Every time I hear Israel Kamakawiwo ‘Ole’s rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow I get cosmic goosebumps.  He has one of those voices.  Andrea Bocelli does the same thing to me.  Beautiful voices abound, but there are those rare ones that pierce our soul with that “je ne sais crois” and we can’t explain why.  I want to share one of my favourite songs (and versions) of all time below.  I could never get tired of listening to it.  In fact, it really makes me want to get my hands on a ukulele so I can learn.  Ukulele is to Israel as Banjo is to…… you guessed it, Kermit the Frog.  The two go together like salt and pepper, Laverne & Shirley, the yin & yang.  I guarantee you if you’re ever feeling stressed or your priorities feel warped or out of proportion just listen to this song and it will instantly push the reset button.  I promise.

Today a dear girlfriend got me an astrological progressions reading as a Christmas gift from a woman in Dana Point, CA named Marcelina.  It was amazing – like lifting the film off of Confusionville and seeing things clearly.  What is amazing to me is that we often have the intuition about things but don’t trust ourselves.  It may take someone to point things out or echo our barely audible intuition for us to have the courage to move in that direction.  For example, I have had a vague uneasiness around an issue of health recently – knowing something was wrong but not knowing exactly what.  I have up until now chosen to ignore it and rationalized to myself that since I was not drinking everything was fine.  She encouraged me to see a doctor as soon as possible and that everything perhaps was not fine and it’s better to address sooner rather than later.  For that, I am grateful.

She also suggested I keep the road clear and free of dating right now and to focus on healing which is perfect because I have zero inclination in that direction now.  First things first, I’ve been telling myself  “Don’t ask me to walk yet when I’m just learning to crawl! Let me learn to walk and then maybe we’ll revisit that.” I have also been hazy in terms of exactly the type of business I would like to start although I have subtle pushes here and there in a certain direction.  She basically slammed the gavel down, gave me some ideas of the right direction and was pushing me towards center stage into an area I didn’t think about, but know would be invaluable for what I’m trying to create.  Health warnings, no boys and pouring water on the right seeds planted in business.  The perfect Rx for the end of 2009.  My intuition also tells me that 2010 is going to be a wildly transformative year for many people.  In order to bring something new in, we have to release the old.  In order to truly release the old, especially if its presence has outlasted its purpose, we need to thank it in order to let go, not staying unintentionally attached to is by disliking it or having negative feelings.  So to release 2009 and herald in the dawn of 2010 I would like to list 7 things I am grateful for in 2009.

• The changing of the guard and entering a time where our leadership emphasizes empathy and cooperation.
• The courage to embrace crisis and transform it into opportunity along with a shifting of priorities away from money and towards the spiritual.
• For all those who are fighting the tyranny of addiction and the belief that the tyrants can be banished through utter belief, perserverance and self-love.
• For the adaptability to ride the waves of transition and gracefully take whatever comes in life, whether it seems to us like sun or rain.
• For the ability to express ourselves freely without restriction.
• For our families – both our biological families who we are born into, and our spiritual families who we find.
• For the ocean and sky and grass – may they always rejuvenate through our care and never be permanently tainted.

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What are you grateful for this month?

It’s time for another American Idol poll! It has been almost a month since the last one, and it took quite a while for the tie-breaker vote to come in, which explains this delay. That single vote declared Bo Bice as the winner for his version of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me. Thank you to all who participated. I am hoping for more votes this time haha!

Anyway, for this edition of Who Did It Best?, I am still featuring three Idols. I’ve been thinking of what song to feature, though, because it’s the Christmas month. So I said to myself that it has to be a happy or positive one. And one song stood out from my list: Somewhere Over The Rainbow. As far as my research is concerned, three Idols did sing the song. First, season 2’s top 3 Kimberly Locke, then runner-up Katharine McPhee on the 5th season, and Jason Castro two seasons ago. They all gave their own take, three different versions of a classic fairy tale song, so it’s up to you guys who do you think did best. Time to vote again!

