Two Summer Looks

Last summer's look, the white bed spread and naked windows (except those horrible wooden blinds), really didn’t do much for me as you can see by the bottom pictures. Blah. Bland.

I like this summer’s look a lot better…sage. The sheers were up over the winter and just needed to be freshened up a bit. This looks so much better. Cooler. And the drapes will keep out the summer heat during the day.

I should have taken a picture of the winter look, but thought of it too late. Don’t worry, another winter will come! ☹

Osama bin Ladin is Dead

I reacted to the news in two ways:
1) Good! They got the bastard!
2) This isn’t going to bring Phil back (or any of our troops who have died in combat), and the safety of the world just went down the drain.

The feeling that stays with me is that his death has solved nothing, and in fact has made a bad situation worse.

So I’m of two minds: I’m glad we finally got him and I don’t see that this has solved anything.

We can’t keep throwing hate at hate and expect our problems to be solved. Only Light dispels the darkness and only Love will replace hate.

I ask you to pray that Love and Light replace negativity on the planet.
I ask you to pray that all negativity be transmuted back to the Light.
I ask you to pray for Peace.
I ask you to Love one another.
I ask you to try really, really hard.

09/16/1912 - 04/14/2011

My mom passed last Thursday.

I thank my family for their strong support during that time...they held me up.

I also want to thank Hartford Hospital for their caring and sensitivity to her situation, and their guidance.

The Hospice team was there when the family needed them...someone to talk to and confide in.

As the family went through a sad series of events, it was good to be surrounded by such caring people.

My Florida Vacation

Yes! I actually went to Florida for 5 days from March 29 to April 2nd. The last time I was in Florida I was on my honeymoon.

The first two days we had overcast skies. That’s OK because I don’t lie on the beach sun burning anyway. At least, I don’t do that any more! ☺

The third day we had torrential downpours, high winds and tornado warnings and watches. No tornado came very close.

Day four was beautifully sunny. We went to Washington Oaks Gardens State park in Palm Coast. The gardens were very nice and the history quite interesting. On the ocean side I was fascinated by the coquina rock formations.

Flights down and back were uneventful. The flight from Atlanta to Bradley got in 40 min. early due to a tail wind.

Lots of Poetry Going On.

The day after I got back from Florida there was a reading at Hall Memorial Library in Ellington. This reading was accompanied by music on dulcimer and guitar.

Then it was off to Broad Street Books in Middletown two days later. A good venue, but the poets have to compete with the compressors and smoothie makers in the food court.

Upcoming on April 17th, there will be an Ekphrastic Poetry event at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Poetry written about a work of art is called Ekphrastic. I will be one of many poets reading on that day. I chose "Midwinter Moonlight" by Regis-Francois Cignoux.

Thank Goodness I Went to Florida That Week and Not This Week.

My mother suffered a stroke yesterday (Saturday) and is in ICU at a Hartford hospital. She is unable to talk; has fluid in her lungs and an occasional tremor in one hand. There is no prognosis…yet. Had she had the stroke one week earlier, I would have been in Florida preparing to come home. Can you imagine the emotional roller coaster I would have been on?

Beyond the Mists

This is a video of me reading the title poem from my book, "Beyond the Mists", at the Russell Library in Middletown last week. The feature reader was Glyn Dowden who read in the persona of Dylan Thomas.