Eggs and Easter

So, I am not quite sure why and who invented the egg thing at Easter. Nevertheless, I bought four dozen of eggs, colored them and pretended to be the "Easter Bunny" and placed them randomly on my neighbors yard.
Was kind of fun.
They still have children of that age.
But what does it mean? Fertility, spring, abundance?
For Christ's sake, he was nailed at a cross - so what about these eggs?
Sure the eggs are charming and the kids have fun. But is there a deeper meaning behind this?

The lyrics to the song of the previous post

Earth and Sky

This time it took my breath away

Little did I know what was taken?

Just got a call the previous day,

Play for us– “Cowgirls don’t Cry”

And I didn’t even know why this song why?

Was it a farmer who loved country songs?

Or something sentimental, the family wants?

Was it an accident, or a natural death?

Who was that life that now had left?

Chorus:

By angels’ breath we feel

That life is never taken

When you cross the border between earth and sky

And I gladly sing “Cowgirls don’t cry”

They filled the firehouse, the chapel was too small

Three hundred people, with children and all

I stood in  there trembling wondering why?

I had to play this song, “Cowgirls don’t Cry”

As it turned out at the memorial scene

It was for a girl that was just eighteen

She loved her horses, that’s how she got by

And she loved the song “Cowgirls don’t cry”

Chorus:

By angels’ breath we feel

That life is never taken

When you cross the border between earth and sky

And I gladly sing “Cowgirls don’t cry”

She died in her sleep, quite naturally

But I can’t understand why she went away

There were no drugs, her heart just fine

No seizures in the brain to cross that line

And I just played the song “Cowgirls don’t cry”

Chorus:

By angels’ breath we feel

That life is never taken

When you cross the border between  earth and  sky

And I gladly sing “Cowgirls don’t cry”

Bootleg scratch of "Earth & Sky" and health insurance (<--- click this title for sound) CD, with a few other songs will be avaiable, remastered of course, in late summer

It has come to my attention, that the US congress has passed a bill yesterday to catch up (a little) to the rest of the "developed" countries in this world. So, any move is fine in that direction in my book, even if it means to count little steps at a time. We don't live in the Wild West anymore and our children deserve better than that, not driving around in a stage-coach searching for gold in barren land, this is not an option anymore.
The Pilgrims are long gone, face it - those days are over!
Now we are "just" people and we have to live up to that reality and find our ways.
And then, the children will inherit the glory or the mess we create - it is up to us  how we shape or prepare the future for them. 


By the way, I finally figured out how to embed my audio sketch of this song "Earth and Sky" in a somewhat clumsy way - just click on the header of this post, and it will start playing. Next week, we (my brother and I) will record a "proper" version. I will keep you updated. Keep in mind, there are many booboos on this one, it really is just a personal exploration of a draft leading towards a  final version.
Picture: Maratha's Vineyard about three weeks ago.

The egg has hatched

Was busy writing lyrics for the previous (departed girl) event.
They are done and the melody is 99% finished. Now comes the tedious part of recording this song.

PS. On that little wonderful Apple music recording machine, you see a flickering image of Seraphine's blog. She needs a bit of moral support these days, lost her job or something (am in the same boat).  But I wouldn't mind if you say hello to her and give her some words of encouragement. Thanks!
http://encoreseraphine.com/


We are waiting for spring here in the north eastern corridor, I believe it is just around the corner. The absolutely non logical manufactured time change has happened to day: Spring forward an hour. For what? It doesn't really matter what number you give the time of day, it is arbitrary anyway. You wake up with the sun, then you go away, to do whatever needs to be done.
It really burns down to the manipulation of masses, that much I have learned.
You don't "save" energy by changing the clock, where it naturally goes "tick-tock".
This is my annual rant about manipulation
a  gentle touch to describe the situation
all I know, that the sun is true
and I hope that you are following it too

I can't fathom this

 
Just came back from a memorial service, don't do that stuff very often. Played violin on a song called "Cowgirls don't cry" - kind of pathetic song, last minute call, practiced 40 minutes tops, much too little.
Why a country song at a memorial? Well I asked that myself as well. So I thought this would be a nostalgic tribute to a farmer who died naturally in his 80's, that's how it sounded at first when I got the call to play there yesterday. I was wrong.
In this case, as I found out about two hours before the ceremony started, it was all about a young lady who would have turned 19 next May. She just simply died in her sleep, no drugs, no brain seizures, no heart attack, no poisoning. Kind of a mystery really.
In any case - she loved horses, (hence the cow-girl song) she could "die for them", and maybe she did...

