Call me crazy, but I feel sorry for people who hate & rage, for they are the saddest amongst us.

Call me crazy, but I believe what we think, we become.

Call me crazy, but I think TV and video games should be restricted to a few hours a week per household.

Call me crazy, but I think we should all stop for the sunset every day as a ritual.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think we should be shipping most of what we buy from China... including garlic?
Seriously, this is a really, really stupid turn of events that needs to be stopped.

Call me crazy, but I think we made a big mistake when we allowed Government to run our lives.

Call me crazy, but I think we should take 90% of what governments do and put it back into the hands
of volunteer community groups
who will do the work with love and compassion, not greed and judgement.

Call me crazy, but I think our leaders should be hired by really smart people
who know what good leadership looks like,
rather than voted for by the general, sadly uneducated public.
We should also be able to fire them when they suck at their job.

Call me crazy, but I think we can get along here on Planet Earth without being cruel to animals.

Call me crazy, but I think we can get along here on Planet Earth without being cruel to each other.

Call me crazy, but I believe in life after death and that we are here to succeed at life,
and by that I don’t mean having the biggest bank account or the highest number of friends.

Call me crazy, but I think we need to stop lusting after non renewable resources NOW
and leave the mountain tops and pristine old growth forests where they belong.

Call me crazy, but I believe in doing the right thing, even if I don’t get what I wanted.

Call me crazy, but I trust that Karma exists and that we’re living our own unique, self created Karma every day.

Call me crazy, but I think it’s all easily turned around
if we can become motivated enough to take responsibility for ourselves.

Call me crazy, but I believe in the power of love and the good of humanity.

Call me crazy, but I believe in you.

We are born into the world a natural animal. We have no beliefs, no systems, only instinct and needs. But unlike the elk, from our very first breath we are being formed into man made beings, perhaps following a religion, perhaps even belonging to a rigorous belief system that will simulate belonging whilst clouding our natural judgement for the rest of our lives.

A friend and I were discussing Buddhism the other day; it is a religion that stands out for me. Although I have never considered myself a Buddhist, my friend advises me that I already am a Buddhist, I don’t have to declare myself one. But, if I’m a Buddhist, then I must also be a Native Canadian, and a Pagan and a Witch. I am at the same time all of these things and none of these things, because I don’t allow any of them to define me, I absorb what resonates with me, what is true to me.

The pure joy of being human today is having this plethora of philosophy and wisdom at our disposal. We are all in need of answers to the mystical, answers to our very purpose of being, but in lusting after definitive answers and making solemn commitments to one dogma, we cut ourselves off from the experience of exploration. Granted, not too long ago you could be killed for such atrocities as stepping away, and indeed there are areas on this great earth today where people are living within the confines of forced religion still. One day, I trust it will be safe to just be. But it’s apparent; this is alarmingly something we need to fight for.

If we found the inner Da Vinci within ourselves, we’d see the correlation between the elk and the human tribe, between the air and the trees, between greed and destruction, love and hate. If we pulled upon our inner most wisdom, the wisdom we were born with, before someone started to tell us how to believe, we might just start to think... hold on a second here, I think we took a wrong turn somewhere.

When it comes to being human, only you know what’s best for you. If you’re trying to find that, I suggest you step away from the herd, find yourself a quaint little town somewhere, grab yourself a good cup of tea, and watch the world go by for a while. What kind of people would we be if it were entirely up to us? My guess is, pretty awesome.

Wishing you a magical week.

So I asked out loud, ‘If this is you ringing the chimes acknowledging me, I need to have some other kind of verification to know it’s true’.

The verification came when I visited my sister (who is clairaudient) a couple of days later. She had a story for me.

I used my chimes to record the closing track, Sidhe, on my latest release. My sister had been listening to the CD one morning and when it got to the end where only the chimes are ringing, she distinctly heard my dad’s voice saying ‘I like the sound of the bells’. When she told me, at first I didn’t make a connection – then as I was driving home it hit me, there’s the sign I asked for. I told my sister my story and we agreed there was more to it than just imagination.

I’ve always believed our loved ones stay near us. I’ve had visits from my departed sister but other than the chimes there hasn’t been anything from my folks. I actually won a fee psychic reading from a reputable medium a couple of weeks back, but I don’t feel ready for that. Maybe now that the house has sold and the spring weather is arriving I’ll be able to go there. My only worry for either of them really was that they crossed well. I know my Mom was ready, but my Dad went with fists clenched firm, holding on for dear life. I feared he may still be unsettled in spirit, but I feel better about that now that he’s at least enjoying some creativity in his new role.

