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The Birds In Winter

A few years ago I placed bird feeders around our property.  Always by a window so we could see the action.  Observing the activity around the feeders was weirdly calming.  Birds are busy.  Birds are hungry.  Birds are not warm and fuzzy and loving like a kitten or a puppy.  The love sent out is not returned in the usually expected way from other critters.  Maybe they care - about me.  Maybe they don't.  Maybe on some level of consciousness not explored, they are ohsowell aware that a human is concerned for their well being and they return the favor by showing up at the feeders and providing a show of God's Grace in flight.

I'm not this woman - yet.  However, I feel her in my future and feel contentment and joy.

Piano Passion

I want to play the piano like the big boys and girls.  No mistakes.  Gorgeous interpretation.  Performance coming from a place deep inside the cell tissues.

So I practice.  And practice.  And take lessons.  And listen.  I dream about the music.  Hum the music while buying eggs and milk and bread.  CD's of  Lupu, Rubenstein, Richter and Brendel provide inspiration while driving here and there.  Attending live performances at Peabody or the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to somehow absorb the competency of the man or woman holding forth on a beautiful Steinway concert grand.

And still I make mistakes.  And still my fingers can't find the right note.  And still my inner metronome misses a beat.

Oh to be a kid again focused on the music.  Young brain and body capable of receiving great instruction from committed teachers.  Finding myself deeply absorbed in the study of bringing beautiful sound into physical reality.   Surrounding myself with music and knowing, deeply knowing that the pursuit of musical expression is a gift to be tended and nurtured and respected and pursued and honored.

Sailing Late In The Season On Sloop Du Jour

Spent time on the water today.  It was almost 70 degrees  here in Crab Town.  Nice, nice, nice.  Pretty soon it's going to get cold.  No way around it.  When a beautiful day beckons so late in the season we drop everything and head down to the harbor for a day sail.  Ahhhhhhhhh.

Collard plays Ravel 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' - 6.Toccata

http://youtu.be/UORxpTn-pOE

Oh my.  It will take me 20 years to learn this.  But what a ride!

Piano Lesson With Bob Durso - The Taubman Guy

I had a piano lesson with Bob Durso last Friday.  Have been working on Novelette in C Major by Poulenc.  It's a lovely piece of music.  And my smallish hand is unable to get through the piece without inappropriate alignment of hand, wrist and forearm. 

Hence - pain!  And a bangy, choppy performance. 

In twenty minutes he corrected the problem utilizing the Taubman Method.  No pain, proper alignment, beauty of sound. 

Voila!

Rob And Meg

A very happy, happy couple.  They are GREAT together!

The Happy Couple

Our son and his beautiful bride

Today's The Day!

Today's the Big Day!

Wedding Anxiety

Well HE doesn't seemed concerned about last minute wedding details.  Ah, to be a cat . . .

Hummingbirds Heading To Havana

It's September 17th and the Hummingbirds are buzzing through our yard.  We have four feeders  full of sugar water plus a garden arch completely covered in Cardinal Climber.  Some of the hummers look fat!  Ready for that long flight South.  Some of the birds are young.  Hope they gain enough weight to make the trip.

It's always bittersweet when Hummingbird Season ends.  I miss them over the Winter months and look forward to April and the return of 'my' little birds. 

http://youtu.be/lZw7ZtIzJFE

Our Daughter-In-Law To Be

Our Daughter-In-Law to be (in the middle) with her two sisters.  Isn't she pretty!  She's a lovely woman and we're happy to have her in our family. 

Countdown ~ The Wedding Is Four Weeks Away

The wedding is four weeks away.  Plans are humming along and excitement is building. 

"Let The Lover . . ."

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.
Rumi


When God says it's time to change, there goes your brain.  Let it be.   "Let the 'lover' be."  Difficult.  At times crazy making.  No one gets it.  Spiritual evolution doesn't care that everything falls apart.  That's the point.  Glass shatters,  melts in the furnace of creation and is reborn/recreated by the master glassblower as something new, authentic, more beautiful than what was. 

"Let the 'lover' be."
Lisa

No More Leaving

At

Some point

Your relationship

With God

Will

Become like this:

Next time you meet Him in the forest

Or on a crowded city street

There won't be anymore

"Leaving."

That is,

God will climb into

Your Pocket.

You will simply just take

Yourself

Along!

Hafiz

I Want A Kitten

An Orange Tabby to be precise.  We have a Tuxedo named Sacha and an all Gray cat named Stanley.  I think Sacha and Stanley need a little sister. 

My husband thinks I'm nuts. 

I'm aware there are women of a certain age who collect cats.  I fear I may be one of them. 

Wedding Dress Blues

Ok.  So I'm a woman of a certain age.  A post menopausal shape is my new reality.  And - I seem to have inherited my grandmother's ta ta's!  Where on earth did these girls come from?  Really?! 

Shopping for dress clothing, once a delight, is now a bit of an ordeal.  I purchased a most adorable dress for my son's wedding.  At the fitting I was told I needed a certain type of bra for the top of the outfit to fit properly.

Well.  I got that bra, put it on, put on the dress and, Oh My Gosh!  I'm Dolly Parton! 

I can safely tuck my grandmother's change purse in my dress top and no one will know.  Unless the ice cream truck drives by . . . .

When You Can Endure

When

The words stop

and you can endure the silence

That reveals your heart's

Pain

Of emptiness

Or that great wrenching-sweet longing,

That is the time to try and listen

To what the Beloved's
eyes

Most want
To

Say.