First up, Kimberly:

Next, McPheever!

And finally, Jason:

Now it’s time to pick one! Here’s the poll

A very Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy voting!

I can’t place it, but I know that today is something other than the day before my birthday– and then I remember: Pearl Harbor—and then Michael Moore posts from Hiroshima on Twitter, saying:

In Hiroshima 2 day. Coincidentally, it’s Pearl Harbor Day. I hear from back home the pundits beating the drums again 4 war. Nothing changes.

His discouraging words bring me back to President Obama’s speech at West Point last month.  I listened to it  from my facebook account at the doctor’s office where I can snag some high speed wifi.

“Is that live?” another patient asks overhearing the President’s voice. I explain that it’s not, and that I’m just getting to it now because I don’t have television reception at home.

The doctor asks the receptionist to leave her office door open so that she can listen to. “I caught part of it in the airport,” she tells me,  “But I’d like to hear more.”

“I love the sound of his voice,” says another patient.

In response, I complain that as much as I want to pay attention, speeches always put me to sleep.  As an educator, it occurs to me that politicians might be able to make these moments more participatory.  They could split everyone into pairs and have them ask each other:

What would you do?

Obama could call on a few people to share their wisdom afterward, and take a survey of hands to see who agrees.

After the speech, my politically astute teen gets word of the increase of troops to Afghanistan and confides to his father on the drive home from school that he’s worried about the draft. He’s only 14.   But I think about it too.  We’ve never even let him play with guns.

I no longer hold full responsibility for the world my beloved child inherits as  his choices have begun to define it too.  An older classmate is in Afghanistan right now.  My son asks about the “action” Joseph might get to see.  He figures times of peace must be pretty boring for soldiers.

I think back to a conversation on war I had with some women friends.  One, a documentarian, suggests that we simply bring all the soldiers home and see what happens.

“But that won’t address the hunger some have for fighting,” I offer, saying that  I think we need to find other channels for that warrior energy.  I wonder how it might look if our armed forces directed the youth’s need for action into combating other threats– like disaster, environmental degradation, poverty.

But what of the thirst for killing, I think?  This week a 17 year old boy was tried as an adult for the murder of his ten-year old brother.  The parents didn’t attend the trial, but they supported the conviction at which they lost a second son.  The boys had been wrestling and the teen strangled his younger brother in a hold– to satiate a desire to kill.

Is Michael Moore right?  Has nothing changed?  Will nothing change? I don’t know, but I do know that we cannot collapse into defeat.  As quoted from Gandhi, We must  be the change we want to see in the world—and that begins in our own hearts.

My memory turns toward a tiny park on a hill in the Berkshires of Massachusetts—where my own  troubled mind was filled with the hope of peace.

I sit on a bench beside a young Japanese woman named Seiko.  She and I are among 25 students training to be YogaDance instructors at Kripalu’s Healing Center in Lenox.

We have been assigned as partners with the task of supporting each other with our journey at Kripalu by taking a walk together.

On the path through the woods, Seiko tells me that she has been unable to find the song, “Over the Rainbow.” She asks if I can sing it for her so that she can practice the dance prayer she has created for our class.

I laugh at the thought of me singing while she dances, but I agree, especially because Seiko is a ballerina and I’d enjoy the treat of watching her move to that beautiful tune.

We come to a tiny park with a single bench under the shade of a thickly trunked tree.  Before we begin, I tell Seiko that there is something I must say.

There among the mountains, I turn toward my new Japanese friend, and timidly offer,

I want to apologize for dropping the bomb on your country.

Seiko is taken aback by my unexpected words.  She asks me to repeat myself.  And I do– with tears stinging my eyes.  Although I am twenty years her elder, Seiko responds to me with a the tenderness of a mother,

You don’t have to apologize for that, Kelly.  You and I weren’t even born.

“I know,” I say, “but it’s important to me to say these words to someone from your country.”