We walk forward in life, like a big chain of people just trying to do our best. Sometimes people drop off from the chain and the group is smaller in the physical realm but growing forever stronger in spirit. I feel the strength of loved ones past and I feel the wisdom they left behind, whether through sharing or just through living in our midst. I feel compelled to represent them well and to leave the world a better place.

When we choose a place to camp for a while, we should always leave the space a little nicer, a little more welcoming for the next person. We should do it for ourselves, as an extension of our graciousness, but we should also do it for our loved ones past, because we don’t only carry our own burdens, reputations and legacies, we carry those of our loved ones just as our loved ones now will carry them for us. With that, we have an inspired purpose to be here. With that, we will never walk alone.

At any time there are atrocities being committed and there are compassionate acts of kindness. What we see are the atrocities. The atrocities sell. They make us tune in and make the broadcasting corporations hit their targets. The compassionate acts of kindness almost defy today’s communication channels, hanging in the side lines, asking us to look away from the tragedy for just a moment, but it takes effort and it takes a willingness to believe that good does exist.

We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.

I have some friends (probably like we all do) who like it under their dark cloud and have set up shop for life there. This doesn’t seem to be honouring their purpose in any way, but it’s a known quantity – a decision they’ve made for themselves, unknowingly. As they get older I see their sphere of influence narrow and their loneliness grow, but at least they feel right I guess, the world does suck, so there. If only they could see their world sucks because they BELIEVE their world sucks. It seems like such a simple concept, but one many will pass on not learning.

On The Wisdom Page they have defined 48 characteristics of wisdom. It’s not a step process, but if every day we chose only one to focus on and cultivate within ourselves, in 48 days we may just find ourselves feeling a little lighter, a little wiser, seeing the world as a better place and attracting the kind of people who are already demonstrating wisdom in their lives. Like attracts like. The wise attract the wise. Perhaps in knowing we actually control our own level of wisdom rather than inherit it, we can find within ourselves a desire to live a happier and more fulfilling life. Maybe this year, we should plant a wisdom garden in ourselves, and reap the benefits of the harvest for the rest of our lives.

Forty-Eight Positive Human Characteristics
That Have Been Associated With Wisdom

compassion
responsibility
positive attitude
integrity
acceptance
self-knowledge
detached concern
adopting multiple perspectives
empathy
aliveness
appreciating ramifications
caring
attentiveness
commitment
desiring the good of the whole
cooperation
intuitive understanding
curiosity
willingness to risk
equanimity
fairness
generosity
self-acceptance
discernment
gratitude
deep understanding
hopefulness
wonder
humility
dedication
insight
joy
kindness
nurturance
self-investigation
openness
patience
self-actualization
peacefulness
reflectiveness
respect
self-sufficiency
serenity
sound judgment
truthfulness
vision
appreciating significance
breadth of considerations

We don’t know yet how Whitney died, but we know of her struggles, her picking the wrong partner and choosing the wrong vices. We know that voice. We know of her rise to stardom in her early twenties, her tortured years of abuse with Bobby Brown, and her return in her forties with her forever friend and industry leader Clive Davis at her side. We know we’ll never hear her sing again.

Acknowledgement, admiration and having access to anything you could ever dream of is not the answer to happiness. The only way to happiness is from within. Before we start loading on the sugar coating in our lives, we should make sure we’ve got the basic ingredients for happiness taken care of, because without it, we’ve got a foundation that can come crumbling down around us at any given moment.

'I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed At least I'll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the Greatest Love of All'

Rest in Peace Whitney Houston
We hope you've found that special place that you've been dreaming of.

At first, creativity was a distraction, something that made me late for the party and away in thought. Then, as the world encompassed me more and drove the wonder from the corners of my mind, it was creativity that eventually invited it back. It was creativity that gave me strength and inspiration when nothing else could.

I walked along the stream one morning this week. An artist had stopped on the bridge, sketch pad in hand, capturing the winter scene. In a moment it became mystical and precious.

As much as we’re told to behave and to hold hands and stick together, there is part of each of us that just wants to be that artist standing on the bridge, alone, unaware of the day, capturing the depth of the scene only we can see, as if it were meant just for us.

