for a 'great love'; I hold in my heart the joy of loves-past. And that's ok.

Holy Father, strengthen my fortress that I may remain content and happy with my life.
Divine Mother, help me to reflect the love of others and display your gentleness and kindness.

My Cup-Holder's Broken

Today when I switched cd's in my computer from Johnny Lang to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, I remembered something a former co-worker had done many years ago. You have to understand that when I first started working we stamped bills paid with a rubber stamp and had paper cards for every customer that were kept in bins that circled around like a Ferris wheel. We eventually got 'terminals' that were connected to the company network & we could access the customer accounting system (two of us shared one terminal). Thennnnn we got pc's. Wow.

The lady that entered our payroll had never used a pc before, and she found it was apparently shoddy-built because her cup holder didn't last anytime at all. I remember the look on the IT tech's face when she called him & he came careening around the corner to see what the heck she was talking about. Yep .. she had been putting her Pal's tea (for those of you not from the south, that's a 32 oz styrofoam cup full of the best iced tea you've ever had) in the cd drive tray. It cracked. When it cracked, it poked her cup and her precious tea was leaking. Confounded pc.

'You've got to be kidding me', he asked with wide eyes. She replied, 'Absolutely not; I've used this thing less than a month & it's already broken!' With tight lips he unhooked her computer and carried it off to replace the cd drive. I heard him mutter as he huffed around the corner ... 'some people just don't need a computer!'.

Every now and then, when I see him in the hallway I can't resist saying, 'Hey Bill, I think my cup-holder's broken!'.