Personal Stuff ...

If you'r'e still with me, dear Readers, thank you for hanging in there.  It's been a while since I've posted.  Things have been on the difficult side, emotionally and physically, with my being sort of a "multiple care-giver" (spouse, aging dog, and house) and having more than 99% of all responsibility -- from the mundane to the complex.  Dixie Lee is still with me, doing her best to stay with me and life ... and is still a beautiful spirit; she requires a lot of patience and extra care now. Jerry's conditions are hard to describe and I wouldn't attempt it out of consideration for his privacy, but I can say that he is almost completely immobilized and socially out of the loop.  For me, sometimes it's hard to be here in this house in which I put two years of major repairs and a huge emotional, physical, and financial investment. The times, too, are added to the mix.  My piano student roster, once vital and overloaded, has dissipated and my Healing the Earth Family (free) program has not had any takers ...  which indicates to me a widespread mix of apathy, fear, and perhaps lack of time and energy in the population. Too, many people have their faces buried in their social media and that has largely taken the place of interacting in person with groups and individuals. There is no substitute, though (well, no genuine substitute), for the real deal -- a special person, and the natural world.  I talk to people in the grocery store and everywhere ... for conversation and my head's idea rolodex ... and I turn to the natural world for comfort, encouragement, and healing :)  I like to keep things vital and positive.  And I've got a meditation room here that I love; it is filled with things that I treasure.

I've been writing and arranging my newest song, getting in some practice on it!  Will be bringing it to my dear friend's studio to record soon.  Am jamming a couple of times a month (on average) with my former guitarist bandmate, and that is rejuvenating and enjoyable -- lately we've been adding some really old songs ... I mean from the 1920s or so.  I remember them from when my mother used to sing or whistle them many years ago, so it's fun to hear them in my head, figure out the chord progressions, and put a contemporary style on them.  Life needs music!  And it really is the universal language.

Shame, Disgrace & Favoritism ...

The latest news about Social Security is that recipients will, for the second consecutive year, not receive a COLA (cost of living adjustment) in their checks. This is a disgrace. I would like to see the pensions and perks removed from every member of Congress and every past U.S. president. This would knock these demi-gods off their thrones and provide a windfall for the Treasury Department to distribute to our nation’s elderly, many of whom are poverty-stricken and struggling. I, personally, am acquainted with an educated, intelligent, responsible person who has worked all her life and paid into the system, only to receive a paltry $729 monthly check to live on (she worked during all those years when women’s earnings were disproportionately lower than men’s). When is something radical going to be done about the lopsided favoritism fostered by our government and its insidious way of relating with lobbyists and corporations, to manipulate "the system". Will it ever be about "we, the people", the citizens, and saving the inherent and natural goodness of our country, rather than making the rich richer?