Blueberries from Peru?

Indeed, it is the end of December. Blueberries have been out of season for months here in the Northwest. Yet they are on sale at the local supermarket. The label says they’re from Peru and Chile.
Again the question and thought arise: How has the world changed so much in the last decade? I will spare you my theories about that, I am working on clarity and not blaming!

Successes this year? Getting healthier, being more patient with my pup, who is now 2, helping my family, scads of work done on my home, walking regularly. And getting my book completed and published! Up on Amazon, so now the ongoing marketing.

Dmitri Matheny, my book, and I at the Anacortes Library in October.


A piece of clarity recently delivered was how the book, my pup, and the myriad of issues with my house have distracted me from my music. A couple of recent gigs and one coming up have brought back that missing element to my life. And it feels good to have it back, a void that I had not noticed until it said, “Hey, no practice, no gigs! No practice and your playing sucks!” Oh yeah, and I forget stuff! There is a richness and a being present when I play music, even practicing scales.

Practicing gratitude daily has also become part of my life. My opportunities, my freedom, my view of Admiralty Inlet, having a carport, my pup, caring and supportive people in my life, my adult children’s stability and families, my return to lap swimming. Oh yeah, and blueberries in winter.

All the best to you in 2023, it portends to be an abundant, productive year.
Thank you for reading.

Woo-Hoo! My Book

A journey. A learning curve. An accomplishment. An undertaking. A wow-do-I-feel-great!
It’s up on Amazon… When I Was a Rock Star: Thoughts on Being Present in the World.
Yee gods and little fishes, as my best friend in grade school would say.
And this week of publication has brought excitement, visits from friends as well as a gorgeous bouquet of sunflowers from a neighbor this morning.

Working at seeing the abundances in my life. There are many. The Canadian geese are starting to fly through with their amazing honking as they cruise overheard. My pup is two years old and still speaking to me. My new abode is now really feeling like home. The lupine seeds I planted months back are finally sprouting. The nectarines I got at the market a few days ago are perfectly ripe and delicious. This amazing opportunity to publish. Ah yes, gratitude.
Thank you for reading. Thanks to so many of you for support over the years.
My request: Please tell everyone you know about my book. If inclined, leave a favorable review on Amazon. The more sales and reviews get me more sales and searches, which increase my reader audience. Yay-hoo!

P.S. You can find me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and facebook.

Picasso… melons.

Would I kid you? They are really tasty. To me it tastes like a combination of a cantaloupe and a pear. It’s a new melon, a ‘proprietary’ melon that debuted a year ago. You’re on your own on that one, yet it sure is good.

Reminds me of when I saw a Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum many years ago. There was so much information on his life as well as seeing his works. When I was in Montreal in 2019, there was an exhibit of Picasso’s work related to the influence African art had on his art. Wow, that was an eye-opener as well.
As you may already know, the Pacific Ocean is small compared to what I don’t know.

This morning, Dean Graziosi was talking about when tough things happen in life, and then thinking ‘I can’t do this,” is when you need to stop and see it as an opportunity. That’s a challenge to be sure. Yet, having come across a few of those in my life, as I’m sure you have as well, giving up is sometimes not an option. It is figuring out how to get through it. Recently, getting my book published has presented me with some challenges, perhaps obstacles depending how I’m feeling at the moment.
These challenges were nothing like a physical injury or being served a divorce decree or an exploding water pipe in my wall or a tragedy in the family, yet I did not know what more to do. I followed instructions, to no resolution.

When I was walking my pupster at the off-leash park recently, I stopped to really look at how spring is abundant and verdant. The vetch is absolutely gorgeous in the acres of knee-high grass. Pup loves to run his huge zoomies through it. When he gallops back to me, there is a happy grin on his face. So much about being present in the moment, present in Nature, simply being. He sure knows how to do it. I’m learning~

My book. I am excited as it is now looking like publication around the end of June. I will certainly be announcing more information and the help I will ask for to promote it.

And a reminder to myself with melons and vetch, to take some time to just be, even when I am anxious and frustrated. Listening to the soundtrack from Michael Mann’s ‘Last of the Mohicans’ has been great. Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman wrote the music.
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVjwBNsiOv0. I love ‘Elk Hunt, The Kiss, The Courier,’ yet cannot rule any of the tracks out.
When I first heard this twenty years ago, it shifted a few things for me as I was then doing a radio show, meeting musicians, reviewing books and movies, and started learning about Celtic music (here is where I was introduced to Clannad!)