Learn we must and learn we do. If given the chance we’d probably be ok without school, ok without rules, day-timers, reminders and dues. We’d probably trust each other more and feel less inclined to defend. We’d hold each other to our word. We’d probably share more and care more and in the end we’d even learn more.

Since the rules and the systems we’ve put into place are largely failing us today, perhaps we should wipe the chalk board clean, stand up, dust ourselves off and accept life on earth as the ultimate school. Let’s listen very closely, leave the rules to the universe.

So the world today is being run guided by the economy vs. quality of life. But here’s the thing, WE CREATED ECONOMY AND WE CAN RECREATE IT TO MEET OUR NEEDS TODAY.

My dad ran a family business. I did not once hear him talk about ‘growth’. He had his rates and when life became more expensive he raised his rates. He didn’t try to outdo himself every year. What he focused on was relationships and providing the best service he could.

Everyone is trying to earn more and more money and the quality of our existence has plummeted. The atrocities committed against animals through harvesting resources (where they live) and trying to get larger and larger yields through factory farming has turned us into a completely despicable race. We don’t know it as consumers because what we see is what ad agencies are paid to deliver – to make products look squeaky clean and to get us thinking we can’t live without them.

So how can we live in this world without being part of this devastation?

1) Ensure our investment portfolios are helping the good guys undo the damage. The stock market makes companies do terrible things to make our money grow, which they feel obligated to do because we invested in them. Be aware of this and take some responsibility for it.

2) Research how the products you want were manufactured/grown/harvested and if you couldn’t do it yourself, don’t buy it. Because in buying it, you’re doing it.

3) Reduce your consumption.

4) As animal lovers, take a good look at how we use animals and at how our behaviours and lifestyle may impact their existence. Hint: it’s in everything we touch.

5) Remember that the only ads we see are from corporations that can afford the ads. We don’t hear the other side of the story because no one can afford to tell it to us. We need to be smarter than this.

When it comes to money, it’s only worth something if we can hold our heads high with pride about how it came to us, anything less is just an embarrassment. If making money is more important than being civilized, then we are no longer civilized.

I remember when my parents moved into that house. My Dad had been granted a dream gig as the house piano bar player at a swanky resort, a kind of karmic allowance for the hundreds (thousands?) of drives he’d done over the years to get to parties. No matter what, if you hired my Dad, he would be there. Blizzards, deaths in the family, there was nothing that kept him away from fulfilling an obligation. He was the entertainment for some very big events, he had to be there. That meant lots of navigating downtown locations, loading gear in and out of loading docks and freight elevators and many long drives back to the country in the middle of the night, not to mention having to be ‘on’ every night. Then there was his dream gig and he moved within 5 minutes of the resort right across from a provincial park where he could wander at his leisure daily.

I’ve been clinging to these memories of their lives of late, the good times. The last 15 years of their lives were incredibly challenging. I have some very difficult memories to accompany me for the rest of my life. But when I sweep them aside, which gets easier as the months pass, I find the moments of pride and joy that made up the wonder of their life, the pride and joy that they so rightly deserved. They were hard working people who delivered a lot of enjoyment in their lifetimes.

There is no life left in the house now, no music, just empty rooms and echoes. There are no birds at the feeders, or little red squirrels darting in and out of the shed. All that is left is the memories we carry with us and the influence they had on us.

It’s occurred to me of late, that in order for our lives to echo out, in order for the rooms to feel hauntingly empty when we’re gone, we have to have lived in a way that touched people and left an indelible impression on them.

As the winter days grow longer and my personal responsibilities lessen, I plan to take time to wonder and wander a bit more. It’s in the wondering and the wandering that I find peace.

This is my Dad playing the popular That's All - composed by Alan Brandt and Bob Haymes in 1952:

But how easy is it to tune out? Even the wisest people I know, at times, get swept away by the latest trend or story. It’s exciting to be connected and in the know. But how much of our story is sponsored by corporations?

Most of the fashion we see in the hip hop world was driven by corporations going into the hood and giving free stuff to gangsters. The look caught on and presto, you’ve got a bunch of people walking around with their pants around their ankles not even knowing they’re a corporate puppet. How smart is that really?

It’s time to pull up the pants folks!

We need to teach ourselves and our children the value of self. We need to ask ourselves before we follow the latest trend or waste another week doing nothing but witnessing life, what is it that I’m all about at the core, why do I like this show/shoe/story so much? Is it because I think I’m supposed to, or is it because it genuinely resonates with me? Then we need to take it further and see why it resonates with us, is it because it resonated with our neighbour? Our parent? Our spouse? The cool kid in school? Someone we don’t even really know on facebook?

