I Lived (OneRepublic)

Today got off to a great start, with a family meet-up at the park in our old neighborhood, The MossFam5 plus Colin plus Holly (Rob's dog).  Gorgeous spring day, with temps lower than usual, and we ended up hanging for two hours, some of us sitting (me) while others (Sarah) ran after a toddler, who segued from beach ball to sticks to bubbles to running through the grass at breakneck speed just because he can to watching Dar's It's Alright video to regaling us with his ever-expanding vocabulary of seahorse, zebra, Ants Marching, mine (his seagull imitation from Finding Nemo), Hakuna Matata to stroller dancing.  He fell asleep in his carseat on the way home, and I'm pretty d*mn tired as well.  Plus, I just cannot get enough of his chubby feet (from six feet away).  These visits sustain me, and I cry every time I see a commercial on TV showing grandparents loving a little one through a window screen or across the yard.  When I am finally allowed to hug him, post-virus, it will be a while before I let go!  [The photo below is from last week; we forgot to take one today... 😲 ]

Also, buy stock in Yoga with Adriene, as I have been rocking the h*ll out of her videos on YouTube.  Walking is off my agenda for a while, until I can get my back issues under control, and I've had fun exploring Yoga for Sciatica, Yoga for Seniors, and Yoga for Beginners:  Back to Basics and, to quote Joni, you know there may be more.  I need gentle, restorative work-outs until I can return to sessions that challenge me.  She is patient, funny, and knows her sh*t, and I am in good hands on so many levels...  :-)

It's Feel Good Friday.  Zippity!  Five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten your day/weekend/week:


~ Celeste Ng, Ann Patchett, Min Jin Lee and Others on the Books That Bring Them Comfort:  Authors are just like the rest of us — they like to soothe their anxieties by losing themselves in  the pages of a beloved book. Here are some of the ones they turn to when times get tough.


~ Beatles-a-Day - The Covid Lockdown Sessions with Mo & Amelia:  Sing and play along - this began as  a thing to keep us and our friends happy during Covid-19 quarantine and lockdown - and it turns out, it's been helping distract folks and keep them singing and harmonizing!  So, we continued... (thanks to Judi for the heads-up!)


~ Himalayan Mountaintops Visible for the First Time in 30 Years as Air Pollution Continues to Plummet in India:  For the last 30 years, the tops of the Himalayan mountains have been obscured by air pollution and smog. Now as the city streets are emptied of traffic and gas-guzzling vehicles, the mountaintops were clearly visible to the millions of local communities in quarantine.


~ Dressing up to take out the trash becomes lockdown trend, with formal wear, costumes:  Getting dressed up to take out the trash has become a sport for people cooped up by coronavirus lockdowns, and they don’t care if you think it’s crazy.


~ Let’s Bury the Hatchet!  Some people are using time in isolation to resolve deeply held grudges.


SONG:  I Lived by OneRepublic

BOOK:  Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge, Becky L. Crook (Translator)

POEM:  May Day by Tess Taylor

They go, the early flags, the gory maples—
so too the daffodils & Lenten roses.
Other petals swirl & nights warm.

Buds thicken and cast shadows:
in a thunderstorm
I almost forget the ice that was.

Narcissi suckle watery paths;
meadows heap up emerald masses.
How green & I want to delight

except this undertow—it pulls so fast
passing before I recognize it—
like souls in Dante who can’t see the present,

white lilacs curdle in pre-summer heat.
The parade I barely noticed was beginning
is already halfway down the street.

QUOTE:  “Do something nice for yourself today. Find some quiet, sit in stillness, breathe. Put your problems on pause. You deserve a break.” ~ Ariroq Brost

Que Hago Ahora? (Silvio Rodriguez)

From today's Writer's Almanac:

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates Mexico's defeat of French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Cinco de Mayo has actually become a bigger holiday in the United States than in Mexico, where it is mostly a regional holiday in Puebla. There are large Cinco de Mayo celebrations - with parades, music, and food - in Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, St. Paul, and other cities across the country.

Cinco de Mayo... a.k.a. Day One again... a.k.a. Carpe Diem Uno - how many Day Ones will it take to recalibrate my brain and realign my focus and reprioritize my habits? (oh f*cking my!)...

I've been sliding right back into To Do List mode, and am suffering these days from Exploding Brain Syndrome - I'm behind in my concert series PR, still haven't gotten out this month's folk club newsletter, have to do some major research/legwork for some caregiving services for my ever-worsening mom, have been virtually non-existent to dear M whose mom passed away a few months ago, my friend A just got out of the hospital (open heart surgery) and I've yet to deliver the food I promised, R moved out and E moved back from college and the transition of furniture, etc. is exhausting... and the beat goes on. All of these equally-important but hard-to-keep-up-with responsibilities have thrown me into a panic - I feel woefully inadequate these days and unable to keep up... as a professional, as a daughter, as a friend...

MH called to ask me to walk this morning, which helped tremendously... and we've already planned to do it again tomorrow - I need to get back on the proverbial horse that threw me. If only good intentions translated to daily life - however, the reality is that follow-through is key... and I just have to figure out ways of doing things differently...

In the meantime, I'm trying to operate from a place of love - it's grounding, fueling and ultimately, despite the cliche, all you need...

SONG: Que Hago Ahora? by Silvio Rodriguez (English translation here)

BOOK: Cinco de Mayo: What Is Everybody Celebrating? by Donald W. Miles

POEM: Begin by Rumi

This is now. Now is,

all there is. Don't wait for Then;

strike the spark, light the fire.

Sit at the Beloved's table,

feast with gusto, drink your fill

then dance

the way branches

of jasmine and cypress

dance in a spring wind.

The green earth

is your cloth;

tailor your robe

with dignity and grace.

QUOTE: "Every beginning is a consequence - every beginning ends some thing." ~ Paul Valery

May Day Cafe (The Nields)

Today's blogpost is brought to you by the month of May and dedicated to the Letter A (you know who you are!) - wishing much love and light on the journey from surviving to thriving... :-)

The name for the month of May has been believed to derive from Maia, who was revered as the Roman Goddess of Springtime, Growth and Increase, and the mother of Mercury, the winged messenger of the Gods. Yet this is disputed as before these deities featured in mythology the name Maius or Magius, taken from the root Mag, meaning the growing month or shooting month was used. - May, Mystical World Wide Web

SONG: May Day Cafe by The Nields

BOOK: On The Morn Of Mayfest by Erica Silverman, Marla Frazee (Illustrator)

POEM: May Day by Phillis Levin

I've decided to waste my life again,

Like I used to: get drunk on

The light in the leaves, find a wall

Against which something can happen,

Whatever may have happened

Long ago—let a bullet hole echoing

The will of an executioner, a crevice

In which a love note was hidden,

Be a cell where a struggling tendril

Utters a few spare syllables at dawn.

I've decided to waste my life

In a new way, to forget whoever

Touched a hair on my head, because

It doesn't matter what came to pass,

Only that it passed, because we repeat

Ourselves, we repeat ourselves.

I've decided to walk a long way

Out of the way, to allow something

Dreaded to waken for no good reason,

Let it go without saying,

Let it go as it will to the place

It will go without saying: a wall

Against which a body was pressed

For no good reason, other than this.

QUOTE: "The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May." ~ Edwin Way Teale