Tears fill Seiko’s eyes as she says in a whisper,

No one has ever apologized to me for that before, thank you…

I begin to sing, and Seiko begins to dance under the broad branches of a firmly rooted tree,

Somewhere over the rainbow…

Kelly Salasin

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Pilgrimage Statistics

Consecutive Days Riding: 56                            Consecutive Days Blogging: 56

Today’s Mileage:  6                                       Total Trip Mileage: 483

As I ride my bike today I think about my posting from yesterday and the issue of choosing a path that gives life meaning.  Often once we make our choice and begin our journey, we will carry with us mementos to remind us of the purpose for that journey.  A knight might go into battle with a banner of his God fluttering beside him, a soldier may carry a “good luck” charm from his family, and a truck driver may hang a photo of loved ones on his truck cab visor. All of these serve to remind the individual why they are undertaking a particular journey, whether that is for God, country, family, fortune or fame.

A Joyful Son!

After his last visit, my joyful, youngest son left a CD in my car with a selection of his favorite songs. I don’t know if he left it as a reminder for me of his presence and importance in my life.  This week, during my long commute to the university, I often switched from the radio to his CD on the random selection setting, I love a surprise!  Yesterday on the way home a voice I did not recognize sang a song associated with a story of a young girl’s journey to find her way home.  The characters she met on her travels were themselves each lost in their own way.  All found the answers on the journey as they confronted their fears and evil forces.  In the end, the young girl discovered that the choice to return home was always hers to make!

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
and the dreams that you dreamed of
once in a lullaby
somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
and the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true

Well I see trees of green and
Red roses too,
I’ll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The song served as a reminder about why I do what I do on a daily basis.  I stretch and struggle; I climb and grow every day.  I do it to be there for my sons and the sons and daughters of others who gather in my classroom to take notes of my teachings. I plant seeds for the future, in hopes that “somewhere and sometime over the rainbow” they will help these young people find their path.  It is a reminder that we all need to dream, hold onto possibilities, sometimes against the odds.  It’s a reminder of the joyful love of a youngest son.

The song ends and I smile to myself, the random selector does its job and the car is suddenly filled with a bone rattling beat. A voice appears… “I’m bringing sexy back!”  I shake my head and then bounce to the beat, sure that passing motorists must wonder if I’m having some kind of spastic attack.  It’s just my dance moves, but they are the topic for another blog… or NOT!

Thanks to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole for his rendition of Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. Tomorrow we visit a Native American Spiritual Site!

NOA.

One special day. That is the title of the blog post of my dear friend, Philip, who gave me this year one of the most personal and touching birthday gifts I have ever received.  An early present because Philip is 15 hours ahead of me in time.  He marked my special day by sharing his musical talent with this special rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  Thank you, my friend, and, God willing, we shall meet someday somewhere over the rainbow.

I received this wonderful early birthday present, but my actual birthday, when it came for me 15+ hours later, went something like this:

It began as an ordinary day.  I woke up late, as usual, sped to the McDonald’s across the street for the #9, a Sausage McGriddle Meal with OJ, and an iced Hazelnut Latte.  Starving, I crammed it down hurriedly in the car and then ran upstairs to hit the shower, missing the traditional early morning birthday song call from my parents while I was gone.  They had to leave a song-a-gram.  Aside from that, I didn’t expect much from my special day as I was to spend it working and then after work getting my long overdue hair color touch up at the salon.  No birthday presents, no cakes, no candles for me, and, honestly I was okay with that.  I’m not big on celebration and ceremony.

The morning came and went with nothing spectacular but a few pleasant smiling  birthday greetings from co-workers.  At lunchtime, I wandered on over to Subway to grab my standard lunch these days, a meatball sandwich with two cookies and a Coca Cola, and headed back to the break room to eat with my boss and another co-worker.  It was during lunch that my day passed from ordinary to extraordinary. 