"Cowgirls don't cry -ride baby ride, when you fall get yourself up from the mud, it's just a lesson for  life."
(or something of that nature...)

I was going to do a recording of this gig, but in the last moment decided: No go! I don't know, it just didn't seem right and I was very moved by this transitional experience.
Sometimes I wonder if there are people out there who "depart" to the spiritual realm by choice or by will - simply  without using any assistance from drugs or any other substances. 
I really do... 
(this is a picture of her, not by me)


The coffin was transported on a horse-wagon to the fire department's locality because the chapel was too small to accommodate three or for-hundred people.
Cowgirls don't cry - I sometimes wonder why.   

Brandaris

So here is the story. Two days ago I went to New York City to meet up with a friend. Parked the truck at the "Cloisters" and kept calling on the cell phone until the microwaves turned my ear purple. I had no luck. Then I drove to 139th Street in Harlem and crashed into their lives, a beautiful woman from the US and beautiful man from the west coast of Africa. Don't worry, they are my friends and have "crashed" in my shire before.
Subway, go downtown, find Brandaris with phone or without. After checking out every possible hotel on 40th Street (because I knew that much of his location) I turned back  empty handed, no Brandaris to be found. I went back to Harlem, had an awesome time with my friends and a superb fresh, delicious fish dinner. Sleep.
Next morning I drove back (two hour drive) kissed Manhattan good bye, and was depressed. Where was this Brandaris? Later in the morning I get a call: "Hoi, do isch dr Christian!" I was delighted.
We had spend 12 years together in a Waldorf School in Basel and haven't seen each other since. That's 30 years plus...
Next day he came up to "The Shire" and we talked about the past a lot - and sometimes of the future. It was the most refreshing human encounter I had for a long time. He drives trains in Switzerland you see, a completely different view of world-circumstances. And they are always on time. You could have guessed that!
Now, the reason why I didn't find him in New York, is that his real name is NOT Brandaris, that is only his artist name, taken from a light-house named
in the north of Germany. And I had believed he had changed his to this.. No wonder the hotel concierges gave me blank looks. 
Well, there is much more to this story - of course. But I will not tire you with juicy details. 
All is good, and as Christian did say, the "Waldorf Mafia" is stronger than the Sicilian cartel. On top of it, we don't even have to go on a killing spree to maintain our power.
Thank you Christian for being such a fine person to see me and consolidate with me after more than three decades.  

Correction: "Brandaris" is a existing light-house in the Netherlands, and Christian's dream was always to be a light-house-keeper

Amunioucoto

So the Canadian geese are coming back, what a surprise. It is almost like Winter Olympics in Vancouver, bringing it all back home.

St. Valentine's Day

by Norah Pollard

My father was unable to hug me

or talk to me. He could never say

"I love you." He was too shy.

Too, his mind was in

another world.

But whenever he came home from his journeys,

he'd bring me presents—Little Lady Toilet Water,

that grand midnight blue Stetson,

those many Waterman and Parker pens,

the pocketbook with the brass eagle clasp.

And for all occasions, overblown cards

with the puffy scented satin heart or rose

on the ront. Inside, his scraggy signature,

"To my Paddy, from her Daddy."

When you did not give me

a Valentine today,

I was undone.

And I wept in the shower

even though I am an adult and know

gifts are materialistic shallow

commercially driven wasteful crap.

