MaryAlice Musings and More

The first camping trip of the summer.  Gear is packed.  Weather is due to improve.  Off to a park that I have never been to in South Eastern MN-it is in the driftless land on Minnesota, and the driftless land in South Western Wisconsin is where I had my home as a young woman.  I like the idea and the terrain of these unglaciated areas.  The website for the park talks about Acadian flycather and the Louisiana Waterthrush.   I am going to look them up  tomorrow so I will know if I see one!  So here's to State Parks,   and the beauty of our country.

Yesterday the winds blew, the taps played, and the guns shot off their memorial sounds.  I live close to a very big cemetery.  I walk through it regularly, and drive by when I am doing car errands.  All day yesterday, the bells played their music.  The taps played at 10, noon, and 3.  The guns shot off a salute to fallen soldiers.  Most of the day I was home, working inside as the winds blew.  I watched the "helicopters" from the huge huge maple tree next door spill its seeds.  The patio and walk that Myah had swept clean the day before was filled with new helicopters.  Thousands of helicopters twirling down everywhere.  Seeds twirling in space, while I reflected on memories, those lost, what it means to be a patriot, who had died in a real helicopter, who had driven one, who was the nurse that rushed to help?  All these thoughts, on Memorial Day, as I watched as the my patio was once again covered with helicopters as they silently whirled to the ground.

Today was a gloriously beautiful day.  I was Gramma for a second day in a row.  It's pretty fun when your granddaughter decides that one night with Gramma is NOT enough.  So for the second night in a row we watched a movie about a girl and her horse and had a wonderfully, snuggly time.  Today was the second day of outdoor lawn work.  The flower beds are cleaned up, the patio is ready for relaxing, the plants are all in the ground.  Myah chose her jobs, and she was an amazing helper.  We laughed, took breaks, sang, and about an hour before Mom and Dad came to pick her up, she looked up at me and said, " We are a great team, Gramma!"  Oh how sweet it is.

I have been home for over one week - that is the longest I have been home at one time in almost two months.  Myah (nine year old granddaughter) and I have spent the morning in the dirt.  The front flower bed that was neglected and looking very sad is cleaned up, the perennials are planted.  The tomato and basil plants are in their pots and I am bone tired.  Myah was a great help, and provided the "salt of the earth" reminders about why this is so good to do - the digging in the dirt.  She said after about 30 minutes, gardening makes me feel so relaxed, and we talked about remembering this when we are harried, or crabby, or just out of sorts -- maybe some garden therapy would be a great way to feel better.  All the while we were cutting back dead heads, making the leaf and debris pile larger, trimming and cutting back.  It was perfect.  Now, as I type, Myah is singing in the shower, enjoying her time with Gramma and just plain happy.  "Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift ...

I am in DC for meetings at DHHS on research on mental illness and employment.  Translating research, theory, funding, silos, stovepipes and then just real people is exhausting.  I am always the "state" person vs. the PhD researcher - and feel a need to keep interjecting some kind of perspective that feels real from my day to day perspective.  So after all day of very good discussion, debate and listening - it was off to enjoy one the "beauties" of our US Government - the Smithsonian... I am staying across the street from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I went to see New Deal for Artists 1934 - seems so appropriate for NOW.   The artwork that was commissioned by WPA is amazing, and the exhibit is great - it is being shown until January 10, 2010.  Here is a quote on the wall above a stunning painting of the building of the golden gate bridge: " The PWAP has been a recognition of the value of culture and arts in American life.  It is a significant example of ...

It is Mother's Day, and this is the 5th Mother's Day that I cannot call my Mom and say Happy Mother's Day.  I now get to imagine her as happy, full, whole, reincarnated as who knows what, on her path of continued oneness with the universe.  Several years ago I was riding in the car going out to see my daughter, son and grandkids and I heard this story about a roller rink closing and memories flooded back.  That night I wrote most of the poem that I titled "Remembering".  Mother's Day seems the best day to share!  Remembering I was driving down the highway,   When I heard about the roller rink closing. It had opened the year that my Mother was born. In that moment   I heard the music,   and hundreds of tiny wheels pushing, gliding, spinning around   the rink. Wobbly knees and uncertain legs,   Mom holding onto my hand then letting go – and I am transfixed, Watching my Mother crossing over her legs to the beat,   head back, smiling as I held onto the s...