As I was gobbling down my sandwich, my sis and niece and nephew arrived unexpectedly bearing gifts and birthday wishes, transforming my table into a birthday party.

From my niece, an adorable handwritten note and a bunny Webkin, a girl bunny who is meant, I’m sure, to be a companion to my male rabbit, Bubbles.

From my nephew, a card that calls me old (waaaaaaaaaaah!) if I pick up the remote control and hold it to my ear and listen for a dial tone—fortunately, I rarely watch TV—and a sweet floral arrangement.  Hopefully, he’ll excuse my phone cord winding through the back of the photo.

And last, but certainly not least, a giant birthday balloon from all along with a Christmas CD I had been wanting from my sistah, who, being an adult, surely will excuse the fact that I was unable to get a good photo or scan of the CD (on second thought, probably, NOT).

Following on the heels of the departure of my sis and crew, came my hair stylist with a gynormous piece of carrot cake that had three layers and was therefore perfectly suited to divide and share with the three of us who were at the table.  What are the odds of that, eh?  And then, not too long after lunch, I was surprised by my co-workers, with a rousing rendition of the birthday song and bunch of cupcakes iced all together into a giant cupcake during our Monday afternoon meeting.  It looked like a cross between a mushroom cloud and a cupcake.  Wish I had been carrying my camera with me.  Not only that, but I was absolved of being MOD by two of my co-workers who generously took over for me in honor of my special day.

The best part of the mini party with my work buddies was the note left on my card by the store manager.  It made my day, especially because I know she meant it from the heart.

But that’s not all.  After a relaxing trip to the salon, I spent some enjoyable time leisurely shopping and while doing so received a call from my mother who was disappointed that she was not going to get to see me on my birthday.  What could I do but make a trip over to mom and dad’s house for a nice visit and some more lovely gifts, one of which was a lighted, magnified makeup mirror which I need desperately now that my close vision is deteriorating.  My parents also gave me two nice warm tops and a beautiful purple top that I was able to wear to work the next day where I received several compliments. 

And so………..all in all, this was One Special Day.  I am blessed with wonderful family, friends, and co-workers!  Thank you to everyone who helped make my ordinary day extraordinary!

Regreso a Keith Jarret, con un fervor extraño. Lo había dejado distraídamente, en los ochenta. Los regresos pueden ser muy bonitos. No siempre está uno entero para algo, y es que para un encuentro hacen falta tanto la afinidad (que es misteriosa) como la disposición (más práctica); a veces el tiempo trae lo que faltaba la primera vez.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then oh why can’t I?

If happy little blue birds fly beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can’t I?

Since Abigail was born still certain music has had a very special place in my heart.  It was hard to plan a funeral service for a baby that we never got to know, or even meet, but songs helped to express what we were feeling on that special day.  And, in the months that followed I kept coming across new songs which made me think about my beautiful baby daughter and how much I missed her.

More recently, I made a playlist of songs that spoke to me about Abigail as a gift for my lovely wife.  This was a good way to honour both of the special girls in my life.

Around the first anniversary of Abigail’s death I felt so much emotion but not the release of tears.  It was music once again that broke through my emotional reserves as I eventually sobbed my heart out listening to one particular song.

Anyway, I thought I would share here some of the special music that reminds me of Abigail.  Since the web is not as joined up as it should be, you might not be able to play all the music linked here.  If so hopefully a quick internet search will bring you somewhere where you can hear them or failing that, try spotify or youtube.  If I have already posted on this blog about a song I will link to that otherwise I will try and find a version online.

Songs about stillbirth

Some songs that seem to me to be about stillbirth or the loss of a child include:

- Still by Gerrit Hofsink is perhaps the most powerful song about stillbirth specifically – “Lost you before I found you, gone before you came, but I love you just the same.  Missed you before I met you, on earth we never can, but in heaven we’ll meet again.”  You can read the lyrics here along with a youtube video of the song.  Thanks to Sian for first introducing me to this song

- Heaven is the face by Steve Curtis Chapman – I love this song and also With Hope and Beauty will Rise by the same grieving father.  I happily recommend the whole album in fact.