But why, why could you not have

Wasted some mute love on me?

an other kind of beach

So there you go. "visited" Martha's Vineyard for a few days. Couldn't stay there much longer, just did my job. Crown-molding  in this case. Beautiful island. The Kennedy's also live and die there. 
It was not like Puerto Rico, not at all.  It was bitter cold. Even the seawater at the shore was frozen.
Nevertheless it was the ocean - and that always frees my mind, no matter what the temperature is.
And then I took a break on the second day, waltzed down to the beach, found a dead seal with his head chopped off. I tried to redo this seals history in my mind. Was he or she a-washed ashore, just 'cause the animal was old of age? I don't know. Perhaps a freak fisherman killed the thing because the animal was getting into his lobster traps. Nobody will ever know.  
So yes, this working gig turned out all right, though the circumstances were tough, like chopped off heads. You never know when you loose your fingers.

   Do you sometimes in life feel like a dead seal chopped off his head with no return?
Just curious.....







 

Ok, I'm back...

The Spaniards defended themselves from this castle in the 1600's. In the background a floating city, largest boat I have ever seen in the 21st century
pristine beach

the food is delicious, and so is the surrounding, people are friendly


... reluctantly back! This was my first visit to the Caribbean, and I was impressed. The glossy brochure images you always see actually became reality. The sea water, azure-blue, crystal clear, in the upper 70's Fahrenheit. The air upper 80's. I believe one reason why the water looks so alluring, is that the sand below is almost white, making it a perfect situation to reflect and assimilate the blue sky above.

$577 later, a tip for the chambermaid and a few dollars for food, I am scratching my head: Why didn't I stay longer? Oh well, it was a teaser -  they got me hooked! 
Now I am back to 12F (-10C) again, or something thereabouts and will attempt to endure more cabin-fever. 
The job situation in the US is still in dire straits - and I am hurting. I have to reinvent myself to blast away the blues, go back to my roots. I used to to teach violin, rather successfully I must say, but that was years ago. Now I am tempted to pick up the thread, because even during this recession parents still want their kids to play an instrument, at least in my vicinity (the Hobbit shire). And then in March, I will find out if I get this craft-teacher job in September. Cross your fingers.
I apologize, this must be a lot of personal ramblings. But sometimes I need to vent that as well!
Be healthy, do good, and be back... greetings, Lukas.

 

Anger doesn't help much

Seneca addresses the question of mastering anger in three parts: 1. how to avoid becoming angry in the first place 2. how to cease being angry and 3. how to deal with anger in others. Seneca suggests, in order to avoid becoming angry in the first place, that the many faults of anger should be repeatedly remembered. One should avoid being too busy or deal with anger-provoking people.

Personally, I am not angry at anyone, but I am unsatisfied. The catastrophe in Haiti made my head spin. It shows how fragile we all are.
Don't quote me on this, because I lost track after the first billion dollars. I believe the US is spending somewhere in the vicinity of three billion a month in the Middle East. Unbelievable - and this for what, eight years now?!
Well, maybe I am a "little bit angry".
All these resources could have found a constructive place, a betterment for civil society. But no, they just got squandered, blown away, literally! We, the United States could be energy independent, right now. But no politician dares to open the proper page in the cookbook, the recipe there shall remain a secret as long as Exxon, Mobile and all the others rule.
It's sad, and yes - I am "a little bit angry".

Post Scriptum: I hope we will run out of fossil fuels soon, in particular oil.  Then we can reinvent our approach to a more healthier way to live, and all the armies in Sudan, Nigeria and the Middle East have nothing more to fight for.
 

What can we do, for real?

I am flying out to the Caribbean next week for a few days, was hoping to gain some sun-rays, relax and recuperate.  Now this!

Haiti is one of the most impoverished nations in the western hemisphere to start off with, now they are in shambles.

The earth-quake destroyed the infrastructure of an already nimble and fragile nation. How can we help?

I feel stupid now to fly to this area just to gain regeneration for my own egoistic reasons.    

a new decade of fear?