The decision to agree to celebrate Vesak as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first Conference of the  World Fellowship of Buddhists  held in  Sri Lanka  in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. The Resolution that was adopted at the World Conference reads as follows: “ That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His Majesty, the  Maharaja of Nepal  in making the full-moon day of Vesak a  Public Holiday in Nepal , earnestly requests the Heads of Governments of all countries in which large or small number of Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest benefactors of Humanity. ” On Vesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions: The birth, enlightenment and the pa...

This week brought us the annual announcement on the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Minnesota, selected by the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.  I love that these places and things get some oh so late attention, and some of them get saved and preserved by this elevation of awareness.  So the best is Bena's (population 102) Big Fish, it was built in the early 50's is a BIG fish, and it started out as drive-in restaurant, now is a dilapidated storage shed.  It is the biggest Muskie in the state.  Other "winners" are a ballpark in Chaska, an old hotel in Crookston, and an empty jail in Duluth!   The Big Fish of Bena is one of the "7 Wonders of Minnesota, according to Eric Dregni, who wrote "Minnesota Marvels; Roadside Attractions in the Land of Lakes".  Besides the Bena Big Fish, the other "wonders" of Minnesota are:  Kensington rune stone, the Spam Museum, the talking Paul Bunyan statue, the St. Urho statue in Managha, the twin ball in ...

I had big opportunity to step out of the the tremendous feeling of being in the pressure cooker.  It was one of those mornings where many issues,  personal needs, policy decisions, contract discussions.  And I was just ornery!  Mostly people I work with understand and I do verbalize that I am just in a wretched way.  People stepped up, they got things done, made things that were listing dangerously back on track.  I could tell them all what  a great job they had done.  They laughed and talked about how they like that I just let it rip sometimes.  The good news is that I recover balance fairly quickly and I like the balance part much better.  Systems change, being out front, collaboration, lots of art-some science.  Remember to breathe, breathe through your feet, focus on the breath.  Now.  

The Minnesota legislature is rolling along, the house and senate have made numerous agreements, and the conference committee may be meeting as I type.  The budget of the legislature and the budget of the governor do not match up.  In the next 10 days or so, there will be some big big big budget bills on the governor's desk.  He has said he will veto the proposed tax bills, and that is how the other things in part are paid for!  A big budget deficit, a veto proof senate, and a not veto proof house, and very little discussion between branches of government.  What has happened to the values that has made Minnesota one of the most desirable places to live (even in spite of the weather!).  Oh it is has all the ingredients for not wanting to engage in politics.  Welcome back home.

Tired, time zone impaired, and happy to be home.  70 degrees at 10 p.m. not bad for a Minnesota spring day!  Rain tomorrow!  It is following as a criss cross across the country.  Good thing I have good umbrellas, and a sense of humor.  

The rain stopped, brunch was fabulous (I made it!) and we spent part of the afternoon in the vineyard. I heard plans, listened to dreams, watched goats, and geese, and saw little pre-buds on the vines. Newly growing vines are such a great color, and I learned the art of snapping off the suckers at the bottom of the vine, thinning out the tops, all to get a uncrowded line of grapes on the vine. Their vineyard in a very small estate crop, they prune back vines and grapes to intensify the flavors and complexity of the grapes. The result of the attention paid to the soil, to the grapes, to all conditions is not lost even on an "amateur" drinker of wine like me. It has been good to practice deep relaxation. We went to gardens to afternoon, and a tasting, and then supper. So I thinking of sleep, of being home tomorrow, of connecting with my friends and family at home. How fine to have a sweet little weekend vacation. How good to be excited and eager to return home. How s...

Today is a rare spring day in Sonoma Wine Country - the rain has fallen on and off all day. It is never a hard rain, just steady waves of lightly falling showers with periods of slightly seen sunlight and another sweet little wave of very light rain. I slept in this morning after a very long, intense week of working of being with lots of people and a competing number of people and tasks that needed attention. The Carneros hills are glowing at the end of this rainy day, they are such a earthy golden tone. And the green green, way new bursting forth green in all the rows of brand new grape veins are much closer to the house. There are no grape buds yet, just sparkling new leaves foretelling hope of a great harvest. Next to me is an amazing glass of wine. It is my friends wine they have grown the grapes, make the wine: Eric K James. This particular bottle is a 2004 Pinot Noir. It is so good, and they joke about the “end of the line” oh yes the “library” wine, as I am gasping, s...