- A little more of you by Ashley Chambliss is a recent discovery for me – thanks to In the land of Broken Hearts

- Daughter of heaven by Kate Rusby

- Gone too soon by Michael Jackson also seems very appropriate for a grieving parent but I am not sure if that is what it was originally about

- I will take you hope by the Grateful Dead of all people

- Somewhere over the rainbow always reminds me of heaven

Some love songs (which still do it for me)

Two songs by snow patrol which I only discovered recently include the haunting lyrics of Chasing Cars and the rising anthem of Run.

High by Lighthouse Family was a song we very nearly had at Abigail’s funeral but in the end we went for Friends by Michael W Smith, mainly for the first few lines “packing up the dreams God planted, in the fertile soil of you.  I can’t believe the hopes he’d granted, now a chapter in our lives is through.  But we’ll keep you close as always”.  I can’t bring myself to type the next line because it isn’t even remotely true!

I will always love you by Whitney Houston reduced me to an emotional pulp a few months after Abigail died when it came on the ipod on random shuffle.  I had a similar response to One more day by Diamond Rio – forgive the video! 

Unchained Melody by Righteous Brothers is another love song that is now forever about Abigail.  As is Without you by Dixie Chicks and 20 Good Reasons by Thirsty Merc.

The current ringtone on my mobile is Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns and Roses – just the guitar solo at the start – still no one had picked up on the relevance.

Heaven by Live is another song which has Abigail written all over it for me.

Annie’s song by John Denver is a song that I sometimes listen to when I climb the hill where we scattered Abigail’s ashes.  Another such song is Go rest high on this mountain by Vince Gill or To where you are sung by Josh Groban

A Father’s love song for his daughter which reminded me of all the potential lost when Abigail died and also spoke of our ongoing infertility troubles is Cinderella.

Christian worship songs

The old children’s song Jesus loves me seems very appropriate for Abigail – risk searching youtube at your peril for this one.

As high as the heavens (voice of hope) – a song pointed out to be by Andthroughthestorm who had this song at the thanksgiving service for their daughter Abi.

A song by Matt and Beth Redman (who have had three miscarriages) is Blessed be your name. Also by Matt Redman is You never let go, a song based on Psalm 23.  Also further down in the same link is At the foot of the cross (Beauty for ashes) which helped me to start thinking about looking for beauty and God in our grief.

Two songs which we sang at Abigail’s funeral were How deep the Father’s love for us (which speaks about how God was himself a bereaved parent) and God of Grace (I stand complete in you) which includes the line “strivings and all anguished dreams in rags lie at my feet, but only grace provides the way for me to stand complete.”  A song played at the end of Abigail’s funeral was There is a Day which I absolutely love as it has such hope in it.

More recently I came across Jesus, draw me ever nearer by Keith and Kristyn Getty which spoke to me about letting God into my grief.

So as you can see quite a lot of songs have really touched me over the past 14 months.

What songs have really impacted you during your journey of grief?

(for a similar post on stillbirth poems click here)

Heute gibts ein Cover von Israel Kamakawiwo `ole

ein US- amerikanischer Sänger der leider schon 1997 im Alter von 38 Jahren und einem zwischenzeitlichen Gewicht von 343 kg verstorben ist.

Aloha!

00264.0000 OVER THE RAINBOW

Somewhere over the rainbow,
Way up high,
There’s a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow,
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.
Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
Away above the chimney tops,
That’s where you’ll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly;
Birds fly over the rainbow-why then, oh why can’t I?
If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow, why, oh why can’t I?

Am dat un telefon la EMag pentru a face o comanda si cat timp am fost nevoit sa astept am fost uimit de piesa care a inceput sa se auda in receptor. Ajunsesem chiar in punctul in care am fost pe punctul sa o injur pe fata de la aia ca mi-a raspuns asa de repede si nu m-a lasat sa ascult piesa.