I am really sick of it, I had it, I quit, opt out, or whatever. The fear-mongering tactics of the government grind down my nerves. OK, so there was this incident lately of a fellow who boarded a plane on Xmas from Amsterdam, fire-bomb explosives in his underwear. Just think about it, it is almost funny, a guy with "loaded diapers".
But that's not the point. The issue is more volatile than that. Soon (they already started) each passenger on an airplane will be strip-searched, either by a machine, or by incompetent humans. Wonder when they let you, or force you to fly naked.
Even then, there is no guaranty. I bet you, that people can swallow enough explosives into their stomach to create a major hazard, in plastic liners, ready to explode on command.
Whatever, thousands of people either die or get severely crippled in car accidents every day in the USA. Nobody talks about them. It is an un-proportional move to call this an emergency, a threat to the nation, a terrorist attack. Even if that guy had succeeded, blown up the plane, killed 290 something people, it would have been a tragedy, but compared to the statistics of every day's death toll, a minuscule droplet into the bucket.
I am urging you all, to disconnect from the theorem of fear. It creates bad blood and clouds our vision. 
Instead, courage is on demand and asked for. We have to stop this paralyzing witch hunt, Osama Bin Laden is dead. That's a fact. All right, it might be Fatamorgana, spelled without the "ph" , so I substitute the "f" now ...

 

   

the cut...update, I turned blue

Legend has it, that there was a mighty strong man, some called him a giant. His name was Ophorus.  He observed the angst and need of poor people to cross a large river. They could not afford the ferryman. So by his good heart he choose to live in a simple hut just by the riverbed, and whenever someone called for him, he escorted them over to the other side for free.
One evening he heard the voice of a child: Can you carry me over? Of course, he said. And as he was wading through the waters his load got heavier and heavier. It was almost a miracle that he made it to the other side. The last steps before he went ashore he said to the child: I have carried and helped hundreds of woman and man much bigger than you, but none were as heavy as you. I felt right now that I was carrying the whole world on my shoulders. The child nodded and said: Yes indeed you did, you just carried the whole load and burden of the world. He looked at the child's face in astonishment and at that point realized that he had carried the Christ child over the river. From thereon his name was known as Christophorus.  

Purple Hands and White Snow

Ok, so I promised

I promised Sera that I would finish my woodcut within 48 hours, of course a silly venture. But I took it at heart and opened up an oil paint tube to do some test prints. The tube had a hole and mushed the paint all over me. Nevertheless, test prints are done and they look oh kay.

The winter is upon us and so is the snow. Therefore the picture on the right just to give you an idea.

Oh yes, the woodprint will depict somehow Christophorus carrying a child across a river, might it be the river Jordan, I don't know?! The image will be posted tomorrow or so, got to keep the Sera-deadline.

HAPPY 2010

A new decade, new yearnings, new dreams, new options. Maybe delightful surprises. May this new decade, starting with twenty-ten, will  turn out to be good for you all. The last one kind of sucked in my book, except for a few brilliant moments.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

It's not over yet

I guess they call this "boxing-day", not quite sure how it originated and I am not going out of my way to research it either...
But my imagination runs wild. Boxing-day must have been invented by some 1800's middle/upper class Victorian families who gave their gratitude to the maids and servants right after Christmas-day with all the bullshit they received triple and quadruple and stuffed it for the servants into left over boxes. Made their conscience clean and their puritan hearts pure again.
Nowadays it's a different story. You box up your misfits, and the book you never wanted and bring it back to Walmart, Barnes&Nobles or any other store with receipt in hand to get a rebate, your money back or at least a voucher of sorts. Why don't we give presents instead to our beloved ones that mean something to them, are precious and unique, something useful. How many espresso-coffee makers can you store in your basement with good conscience?
The so called Holy Days, there are twelve of them, just started. Give your loved ones a surprise present that startles but not overwhelms in the next coming days (forget the third expresso-machine you already gave before) and put a drop of light into someones life without  spending lots of money. I am 100% convinced that it will work miracles and that it will be appreciated.
So you still have a chance. After the "rave" of Dec 24/25th... there are still 11 holy nights.

 

what am I supposed to say?

