No Hard Feelings (The Avett Brothers)

Feeling somber tonight, as a dear friend called me a few evenings ago to tell me that her former husband had passed away unexpectedly, cause unknown.  I knew him as an acquaintance, but always had a great interaction whenever we crossed paths.  It's just got me thinking of how vulnerable we all are, living one day at a time, never fully aware that we might not wake up the next morning.  You know the drill.  Hug your special people extra tight.

"For life and its loveliness" indeed... 💖

SONG:  No Hard Feelings by The Avett Brothers (we shared a love for this band... ♩♪🎵)

BOOK:  Grief Day By Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living with Loss by Jan Warner, Amanda Bearse (Foreword)

POEM:  Self-Portrait As Escape Artist by Jeannine Hall Gailey

I could say at 42 I’ve escaped death already many times.

Maybe I was due, like a library book,

at an earlier age, but some spirit renewed me.

I almost drowned at three, then twice got scarlet fever

at 6 and 10. I could have died of my rare bleeding disorder

at 12; thanks to modern prescriptions, life prevailed.

I’ve become an expert at dodging tornadoes

and downed planes, traffic accidents and plain old bad luck.

I’ve been in a lot of hospitals, where doctors made mistakes—

but still, woke up every time, little worse for wear.

I’ve been scared of death, but now he seems so familiar,

an old sweater I’ve casually tossed aside so often.

Please remember when I die that I was lucky

to be here at all—my mother’s pregnancy uneasy,

birth difficult and under an ill star, infancy involving

incubators for a little baby blue me. So when I finally

take the fall, I must remember to say thank you

for the breaks that kept me ahead of the game so long.

QUOTE:  "Between our birth and death we may touch understanding, as a moth brushes a window with its wing." ~ Christopher Fry

Superhero (Ani DiFranco)

I'd prefer not to go into the significance of this song... but suffice it to say it has (or had) power over me, rather than the other way around - fear and helplessness, begone (ZAP, BAM, POW!).

Also wanted to add that years ago, it finally clicked that She-Ra is the feminization of hero - I love the concept... and use the term whenever I have the opportunity... :-)

SONG: Superhero by Ani DiFranco

BOOK: Fearless Women: Midlife Portraits by Nancy Alspaugh, Marilyn Kentz, and Mary Ann Halpin

POEM: by Jeannine Hall Gailey ~ Female Comic Book Superheroes

are always fighting evil in a thong,
pulsing techno soundtrack in the background
as their tiny ankles thwack

against the bulk of male thugs,
They have names like Buffy, Elektra, or Storm
but excel in code decryption, Egyptology, and pyrotechnics.

They pout when tortured, but always escape just in time,
still impeccable in lip gloss and pointy-toed boots,
to rescue male partners, love interests, or fathers.

Impossible chests burst out of tight leather jackets,
from which they extract the hidden scroll, antidote, or dagger,
tousled hair covering one eye.

They return to their day jobs as forensic pathologists,
wearing their hair up and donning dainty glasses.
Of all the goddesses, these pneumatic heroines most

resemble Artemis, with her miniskirts and crossbow,
or Freya, with her giant gray cats.
Each has seen this apocalypse before.

See her perfect three-point landing on top of that chariot,
riding the silver moon into the horizon,
city crumbling around her heels.

QUOTE: "When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." ~ Audre Lord