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

Eu achei tão bonito que eu quis botar aqui, posso?

My daughter Clara sings
Somewhere Over the Rainbow –
plays ukulele.

Till David.

Ayer descubrí un lugar nuevo en la escuela. Yo le llamo “el piso que está más arriba del piso de hasta arriba de la bilioteca”, ja. Resulta que yo siempre había oído que había como otro nivel en la biblioteca, más arriba del tercer piso, que según yo era el último.

Total que ayer fui por unos libros con alguien y me contó que en efecto, ese piso es de verdad. “Y además hay un letrero que dice que no %&$! con tu novi@”. ¿En serio? ¡No ma! ¿podemos verlo? Y como no sabe decirme que no, pues ahí nos tienen, subiendo por la puerta “secreta” a la terraza. Cuando llegamos vi que, en efecto, es una terraza, con muchas mesas y sillas para que los alumnos estudien. Justo cuando volteé a la derecha vi un letrero negro que decía:

“Este lugar cuenta con un circuito cerrado de televisión

Por reglamento quedan prohibidas las muestras excesivas de afecto.”

ME-GA-LOL, no pude contener mi risa, se los juro. ¿Qué tuvo que pasar ahí para que pusieran eso? No sé, y la verdad creo que no quiero enterarme. Pero vamos, que ya que uno lo piensa… esa terraza es el lugar perfecto para… “querer al prójimo”. Es decir, está casi vació normalmente, es muuuy grande, tiene rincones por todas partes, y el bendito circuito cerrado de televisión consta de sólo 2 cámaras. No, no estoy diciendo que ir a “mostrar afecto” ahí esté del todo bien… pero tampoco que esté mal. Además, para personas como yo (o tal vez como ustedes) debe ser difícil estarse escondiendo de la gente para… dar muestras de afecto a su “compañera”. Y hablo simplemente de besos, abrazos o tomadas de mano, no me malinterprenten.

La cosa es que últimamente he aprendido que existen bastantes lugares en la escuela que ayudan a ese propósito. Está el pasto [pero el pasto escondido de la sociedad, donde nadie pasa], los últimos pisos después de horas de clase, la biblioteca en general es un lugar con cierta privacidad de vez en cuando, las escaleras traseras de los edificios… por donde nadie pasa a menos que sea un caso de emergencia xD, etc etc. Mi punto es que vas aprendiendo. Y claramente todo depende de las instalaciones de tu escuela. ¿Quién más tiene lugares predilectos o simplemente ya ubicados? ¿Las han cachado alguna vez? Tengo curiosidad, si pueden lean y comenten

These Beverly Feldman's are perfect for chasing rainbows and what ever else in life you may need. Photo by Jean Thornton

Rainbows in Key West are not an uncommon sight, especially during the rainy season. On my morning walk with the dog after a pre-dawn rain shower, a perfect rainbow presented itself against an equally flawless blue sky.  I fought the child-like desire to chase the colors sprayed across the sky in an attempt to find the mythical pot of gold promised on the other end.  But even as adults, no matter how fast we run or how far we drive, it seems the end of the rainbow is never reached.  So why, even when we know better, do we still feel drawn to chasing rainbows?

It could be the cynic in me or it could have been that, at the exact moment nature was presenting a wonder in the sky, my mp3 player was blasting You Can’t Always Get What You Want  by the Rolling Stones, giving me a strange urge to run the exact opposite direction of the rainbow.  After all, if Mick Jagger’s words are right we get what we need, not always what we want.  The independent woman in me agrees—I get what I need through my hard work and ambition.  A goal-driven person like me must believe her success is the result of her own efforts and is not what is found at the end of mystical illusion. 