Perhaps you carve a spoon - that's a beginning, it might lead to feeding those who do not have their own means to do so. Let's say the people in Africa. Big continent - have you ever been there?
All right, we in the so called western-hemisphere are needy too. The other day I got catapulted out of my lazy chair when I learned that all people who do have more than $10,000 unsecured debt will be forgiven up to 60% of their dues (New York State). I am not quite sure where I am going with this... But this remarkable thought did strike me: Max out all your credit cards NOW and then claim 60% interest and harvest within a month or two. Splendid. But I am not a pervert, hence I will not  push an attempt into that direction, that scam and all the rest of it.

no reality whatsoever

Of course the picture on the right is old (just testing your memory, I did post it then:), three weeks old maybe. Now everything out there is covered in snow and the temperatures are ghastly, ice all over the place and on top of the snow the crisp remains of fall preserve themselves until next spring; frigate. 

A bit of enthusiasm will bring this "playing for change" to you and your well-being while contemplating arctic air and climate change.
I involuntary watched FOX news today, they are still debating if "global warming" is for real or if it is just a hoax. I believe that we should change this global warming thing, and name it CLIMATE CHANGE instead!
It is not the 0.25% degrees of "warming" in annual rise of temperatures that matters in a pure analytical way, using statistics and other data, it is the negligence of humans to observe shifts in nature which can impact us all. The dabbling discussions about carbon-emissions in Copenhagen stalled, but we shall not! Climate change is all about human deeds and failures, and that is why climate-change is the key phrase - let's forget global warming, that indeed is a hoax.      

energy

The Fox Islands Wind Project is a community-based wind development that will provide residents of North Haven and Vinalhaven Islands (Maine) with clean, renewable energy from three 1.5-megawatt turbines.  The turbines are nearly 400 feet tall and the project is the largest community-based wind project on the East Coast. As a matter of fact, it will make these two sistering islands virtually energy independent. It is the first project on the East Coast of the US who made it possible for 1300 or so islanders to use wind instead of fossil fuels. 
I do not have the statistics in front of me, but they do exist, and the savings of spitting out Carbon monoxide and such is enormous. It is something in the vicinity of burning 10'000'000 gallons of gasoline ... or more, the equivalent of thousands of acres of cut trees (and their emissions) and so on. 
So I am happy, even though my friend Ethan moans and groans about the "noise" from the propellers, he is just an oversensitive kid, not knowing priorities in life yet.

OK, there is always the question of demand, usage and storage of energy. So the cable to the mainland was not "cut". Excess electricity will be fed back to the grid. I sometimes wonder about this, how it will work out in the future when more and more solar and wind energy "farms" sprout up, either on private ground and or sponsored by commercial interests. Someone has to maintain "the grid", someone has to pay for the maintenance of it, the sole logical storage and sharing of electric energy. 
In the mean time I am very proud that finally an island in the US, and it is my island, became quasi energy independent.
I hope many more islands will follow suit. Fossil fuels will run out at some point, still in my lifetime, that I know. It is better to invest into a future of zero fossil fuels now than talking the avenue of waiting forever until some kind of blasé miracle will (not) happen.


usually pictures posted here are mine, sometimes I cheat and post modified copies of others (2% or less maybe?) anyhow, to see the full sized images, click on the pic...

 

language

Just learned a new one today: "Enhanced interrogation".  It was used in a response on NPR  radio by a interviewee during some kind of questioning of  what  Guantanamo peoples will face, in evidence what they said before and after they had been tortured, and how their trial in New York will be affected by these two different kind of "evidence-statements". Needles to say, the morbid part of my mind started laughing  out real loud. Enhanced interrogation procedures are synonymous with torture, no doubt. The guy who did the interview put it that way, the gal who answered questions,  chose a "political correct" answer.

This makes me wonder about "correctness" in general and how we name and label things.

A person with down-syndrome was called Mongoloid in the 70's,  probably not the right labeling. But "they" wouldn't care less. Now, down-syndrome has been disenfranchised in the 90's to: Mentally disabled. In 2000 something, it changed again - to mentally disadvantaged.

That's just one example.

The other day my wife was telling by the dinner table that a friend from New York would come up with her African friend (actually husband) for Thanks Giving, a holiday that is celebrated in the US.  My daughter exploded: You can't say it this way mom, that's putting the guy down!

I  got upset. There is nothing wrong or incorrect to say where a person comes from, may it be Africa, Japan, Europe or from Australia or anywhere else.