This is difficult work to do, and it can be lonely to step away from the crowd, but, I think it’s necessary to ensure that at the end of your life you don’t feel like you wasted it going in the wrong direction and therefore never finding your best, truest self.

Your family and birth place was just the way you got here, the beginning of your story. You’re a free spirit here to explore an exciting life meant just for you. You won’t find it in stuff. You won’t find a nice tidy guide book to get you there either, but if you turn off the noise often enough to hear your inner voice, you may find a few bread crumbs left by your spirit guides to help you find YOUR way.

We are stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to find our way back to the garden. – Joni Mitchell

We all had plans at one point, but we forgot about the intent behind them, the real goal that our souls desire.

The other day I had plans; I wanted to go to the farmer’s market to get a great lunch and I wanted to get out into the middle of the forest and meditate in nature. The day went entirely awry, I actually found myself at the dreaded MALL for a moment even, in fact the day was railroaded to the point of humour but really at the end of the day, I had enjoyed a great lunch (not from the market), a great walk (not in the woods) and had acquired a new wisdom about letting go of plans to make way for flow.

Perhaps when we ask ourselves what we want to be when we grow up we should be using more attainable concepts like: happy, fulfilled, loved, inspired and inspiring.

Perhaps when we’re prodding our younger generation on their future plans we can help them find and strive for these fundamental things too. If we all measured our lives and circumstances on a happiness scale we’d find ways to get those ratings off the charts.

So this year I challenge you all: Regardless of the ‘tasks’ you’re asked to do in this life, at this moment, and regardless of how far off your path you feel; to find a way for happiness, fulfillment, love and inspiration to make its way in, today. You may not be on the path you expected to be on, and it may not look like you thought it would, but if your intentions are truly to find it, you will. It’s actually right in front of you and all around you, every moment of every day, guaranteed. 

May we find inspiration, courage and hope within, through service to others, through listening and through a letting go of ego. We come together best when we’re faced with great challenges – and we have great challenges upon us.

In 2012, let’s stand up united and demonstrate the greatness that we are most capable of.

The most primal part of my being will nearly always be brought to tears at the sound of a choir in an ambient cathedral. I close my eyes and imagine the energy of the performance emanating out in all directions, making one and all stop, cleansed in the beauty of the moment. Prayer through music.

One of my favourite ancient pieces we still enjoy today – O come O come Emmanuel, has been with us since the 12th century. It talks of an end to division:

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.

We have not come too far in our desires or thinking in the last several hundred years.

In keeping religious tradition alive, we need to also explore the limited thinking it imposes on us. We will end the perceived problem of our differences when we start seeing these as what is particularly special and unique about each other. Our differences do not end, nor should they. Let us be students of history and cherish it for what it teaches us. Let’s cherish the art and the stories of our historical pasts, whilst letting go of this hard grip on them, when this is quite apparently getting very old.

As we move into the year 2012 my wish is for humanity to take stock in what we’ve achieved, to learn from past mistakes, and to rejoice at what we can become when we honour our differences alongside our great ability to work as a team.

I don’t have anything against the idea of the Chinese taking on the world’s manufacturing, but in principle, we should never have let it happen. Why do we need the Chinese to manufacture everything for us? Have we forgotten how to take care of ourselves? Have we forgotten the pride of building something, of being creative ourselves, of supporting our neighbours? Has cheap and disposable really won over quality and pride of ownership?

I have a Chinese friend who has made a couple of trips back there this year. She has remarked on how the culture has become so destructive that people are dying of stress related illnesses in their 30s. In fact, she can’t even get her friends there to stop for lunch when she’s travelled across the planet to visit with them. They won’t stop working long enough to take care of the elderly, and indeed the elderly support the making of money over their own care - so culturally, they are driven to accumulate wealth, but not happiness.

So we have record unemployment and lack of satisfaction here, a disconnect to our stuff - who made it and where it came from, and record employment, wealth and opportunity in China but no satisfaction there either, so who is winning exactly? No one is.

It’s time we started buying our food from the local farmers and the goods for our homes from local manufacturers who specialize in what they do.

It’s time we remembered what is important in life, it’s not about getting the most stuff for the least amount of $$. It’s not about working yourself to exhaustion and it’s not about winning. It’s about you. It’s about why you came here to experience life; it’s about how you want to be remembered and how you want to be loved. It’s about community building and self reliance. But probably the most important reason we should be adjusting the paradigm today, is that the earth is running out of resources, whether we manufacture in China or here, the truth is, our stuff is killing us and we need to learn to find satisfaction with less.

