MaryAlice Musings and More

Darcy was a journalist, a news reporter at WCCO - TV, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, died during the night at bed in her home. Darcy was a"quad", she injured herself in 1983 in a diving incident. She was a great journalist, a great singer, a bigger than life person. She was a great role model, she was herself, and she was in a wheel chair. Darcy Pohland is being remembered, I loved her humor and her passion. Darcy was on the PTE State Fair Fan, she was happy to be a spokesperson, a person with a disability who worked, who had a career. It is the paradox in having a colleague with a disability, their disability seems to disappear when we work together, but what I often forget is what it does take moment to moment! Several of us tonight raised a toast to Darcy, to her perseverance, and to her incredible zest for life. Losing Darcy, is so very sad, it is a great loss for many family, friends, and viewers. One can bet with that amazing smile and fearless heart th...

At the end of a TV program last night, one of the characters, a woman FBI agent agent, quoted Emily Dickinson. It was from her poem "Hope is the Thing With Feathers". I couldn't resist googling, easier, than finding the poetry book on the shelf, and reading the entire poem. It seems so appropriate as the sun is high in the sky, the temperature is warming, I keep walking around saying, "the sun always wins!". It is hope, it is acknowledgment of having come through the darkness. So in these morning moments with the winter birds flit briefly past my window, it is a reminder for me that the hope that lives in our hearts is always there, never asking for more than we give, and always singing a sweet note, that gratefully we can hear. Here's to Emily, to hope, to spring! Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune Without the words And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That c...

The amazing world of the internet, as the sun rise above the horizon, I am sitting at my dining room table, coffee in hand listening to the post that Ben Sidran had put up on facebook! His newest work Dylan Different is recorded in France. He goes there every winter. Ben is a big time jazz artist, maybe more popular in Europe than here, I'm not sure. I know Ben and his family from many years ago when I lived in Madison. Our children (now closer to 40 than 30) went to day care together, Ben sang and played piano (well this is an understatement - Ben helped us all commune with the divine and recognize the beauty of our human-ness) at every high holiday at the Gates of Heaven synagogue. I used to travel to Madison to hear him more regularly than I do know, but he usually comes to Minnesota once a year, playing at the Artist's Quarters or the Dakota. I love his jazz, I love his lessons that he conveys with his music, I love the joy that permeates everywhere as he sings,...

For the past few days that I have been at home, late in the evening and early in the morning I can almost hear the ground speak. It is that deep satisfying groaning and sighing that happens on those occasions when you wake up blissfully rested and aligned. It is the earth mother, doing a big stretch after the long long long winter. It is muffled as there is at least a foot and a half of snow in my yard, more in some places. But the movement is there, it is an affirmation it is inevitable (one hopes) that no matter what spring does arrive, the light does rise in the sky, and mother earth wakes from that wonderful, amazing needed time of internal restoration and rest to once again dazzle us with the bounties of the earth.

It is amazing what happens in MN when it gets above freezing. Bigger smiles, more laughing, shoulders more relaxed. It is a good thing, especially when it is March 1st. Of course there are those people that say, "In like a lamb, out like a lion!" But I am ok with having it be lamb-like today. This started my first week at work in many weeks, where I am going to be in MN and at work each work day. People were starting to make jokes, and take bets when I would be around. The good news is I like being at work, I like the work I do, I like the people that I work with, and there is lots of good work to be done. So just another above freezing work day!

There must be something else to write about, and there is - having said that I just must comment that it is above freezing, the sun is high in the sky, it is half-past eight (a.m.) and it is Minnesota. The sun is brilliant, another winter sun bathing day, and I am in my house, smelling the wild rice cooking for the making of Hell's Kitchen Porridge. Happy to be home! For those of you who don't know, the Iowa State Capitol Building is a beautiful structure. The sun shining on the gold dome is magnificient, and you look down as you drive back into the eastern historical section of DesMoines onto the Polk County Court House, and that isn't too shabby either. Polk County Court House was where I was a witness to my first same sex marriage ceremony! Waited a long time for that. Being a witness was awesome and to actually have two women be able to legally formalize their love and commitment - stunning! It really is only a matter of time before the marriage of couple of any...

An evening at home, at my home. I got home just in time for another trip to the deep freeze, moving close to -0. I was hoping we wouldn't have any more of that this winter, but as the east coast braces for another snow storm, we have beautiful, clear, amazing spine chilling atmosphere. So I am snuggled in for the evening, and mentally re-packing my suitcase. This time for Iowa, and it is not for the caucus's. It is for a wedding. Hey California, New York there is somewhere that is not New England for lesbians and gay men to marry. It is Iowa. Yes Iowa, it didn't even seem like a big deal. It was the "right" thing to do. How fun to be able to witness my friends marriage! Yeah for Kathleen and Donna. Yeah for Iowa.