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Music, Muses and Magic

Music, Muses and Mason City, Iowa



The spirit of the time I was born in was one of kaleidoscopic changes. Music from 1949 like, “Good Night Irene”, “So Long,It’s Been Good to Know You” and “ If I Knew You Was Comin’ I’d Baked a Cake”; pure in content and intent watered the seeds that grew into the variety of music that guided my life.
Leaving computers and cell phones that can do everything but change a diaper -- behind, I recall slide shows, or even those viewers you hold up to your eyes with pictures on a wheel that moved as you pulled down a lever.
Mentally, I have a slide show of ‘my youth in Iowa’. The slides depict special buildings like the places I lived, the school I went to, the church, the farms, the library made famous in The Music Man and many outdoor scenes. There are a few teachers, and a few friends. There are the Christmas decorations, glowing on the street poles in spite of an evening snowstorm, and the owl that attached itself to the screen of our second floor apartment window.
. The parades every first Sunday in June went beyond slide show to a memory movie. Our town had band festivals with marching bands from all over Iowa and parts of Minnesota, Illinois. Anticipation burst asunder when the whistle of the first drum major blew. The sounds of brass instruments and bass and snare drums, horses whinnying and clopping, children squealing, and adults clapping and greeting long lost friends were parts of those parades.
The library, silent, however, acoustically endowed with an echo in the children’s room. Thousands of books, and other printed matter called for the attention of readers. Odors of papers and glues, decades of dust and wax greeted every nose. From every corner, counter and shelf, they tugged at your senses as soon as you walked in the door.
Smells in the library competed with the Cinemascopic view outside. The windows in the reading rooms for children and the one for adults were two stories high of clear, unobstructed pane glass. The nature walk that followed along the river next to the library provided an ever-changing view. The seasons were on display at all times out of those windows.
From the first green, Q-tip- sized buds on the century old trees, pussy willows, and wild roses in spring that lead to lilacs, and violets, and lily of the valley. Summer was in full dress with vines and bushes of unknown varieties sheltering the stone pathway to the river.
Of course, fall presented an explosion of color through that kaleidoscopic canvas, because the trees grew beyond the frame of the windows from top to bottom and past the edges. Representing the sky were miniature triangles of blue; an afterthought to the reds, oranges, and yellow and browns filling the towering windows. Colors like those inspired children like me to try to capture the fleeting glories on sheets of paper. We used finger-paints, crayons, watercolor or tempera paints trying to express the excitement those colors meant to us.
The quiet gray of winter sky blanketed the world. Snow covered all man and nature’s creations. Icy air was cracked by the staccato speech of crows and ravens, hopping along the unyielding riverbank.
When the sun appeared, it fought losing battles with bone-chilling winds and ever-present, waiting in the wings, gray amorphous beasts that roamed the sky, killing all warmth through massive passive resistance.
By persistence and the power of patience, the sun finally won those battles and drew the earth closer melting ice and snow and waking all sleeping life forms. When we looked out of the library windows on the world of nature, the lessons were presented in rhythmic, glorious and inspiring patterns.
Those patterns were imprinted on my young mind and spirit.
Now that I am a senior citizen and live in a desert, I travel widely to seek out classic signs of season change. Taking photographs, some that can be printed, and some just stay in my heart.

For My Granddaughter

There are not enough lifetimes available to us for me to be able to tell you all my heart wants you to know.

I have been through many lives while on this earth for just one lifetime. I have been poor in material and rich in spirit, ignorant of my self and wise in ways of the world, rebellious and reckless, full of anxiety, guilt and remorse. The reasons for all these states of being would fill a book that would bore you to tears. Yet, I would want you to know, that for all the suffering, sorrow, depression and years of wandering somewhat lost,
in the long run learning about myself, God, the hearts of others and all the wonders of this universe were worth the costs.

My hope for you is that you can avoid much of the negative aspects of such searching and growth, but that is too unrealistic.

I know, that whatever you choose to do with your life and whenever you decide it is truly yours and take charge of it, you will bring a special understanding and response to the changes that occur.

Let me get to know you so I can give you guidance that will fill all the right spaces and nourish your heart at just the right time. Without even 'knowing' you, I love you and will do whatever I can to show it.

You will be welcomed with loving and open hearts and arms.

Be well. Be happy. Be safe my love. Don't forget to see with you own eyes and hear with your own ears and heart. Don't forget you have the right to explore all the paths of light while loving only one lamp.