We need to learn to find satisfaction in the clink of a glass with a good friend, the perfection of a snowflake, the allure of a charming melody, the beauty of birdsong, a breath of fresh air or the sparkling of a star on a crystal clear night.

If we don’t, in 100 years, what will our legacy be?

Imagine if all the bad guys were outcasts instead of leaders.

It seems to me like we’re born with the faculties to live life in a just, compassionate way, but life makes us forget that. Maybe life is all about remembering what we were born with and trying to get back to that state of perfection.

Perhaps we should be asking the babies of the world what our best next steps are.

Anyone want to help produce a puppet show?

I’m wishing you a thought provoking week. May we all get back in touch with the inner knowing we’re born with and may it bring peace on earth.

The Experiment
Project X is best suited for anyone wishing to develop their ability to trust love, extend compassion and learn how to accomplish great things as part of a team. Participants will learn how to map out an entire life, from start to finish, reaching various levels of enlightenment through real life experiences. Develop personally through progressive enlightenment brought on by successfully passing a series of challenges that all participants must cope with, without warning, along their life path.

Once incarnated the learning journey begins and can involve a number of sharp turns, temptations and obstacles with random levels of difficulty. Participants won’t know what is going to happen next, or what is real or illusion but must continue to navigate through experiences from intense beauty and euphoria to challenges involving great pain of the temple and spirit.

Skill Level: Difficult – many twists and turns

Rewards: Indescribable

Testimonials:

“Fasten your seatbelts!”

“There were many times I thought, ‘That’s it – I can’t take it any more’ but there was always just enough mystery and hope. Those elements of magic - periods when you ‘d like time to stop forever in that moment; were plentiful and intoxicating enough, especially when I learned to see the ones hidden from plain view – in nature, in moments of honesty and reprieve, in love. These strengthened my ability for manoeuvring through the challenges successfully.”

“I’d do it again!”

“I learned so much, I just can’t say enough about it. Just go! Do it!”

“Remember that even when things seem really, really challenging, that it is all part of the master plan and all you need to do is excel through the challenge and trust that good too will come.”

“I miss it already, can’t wait to come back!”

“Everyone is ultimately on their own path, accountable for every step of their existence, but there are so many things there to help you when you’re ready to see them. I highly recommend it!”

“Wow!”

WELCOME PROJECT X PARTICIPANT!  
Your Status: Registered/Active

I was working alongside someone performing this task just this week, and what struck me was this: She had no idea what kind of music she was looking for, so she was surfing blind. There was no expertise there to coach her towards making the right choice so what she inevitably decided upon was a cue that sounded pretty much like meandering elevator music. Will anyone care? Not likely.

I was listening to Jann Arden in an interview on Q-CBC this week. She was talking about a time when she really was ready to pack it in, but it was her manager that convinced her to stay with it. She is on the road 2 days out of 3 and even still questioning how long she can sustain that schedule, which is necessary to stay in the game.

I guess I’m grateful for a few things. I’m grateful that I don’t have staff or a massive overhead to feel obligated to sustain. I’m grateful that no matter what, I will always have creativity, and I’m grateful for the rest of my life and where it might lead me. For now, I am at peace and trust that when I decide to take the next step, I’ll be doing it because I want to, because it feels right to me, because it’s my life path and not based on someone else’s idea of what that should look like.

Yesterday I went to the market and each week they have buskers that fiddle it up at the entrance with a soulful mix of original and classic Celtic pieces. As I walked through the energy they were creating, it felt like the most honest musical exchange I’d seen in a while, a guitar case with a few toonies in it, a group of friends that have played together forever, and a crowd of people gathering at a market to purchase local fare and take in the local culture.

If I juxtapose that scene against a typical Black Friday scene in the states this week, I feel more privileged than most. I will spend the afternoon playing the piano and wondering about life for a while. May we all find moments of appreciation in the every day, and magical exchanges as we make our way.

The first one was when I ran into a colleague, who I had met in Dallas, in downtown Los Angeles. He was a drummer and he had been working in LA for a few weeks on a project. We chatted a bit but we were both in a hurry so we literally said, ‘well I’m sure I’ll run into you again’. Well, we did run into each other again, the very next day, in downtown Toronto. Neither of us had said we were traveling to Toronto that night, so it was quite the surprise to see each other again so soon, 3,500 kms away. What are the chances of that happening? I can’t say there was a reason for our chance encounters with each other, or that anything significant happened as a result of them, but it’s a story I’ll remember for the rest of my life and it has an inherent magic about it.