However, if I listen to Kermit the Frog, who actually gives very good advice, I am told not to believe that rainbows are not simply visions or illusions yet in reality are what separate the lovers and dreamers from the rest of the world.  Judy Garland sang of a world where troubles melted away and blue birds soared.  If there was ever a girl who needed her troubles to melt away it was Judy.  It is easy to see why as children rainbows sent our hearts racing.  Let us not forget that a somewhat healthy breakfast can consist of a bowl of Lucky Charms—a sugary treasure, but a treasure none the less.  

So is it better to believe in a pot of gold and a land made of dreams we had when we young—or is it best to stay grounded in our own reality, understanding that discovering unclaimed treasures seldom happens in the real world?  As much as I would like to believe that a shoe closet filled with all the high-heeled wonders this shoe girl could imagine would be at the end of my rainbow,  another part of  me has to me realize that, like the many other fantasies we hold as children, following rainbows are not the most practical use of our time. 

On the only side of the rainbow I know, I have no choice but to see the reality of life.   Dreams do not always come true on this side; at times there can be more frustration and stress than happiness.  It seems that as we get older, we give up the ideals we once had about careers, relationships, and the types of people we want to be.   It becomes just as unrealistic to continue chasing the dreams of perfection and unending bliss as it does to chase a rainbow.

And just when I think the push of the world is too much, I look up on a morning walk and see a rainbow arching across the top of the world.  I personally cannot help thinking that maybe Kermit and the Rolling Stones are both a little right.  We can not always get what we want; more often than not it is a struggle just to get what we need.  And we should never feel bad for accepting the difference between what we want and what we need.  But yes, I also believe there is still a rainbow connection out there too—a place where everything is bright and where our pot of gold waits for us in whatever form that “gold” might be.   And we should never feel bad for chasing rainbows even when it’s impractical.

For now I will choose to still let those color bands to be more than just visions and illusions and keep searching for my rainbow connection.  And if Kermit really is right those colors may just show us who we really are.  Treasures can be hard to find, but I am pretty sure that when they are found it is amazing.  There just might be a day when you wake up with the clouds far behind you; until then, a rainbow ahead of you is a good sign.

To hear my interview with Stanley where he discusses music therapy, the healing power of music, his amazing music career, his latest album State of Nature, and even the effect of music on animals follow this link.

I forgot to mention that on Sunday morning I took my first sips of coffee in probably 2 years.  TO DIE FOR.  I forgot how GOOD it tastes.  I only took 5 sips though.  I could tell it wasn’t settling right.  But, I have been thinking about it ever since!  I love coffee.  I am gonna try it again soon and see if I do o.k.  I did however buy a new kind of hot tea while at the beach.  It is cinnamon cake flavored!  It’s made by the Republic of Tea & its the brand made special for Harry & David store.  It’s Yummy!

I just realized that yesterday was the 27th of October.  Two months from yesterday will be my “golden” b-day.  27 on the 27th.  I might have to have an actual b-day party this year & bring in my friends from out-of town.  Twenty-seven sounds old to me.  Three years from 30.  Yikes.  Maybe since its my golden birthday it will be my golden year.  Yeah..maybe thats the magic number…27.   I am hopeful.  I ran into my friend Mary at the gym last night.  I used to be scared to death of her.  But, I have found she is one of the nicest people you will meet.  We talked about me finding someone & she spoke the most kind words of encouragement to me.  Just when I start to get super discouraged I run into people who genuinely speak words of hope to me.

Buongiorno a tutti miei cari radio-lettori. Stamattina sono a lezione in facoltà, perciò vi proporrò in unica soluzione 4 canzoni per questo programma mattutino. Sono:

Doris Day con “Que Sera Sera”,
Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole con “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”,
Jimmy Fontana con “Il Mondo” e
Lamb con “Gabriel”.

Noi ci ritroviamo qui per il programma pomeridiano. Siete in ascolto su RadioBlog 235!

IV

Para além do refrão acelerado idêntico ao grande clássico “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, o início de Lição de Voo é incrivelmente semelhante ao de Liquid.