Hafiz

Rehearsal Dinner

Now here's a fun place to party the night before the wedding:

http://littlehavanas.com/

My Good Friend Judith Campbell Passed Away Monday

My good friend, Judith Campbell, passed away Monday after a long, long battle with M.S.  She fought the good fight.  I miss her. 

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Judith-Campbell&lc=4007&pid=158482177&mid=5166333&Affiliate=baltimoresun&PersonID=158490567&FHID=9958

I Need A Mother Of The Groom Dress

I need a Mother Of The Groom Dress.  The choices are a bit odd.  Oh dear . . . .

Where's My Tiger Mother?

Sometimes I just hate to practice. I'll do anything to avoid it. Garden, clean my closet, balance my checkbook. All these things create the aura of "I'm so busy!" But I'm not busy. Not at all.  Just practicing good old fashioned avoidance.

Tall Ships and Blue Angels Visit Baltimore, MD Inner Harbor

http://youtu.be/YIJPHUT7xgQ

http://youtu.be/0QdAGblwAJ4

Baltimore, MD is a wonderful place to live!

Engagement Party

My husband and I had an old fashioned Bar B Que to honor the engagement of our son and daughter-in-law to be.  Her family/our family/wedding party and a bunch of great friends joined the fun.

The icing on the cake, the cherry on top of the whipped cream, the milk with the oreo cookie was ~ drumroll please ~

AN OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM TRUCK!

Ding a ling a ling . . . .

Everyone, and I mean everyone, was suddenly eight years old.  Snowballs (a favorite of Baltimore folk), dreamsicles, and various other assortments of ice cream on a stick were enjoyed by all. 

Amazing Musical Performance

I belong to a number of amateur muscial groups.  One member is a relatively new cello player.  At a recent gathering the cellist was performing a number accompanied by piano.  The musician was having a hard time getting through the piece.  Not only was the music challenging, but playing while listening to the accompanist was not easy.

The musician graciously gave me permission to utilize Harmonic Tuning on both the cello and the cellist.  The results were amazing and immediate.  The playing was richer and more confident and the impact on the listener astounding. 

La Serenissima

Venice,

Italy

OMG

Such a trip!

Departure - Soon

I'll be departing for Venice, Italy very soon.  I have no idea what to expect.  My daughter is planning the entire trip.  I feel like the kid here.  Que sera sera is a rather new thing for me.  I dot all my i's and cross all my t's before embarking on this sort of adventure.  This time I have a round trip airline ticket and a place to stay and that's all I have planned.  Quite liberating. 

Travels With My Daughter

My daughter and I are great travel buddies.  We enjoy the same schedule.  Wake up whenever.  Get dressed and find coffee and something wonderful to eat.  Wander around.  See some sights.  Stop for a quick bite.  Wander some more.  Stop for wine and yet another little bite.  Wander some more until mid-night.  Go back to the hotel. 

Sleep.

Wake up and do the same thing all over again the next day.

We have a sort of schedule.   Over morning coffee we decide what we must/should/maybe do.  If we're feeling lazy, planning may be as far as we get.  If we're energized - and European coffee can energize us pretty quickly - then off we go. 

This time around we're heading to Venice and Siena.  Venice because we have a wonderful place to stay, and an overnight in Siena because that's where my grandfather was born. 

My daughter turns 25 next week.  I'm so lucky that she likes to travel with her Ma.

Durso Workshop Taubman Technique

http://vimeo.com/19603053

Attended the Durso Piano Workshop yesterday at Frederick Community College in Frederick, MD.  Bob Durso is a certified Taubman Method teacher.  He gave a lecture outlining the Taubman piano method, followed by a Technique Class with a Master Class in the afternoon.  Amazing musical results in a very short period of time. 

Bob Durso

Ruby -throated Hummingbird Migration!

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are NOT supposed to move so far North this early in the season.

http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

Open Rehearsal Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Such a treat to attend a rehearsal of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Amazing group of professional musicians.

http://www.bsomusic.org/

Piano Groups

I attended a new piano group (for me) in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Everyone was an amazing amateur performer. It is so delightful to slip back a century and enjoy a music salon in someone's beautiful home on a Sunday afternoon.

Hey Hon! It's an "R" Month!

Fried Oysters. Um, um, um.

Raw Oysters Baltimore Style

I'm a B'more girl. I'm a Chesapeake Bay girl. I'm a seafood girl. And raw oysters are in season. Just had a dozen for lunch with a mess of hush puppies on the side.

Yum, yum, yum.

Today, Like Every Other Day

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

RUMI

I'm Going To Be A Mother-In-Law

Oh my goodness! We're delighted!

Stanley

This is Stanley. He's almost a year old now. He thinks he's a dog. Really. Rolls on his back and wants his tummy rubbed. Licks our face and hands. Shares our pillow with us at night. Yeah, yeah, I know, all cats do that. But he wants to be with us the way a dog wants to be with it's owner. He's fun.

Our children have cats. My husband and I now have three 'catchildren'. We are a 'cat-tastic' family. Oh yeah . . .

Why Not Be Polite

Everyone
Is God Speaking.
Why not be polite and
Listen to
Him?

Hafiz

Marco Came Home!!!!

Happy, happy daughter.
Happy, happy kitty.
Happy, happy mommy (me).