The second happened when we moved the studio to its current location. Across the street from us is what I’d call a rooming house, ‘rent a room, cheap’ and it generally attracts people in transition. When we moved into the neighbourhood the rooming house was just being built and it was a quiet neighbourhood when we bought here. That changed drastically when the rooming house was finished. The first of the tenants moved in about 6 months from our move date and one of them literally moved his mess of a life onto our street. He rented a room and proceeded to move an entire house and property of belongings onto the lawn of the rooming house. Cars, trailers, heaps and heaps of stuff. He also moved his bad relationships onto our street and every night there were fights, people peeing on our lawn etc. To keep it short (and my blood pressure down) suffice it to say it was a BIG deal, and this guy became our worst nightmare.

In Toronto, there is a 12-16 lane highway that runs through the middle of the city called the 401. One day I’m driving along the 401 nowhere near my house and this little red beat up car comes across several lanes of traffic and cuts me off in a way that it looked like the driver was purposely trying to kill me. It was so direct and dangerous it was like something out of a movie. I remembered the car and the driver distinctly because it was such an alarming event. Young, blond, red & rusty old Datsun spewing out smoke from the tail pipe. After I got over the initial shock of the event, I was fuming at the irresponsibility of the driver who very nearly killed me and several others. No one stopped, an accident had been averted.

A couple of days later I hear a car pull up outside. I look across the street to this rooming house and it’s THAT RED CAR – THAT DRIVER visiting the guy in the rooming house (at this point he’s being referred to as ‘crazy guy’ by everyone in the neighbourhood). It turns out it is his daughter. How weird is that? This guy who at the time was the bane of my existence, has a daughter who nearly kills me on a highway in a completely unrelated incident nowhere near my home.

I did get a good dream out of the second incident which helped to reconcile the anger I was feeling for these people (he eventually did move and hopefully got his life together although that was a pretty steep hill to climb).

In my dream, I was driving along the 401, the car came across several lanes and cut me off, in the same way it happened in real life. But in my dream, I couldn’t avoid the fatal accident and it all happened so quickly. Bang, I flew through the windshield. But instead of coming crashing to the ground in a bloody heap, I kept flying, unhurt, and I flew into the beautiful sky like a bird and was free.

I can’t explain coincidence. It’s not the same as everything happening for a reason, these are just little magical moments that allow us to reflect on the mysterious for a while.

Wishing you a magical week. In whatever part of the universe you inhabit, spread peace through your sphere of influence.

As an environmentalist, I have been approaching the decisions like this: If there is a chance I’m going to buy one of ‘these’ (insert any type of item, anything from delicate embroidered doilies my Grandma made to gig wear my Mom made to hitch balls in the garage) then I pack it up and take it. What I like about their stuff in general is, unlike the choices available to us today, most if not all of it was made on North American soil and if it’s imported that’s because it came from an area that specializes in crystal, fabrics, etc. I may never need to enter a store again, and that would be ok with me.

I can safely say I no longer have room for ANYTHING else in my home. I am fancy china rich; I could have a dinner party for about 50 people and not have to rent dishes! LOL! The likelihood of this happening is pretty remote, but I’m prepared!!

All in all, it’s been hard work, and rewarding work, and it’s been especially nice to be doing it with siblings who are only sharing fond memories and not bickering over things.

At some point we will be driving away from that house for good, and that perhaps will be the final difficult moment for us as we navigate life on this planet without these two people who gave us life here.

I’m wishing you a week filled with delightful treasures.

• The generation that my parents came from had a way of doing things right. They dressed extremely well, knew how to say the right thing and do the right thing and they lived with pride, heads held high, regardless of how much money they had or what they did for a living.

There are lessons in there for all of us to consider and a way of life to strive for.

To my beloved parents, it’s been a while since I wrote you a poem, so as a final gesture I leave you this –

The sun shines bright today
Warmth on my face
Sorrow in my heart
We say goodbye today
Apologies and Poetry
Bird Song
Grace & Gratitude
Love
The sun shines bright today
Nature, Nurture, Autumn Leaves
Whisperings & Memories
Beloved Dear Ones
Goodbye