Remember to be patient and kind to yourself. Try a piece of fresh fruit. Dance around to some music, even if it is just in your own head. Stop & look deeply at some flowers.

What’s the Trade-off?

It seems to me there is a trade-off for most every change we make. We hopefully trade up, as in we gain more than we release. A change in jobs, or a different career, a new home, a marriage, having the surgery, a new car, ending a relationship, the bargain lawn mower, getting a puppy, or putting in a garden. Sometimes, as we all know, the trade up does not go quite as we’d hoped.

Maybe even raising our kids is a trade-off. The years of wonder, stress, and joy of raising them the best we could. Then when they are grown, they go off and do their own thing. Sometimes far away from us. The success is that we gave them all we could, they are independent and autonomous people. Yet they are hundreds of miles away, perhaps even on a different continent! When one of my neighbors said he didn’t care that his kids moved away, it meant he would have a smaller house to take care of, I was taken aback. Okay then, different strokes for different folks.

A few evenings ago, there was a golden sunset filling the horizon. I watched a large seagull swoop and loop over my neighborhood for nearly ten minutes. I did not see him flap his wings once. Such elegant lifts and turns and circles. Was he simply doing it for the joy of it? Swoop and sail for the sheer delight? A seagull enjoying being alive? How wonderful to see.

   So, this champagne mango I bought. I justified the high price as it was Mother’s Day and I deserved a treat. The trade-off? Not so much, I have to smile. The skin was tough to cut through, the pit inside was huge (gutli is its actual name) and getting the fruit off of it was a nuisance. Just so you know, being called champagne did not make it a genuine treat.

And now I have foxgloves as tall as I am. Yay-hoo! I can hardly wait until they bloom.

Yes, the book is coming along, I’m excited. Publication planned for June 12. You’ll be hearing about that!
Thank you for reading~

Foxgloves with puppy guardian. Photo by MDessein

Gratitude & Smart Dandelions

I’m back. What? You didn’t notice I was gone? Sure you did.

Where was I? Overwhelmed and discouraged when the spammers found my webpage and infested it. Details and drama will be skipped over – I’m back and just watched a large seagull swoop past my window. All is good.
     What have I discovered in the last few months? For one, that dandelions are smarter than I am. Yes, spring is here and I am back to mowing my lawn after four months of not doing so. I mow over the dandelions with their sunburst flowers on long stems. Within 48 hours, the blossoms are back and right next to the ground, too low for my mower to reach them. Who knew dandelions had such survival instincts?

For another, raccoons sit in the fir trees and watch what’s going on around them. Why does this matter? Because when I take my boisterous, curious Siberian husky/ German shepherd pup outside for his morning business, the raccoons seem to think he can climb the tree after them. They scurry down and take off running. So does my pup. Completely unheeding my commands to come back to me. So I am off chasing him up the street. Sometimes in my jammies.

Some of my foxgloves. Photo by MDessein

Oh yeah, and that having a boisterous, curious pup determines about twenty hours of my day. Is he a good soul, smart, affectionate, and non-aggressive? Absolutely, yet he being my first dog, I had no idea what I was getting into. What a teacher he has been. I’ve learned to rein myself in, practice patience, and be consistent. Things I thought I already knew.

I was also reminded I am a strong, tenacious soul. A computer tech person told me that dealing with spammers is a fact of life nowadays. Okay, I will prevail.
    Note to you wondrous subscribers, please stay subscribed. If you are in the ‘notify of comments’ list, if you unsubscribe from that and get on the regular subscribers list, you will not get the spammer comments.

My book will be published on Amazon in June! Yay-hoo! More on that soon. It will be a collection of my amazing blogs and essays. I will be contacting everyone I can to support me with my book. I am excited.

Sunset at Admirals Cove. Photo by MDessein

  What else have I learned? That people do what they do, based on their own experiences and choices. That I can mostly manage myself, nobody else (even my dog!). That deer don’t eat foxgloves or lupine. That as a parent of adult children, it is usually best to wait to be asked for my opinion. That bald eagles make the most amazing squawk.
That I am grateful for every day. And you.

Thank you for reading.