I got upset, because it is in our minds where we create separations and borders. And the beautiful language of "political correctness" will never be able to eradicate hindrances,  no matter how soft we phrase our wordings.

The trend to remedy social inadequacies by using smooth terminology in hopes to dilute definitions is a blatant and desperate move of a society who has lost their language to speak.

I have been called a "white nigger" in a "black nigger bar" in Harlem NY, and I am proud of it!
 After dancing around, the checking out of this and that, the diminishing level of testosterone and all the other bullshit gone,  we decided to be regular humans, no color, no label.
I gave his woman a hug and left the club, he smiled.

We all should stick to the truth and say things the way they are, describing them how they really are and not hide behind soft language. That doesn't mean that you can't be polite. But political correctness now has taken over almost any avenue to be direct, to actually voice an issue.

On that note, be courageous! 

 

it's all over now

All leaves have fallen, trees are barren. And again the "Indian Summer" tickles some flowers out of a dormant state - in this region.
It is kind of spooky, that Scorpio energy of November, neither here nor there, but ready to kill in an instant, randomly, self imposed.
The recent shooting and killings on a US military base are a "fine" example.
The mood and quality of Scorpio has virtue though. It defines with a surgeons precision where you stand and what you aim for. It kills the beast within yourself.
The resurrection (or counter image) of the Scorpio is the Eagle, same precision, same keen observational skills.
Let the Eagle take over!

 

crossings

... and the waters surround me again for a few days - my heart is breathing with lightness

helena

I am not going to stress the point
as the flow of unopened parcels remain concealed 
and what the present has in mind thus still perpetuates.
The love I carry for you is indefinite,
you're being immaculate and complex.

Then the hound-dogs bark
and the coyote's whimper -
and still you will stand there
with a halo  around  your head
defeating atrocities from  without and within.

And by the movement of a thumb
you can clear the plate, clean as shining diamonds. 
Those are the good days, the days of bliss
as they radiate in brilliance,
immaculate - overseeing all situations once again.





.

fall haiku's

Answer from Seraphin
one could assume then
when sunflowers learn to cry
kisses become seeds

  lindsaylobe said...
Sunflowers true seed lies within the kernel.
Sunflower seeds fruit of the plant
Ripened in the sun
Seeds hidden in kernel husk

I like that one

Particle Physics

by Julie Kane

They say two photons fired through a slit
stay paired together to the end of time;
if one is polarized to change its spin,
the other does a U-turn on a dime,
although they fly apart at speeds of light
and never cross each other's paths again,
like us, a couple in the seventies,
divorced for almost thirty years since then.
Tonight a Red Sox batter homered twice
to beat the Yankees in their playoff match,
and, sure as I was born in Boston, when
that second ball deflected off the bat,
I knew your thoughts were flying back to me,
though your location was a mystery.
______________________________________________________________________________________________

I had some weird comments lately with Asian scripture, hence I temporarily had posting restrictions on my blog. Well, they are ALL LIFTED now, with the exception that I will moderate comments who relate to a post that is more than 14 days old. Sorry for the temporary inconvenience. 

harvest

Haven't been around that much, have I? Took that Chevy to the levy - but the levy was dry...
After a rainy June and the half of July, we had a fairly decent August. But the weather turned now, there is chill in the air at night. Melancholy about summer's days past.
But then there is the harvest, and it is a good one this year, the labor in spring payed off. The fruit of the earth accumulated the energy of the sun-season and is ready to be harvested as a healthy bounty.
Obama speaks a lot these days about health and health-care, how we could invest in it so that generations after us also receive opportunities of healing and growth. I believe it is the right push, 'cause what you sow today will once bear fruit in the future. In this debate, Republicans in the US act like a bunch of rednecks participating at a street corner binge-fest. Once the swine-flue hits them, they might change their minds ... and it will hit them.
Maybe they have the "mind-flue" already, who knows. It is just incomprehensible, that in the largest industrialized nation/economy health care is on the bottom of the list and provides the least effective coverage for those in need.
While politicians debate, I can only wait...

   

see you on the other side

to say the truth, those pictures are mine - but who cares, we all share...