Asking God to Guide Us

Those life-changing moments when our compass spins with no direction, we ask God to guide us.
Before we find the path He wishes us to take, He nudges and we step with trepidation until we are assured He is the one guiding and protecting us from ourselves.

Sometimes when we are the most certain it is He who is directing our steps, we are in the way of His choices.

We must know our own selves well enough to know that we are not fooling our self. There are some very basic relationships in life that need to be fully explored before knowing ourself completely. Those relationships form the basis of long-term unions and it is important that we know what our role is or what we can truly create and what we are lacking, so there are no surprises.

Intimate knowledge of the one we see as our other half is also critical.

Ask each other "What do you see yourself (us) doing in 5 years, 10 years." Write down the answers in separate rooms and then compare the responses.

Ask each other " Who will make money? Who will be responsible for paying the bills?"

Ask each other, " How many children? When? What religion and spiritual upbringing will we give them?"

Ask each other, "What is the weirdest thing you ever did?" What do you think of it now?

Ask each other, "Rank in importance the following : family, work, money, religion, friends, art,
music, books, cars,.... add anything you like. List separately and compare together, discuss.

Ask each other" How shall we discipline the children? Who will have the 'last word'? Ever...

Who will decide what color to paint the living room? What kind of car to drive? Where to live?
Will we both work? How long? Will one quit a job for the other? Why? Why not?

What do you see your greatest challenge within yourself? Do you think I can/will help you with that?

These questions are for discussion and to evaluate 'life decision' compatibility. I don't suggest any answers or place ANY judgement one way or another. These are things a successful couple explore BEFORE marriage. All that and more...
If you don't think they are important...try one anyway. See where it goes.

Card Pictures

I Went To a Funeral Yesterday

So much about it was wrong.

The person was too young.

There was too much crying.

There were too many pictures

Too much music.

Too many people for the room.

It was so wrong. So long. Too long.

NUmber Nine Number nINE nUMBER nINE

The Beatles Number Nine Dream should be played all day today. All nines front and center!
Do everything nine times today. Have nine cups of coffee. Call nine friends. Adopt nine cats.
I'm known for doing too much, saying too much, writing too many words when fewer will do.
I give too much, tell too much, stay too long, arrive too early, and just don't know when to quit.
They FINALLY made a day for me when too much is just enough! Stream of consciousness has never been my favorite form of communicating, but today... let 'er rip!

Clarification of Heart blog...

God has no 'form' and no need of form. Reference to 'His most critical organ" is merely to make the argument understood. It is in no way my or Bahai representation of God.

Now. The heart has a 'mind' of it's own. Research shows it is made up of more nerves than muscle and emits hormones to communicate to the brain and other organs in order to command the body to do what it must for survival. The brain responds by telegraphing orders through the nervous system that the heart does not command.

So. The heart is the first point of action, if the heart is a hardened one and the action required consists of assisting another human being it will be ignored. Until such time as the heart's owner changes spiritually either in knowledge or action that causes growth, that heart will be isolated from knowledge of God.

Heart of Hearts

The cells of the heart begin to function as soon as they are differentiated from the others.
That cell --and any cell from your heart that can be separated out will beat all by itself.

The mystery remains --why is this so?
Why would a cell, the smallest possible representation of the object itself, function singly, and alone?

For it to be the first identifiable functional cell in the human body is fascinating, and the logic behind it is clear.

But for a cell to do it's job in seclusion from its (pardon the phrase) collective, is not so logical.

One could conclude that perhaps we, human beings, are all cells in the heart of God and taken singly can function. Except God has no such interdependent need of us. None whatsoever, never mind needing us to complete his most critical organ.

So what could the connection be?
In my opinion, it is grace. Bountiful grace.
God made His creation to be completely independent from Him. The blessing and the curse of free will. In order for the physical to be separate and be able to function without His interference, He made it operate from the first cell intended to become a heart.

Dream Dictionary

Dream dictionarys espouse many different agendas. I searched many of them and found them wanting. However, I did settle on one that seemed to be in tune with my frame of references.
All of the interpretations of symbols are looked at from a spiritual point of view --not physical.

Its called Do You Dream? It may be out of print, but it is the best source I found and I looked at many, many of them in book stores and online.

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to share my 'life-changing' dreams with you. There are few.