John Denver

A woman named Kathleen posted a comment on one of my posts from earlier this morning. I went to her blog and spent some time there and was reminded that today was the anniversary of the day John Denver died in a plane crash. I still remember that day. My friend Katy called me to tell me the news. In high school, Katy spent hours and hours listening to me play the guitar (badly) and sing. Most of the songs I sang back in high school were John Denver's. I learned to play the guitar by playing his music.

The very first time I played in public - at fourteen!! - I played at the Sunshine Festival on NC State's campus. I was scared to death and microphone shy so I just played and sang. I didn't speak a word until just before the last song and I said, "I guess you know by now that I like John Denver." I'd played only his songs.

His music introduced me to songwriting. His music introduced me to the joy of singing from the heart. His music introduced me to my greatest muses: love, longing, Mother Nature, friendship, and music herself.

Here is a You Tube video of John Denver from 1976 - the year before I graduated from high school! (Check out the shirt!) I loved John Denver best in his early days when he was goofy and unafraid of being different. Because I was different, too.

I was a horrible teenager. I gave my parents hell!! My mother has always said she doesn't know how any of us would have survived my adolescence without that guitar!! I understood then and continue to understand how my guitar saved me. And because I have always understood how much my guitar saved me, this has always been my favorite John Denver song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_52ob3uVI4

Peace. And thank you, Kathleen from Pennasylvania for reminding me. My memories have been so full today.

My Baby........

Is this not a face that would melt your heart?

This is Baby.

She's one of the most loving dogs I've ever known. She adores me and thinks I hung the moon!

She's a great friend, too.

Not much of a guard dog - not a mean bone in her body - but she lets me know if there are strangers about (especially strange cats!).

My view of the world...........

This is my view of the world these days. This is the view from the little deck upstairs on the back of my house, right outside my bedroom. This is what I see every morning when the sun calls me awake. It's very beautiful, especially in the early morning when the sun is rising. I'm on the seaside now, and the sun rises right out my window.

I feel so peaceful here.

I wish it for everyone. Here's peace to ya!

Smart woman......

From the brilliant mind of Eleanor Roosevelt:

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

"I can not believe that war is the best solution. No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war."

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

"Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun; as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday."

"Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something, or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe, and which mean very little."

"You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give."

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? "

IT

I said, "Take this from me.
It's too heavy to carry
And I don't want the burden of it anymore.
It has weighed me down for so long.
Please, take it from me.
It changes me, it ages me,
It takes away my grace and my peace.
I fail myself because of it.
It does me no good.
It does you no good.
Please, take it from me.
I can hear the cracks it makes.
I can feel the shudder it sends up my spine.
It clings to me like beggar lice from the field.
I hate it. I hate the feeling it brings.
It is cold. It eats up my joy.
Don't you understand?!
Please take it from me.
I don't want it anymore."

I cried and I pleaded.
And then I simply asked,
"Why won't you take it from me?"

And you said, "I cannot take it if you won't let it go."

"Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. "
-----Tom Wilson

Ethan.........

I absolutely love this video! It's been around for a long time and I'm sure a lot of you have seen it. It's been viewed 19,000,000 times! I go watch it ever so often to just feel good!

Here's to the sheer joy of laughter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY