Snow...Beautiful Snow!!

Last night somewhat of a blizzard blew through Roswell. 

This photo is from RDR, our local newspaper.  The photo is at the park at Enchanted Hills looking towards West Second street.  As you can see, the snow encapsulated each tree limb!  We woke up to a WinterWonderland!

  I went to sleep early and was awoken right before midnight with loud Caroling. 

 It sounded like the whole Tabernacle Choir were walking up my ally and Kentucky street singing ..

"God rest ye merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay..... Oh, tidings of Comfort and Joy..la..la..la...

Comfort and Joy.

It was really beautiful!   I woke up and realized I was only dreaming.  Must have been the snow that reminded me so much of Christmas!

So, I bring you today tidings of Comfort and Joy! 

In memory of Zach..

In memory of Zach.
A funny guy who made me laugh!
Who touched many lives with a smile.  It is a heartbreaking tragedy  here in Roswell.
A young man murdered.
 Sixteen years old...I don't understand.
 The senseless fighting...I just don't understand..It will continue..
Violence is not the solution.
I pray that there will not be more.. I pray for the family, for our community.
  Hug your kids..love your family..teach them that violence is never the answer.

  Rest in Peace, dear child.

Ruts in the Road

In 2010, I have been trying to break out of some ruts I have been traveling in.  It is so easy to follow the same path day in and day out. 

One of the ruts that I was forced out of here in Roswell was listening to 94.9 FM.  One day I woke up to my Radio playing Country.  Now, don't get me wrong .. I like country..but I always wake up to a little ole Rock-n-Roll.  It is no more.  I never realized how much I listened to that station till it was gone.
 So, for a complete change, I have moved my dial to 103.5 ( I think) to Santa Fe's classical music.  This is a BIG change for me!
I do find myself wishing for that old rut.  Sometimes, I find myself searching for the familiar but it is gone.  C'est La Vie!
Seems a silly thing, how  music really changes how we be-bop through the world.  Roswell seems a bit more Majestic (Alien pun intended) while listening to Vivaldi....

Voting...

Today in Roswell the American priviledge of election has begun.  My dad was the 36th today to vote for Mayor & City Council.  I like to vote on the day of election.  My dad asked me "What if you're sick"  ...such an optimist, he is.  I said," I won't be"  He said, "We will get an ambulance to take you!"  How dramatic is that!   Elections in small towns can be that way sometimes.

Don't you wish we could vote on the state of the world?  Or maybe just end the game, like Monopoly and just start over with everything distributed evenly.  Of course, those who are the winners wouldn't like that much.

  That ,maybe, is how we find ourselves.  We are continuing to roll the dice and play the game.  Each of us praying that God will favor us ..just this one roll..and when we get into a 'winning' streak unlike a 'loosing' the last words  on our lips are 

 "Why me?"  

 I wonder why that is?  If something bad were to happen..immediately the thought is "why me" or "it's always me..."  I think there are book titles about "Why bad things happen to good people"  the bigger amazement is "Why good things happen to bad people"

The answer..drum roll please........GRACE!

Silly us..even Jesus, when he was told that He was Good said only the Father in heaven is Good...

Some things are just real simple. 

So, this coming voting season..let's keep rolling the dice...maybe, just maybe, good things will happen!!

Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink

Crystal Blue Persuasion...

 This is a Crystal Blue Lily...I don't know that they grow here in Roswell.  I just woke up with that song rolling around in my head.
"A new day is coming..."
 It has been beautiful here the last two days with the snow just glistening.  I am fortunate that I did not have to get out in it.  I could watch from my couch as the snow fell all day long.  This evening I watched the moon rise over the Country Club golf course.  The largest Moon of the year (so they say) shown so brightly on the snow that I swear I saw sparkles!  Magic is a foot~~

Nature is a wonder, the beauty that surrounds us...even here in ole Roswell.

Happy Birthday to all my Aquarian Friends

I have so many dear friends born around this time ..near and far and I would like to post this poem from  Rilke to them and to all of my wonderful friends out there!!

The Grownup

All this stood upon her and was the world

and stood upon her with all its fear and grace
as trees stand, growing straight up, imageless
yet wholly image, like the Ark of God,
and solemn, as if imposed upon a race.

And she endured it all: bore up under
the swift-as-flight, the fleeting, the far-gone,
the inconceivably vast, the still-to-learn,
serenely as a woman carrying water
moves with a full jug.  Till in the midst of play,
transfiguring and preparing for the future,
the first white veil descended, gliding softly

over her opened face, almost opaque there,
never to be lifted off again, and somehow
giving to all her questions just one answer:
In you, who were a child once---in you.

Trend: The general direction in which something tends to moves.

I have been thinking lately about trends. We hear it all the time.
What is the trend in the Market?
The current trends in fashion.
Am I being too trendy???
We all want to be on the cutting edge. To know what is "in" and what is "out". The lines are always shifting and pulling us into the future.
Even if the trend is "Retro" it still forces us to look at the past and realize the distance we have traveled. Even if you feel that you have not changed much in the last decade or so you have.
Gravity takes it's toll.

"The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. Little we see in nature that is ours."

These words were written long ago and mean more to me each passing day.


I was chatting with my cousin and he is in his eighties. He was talking about shrinking in height, around 2 inches, just by getting older. Maybe the weight of the world does take it's toll on us. We wake up and we have shrunk. Nothing to do but watch.
In mid life we have this fantasy that we have things under control. Life is strolling along and it is just everyday things. Then all of a sudden...Bam...something happens to jolt us into the realization that all is not as it seems.
Some event either external or internal changes our perception. Sometimes, knocking us to the ground. We have been struck with how different life is than what we thought it would be.
Time and again I hear people who are older talk in amazement that they feel like the same person they were when they were young and shocked to look in the mirror and have changed so much.
There is something internally that never changes ..some constant that is always there...and yet..and yet.. I have seen disease snatch a soul. The person who was there is gone.
Trauma, disease, yes, it can change a person into something that they never dreamed of being. Even then, I feel compassion. I realize that whatever it was, damaged the personality but never the soul. The soul is there, hidden like a seed in the ground. It is best not to disturb it.

So, as we start this new decade ..what trend are you following? Where are you looking for guidance in this crazy world?
A trend to me is like a well worn path..Will you go out and make a path of your own..create a new "trend" in your own life?
I hope wherever you tend to go...It leads you to greater love & understanding of your unique role of the trends that are forming before us.