"Happy Howlidays" ! news flash ...

Dear Readers:

Celebrate with the Lady Wolf (yours truly) about this wonderful news from Howling For Wolves, the hard-working organization in Minnesota.  Below is the article they published in its entirety.

The news relates to the wolves being re-listed on the Endangered Species List with the status as threatened. This means the wolf "hunts" are officially stopped; wolves are saved from the many barbaric kinds of destruction that were being inflicted upon them. Here is Howling for Wolves' announcement and news release. For more information, please go to their website at http://www.howlingforwolves.org; their mailing address is: Howling For Wolves, P.O. Box 4099, Hopkins, MN 55343.

"Happy Howlidays -- Rejoice! May your hearts be filled with peace this holiday season knowing that together we made a difference for the Minnesota wolf, and potentially generations of wolves to come. Have a joyful holiday season in the company of your pack, wherever they may be. Gratefully, Howling For Wolves

A Season to Celebrate --

All wolf hunting has been stopped indefinitely – and you helped make it happen.We’re thrilled to announce that Minnesota wolves (and the entire Great Lakes Wolf population) are re-listed on the Endangered Species List with the status as "threatened".

Thank you to our volunteers and supporters for their tireless efforts over the past years to protect Minnesota’s wolves from senseless killing.

Thank you to the Humane Society of the United States, who filed and won the federal lawsuit when many thought it impossible.

And, most importantly, thank you to Honorable Judge Howell, who truly heard our howls, honored our efforts and gave our wolves the shelter of the Endangered Species Act.

Keep Howling with #LiveAndLetHowl --

Our work is not yet done. We need to promote compassion for and spread understanding of these misunderstood and magnificent animals. We need to keep howling.

Wolves are an infinite source of inspiration and each of us has our own reason for celebrating them – in this spirit we are proud to launch our #LiveAndLetHowl campaign.

Share your wolf-inspired words and art with the world – it can be as simple as a short video of your best howl, or it can be a poem, a drawing, a song, or other creation. Learn about the campaign and submit your work here. And don’t forget to post it on your favorite social media site with the #LiveAndLetHowl tag.

Get inspired: See what people just like you have already submitted here."

Yay !!!

Yips And Howls ...

... well, I AM the Lady Wolf, so yips and howls prevail sometimes :)

First The Yips --  I'm getting ready to record two new songs.  Song inspirations, whether originals or covers, almost always come to me in twos and usually are very contrasting from each other in terms of mood, tempo, concept, genre.  I'll be practicing my arrangements of them again tonight before bedtime as that familiar excitement mounts!   

A Yip That Is A Tip -- Today I found a wonderful place to shop for Christmas items and gifts and trees.  It is the KARM (Knox Area Rescue Ministries) Christmas Store on Downtown West in west Knoxville.  The array of items is wonderful and so much fun to explore.  Perhaps best of all, the proceeds go toward the meals that KARM provides for the homeless and hungry here in Knoxville.  If you want a great holiday tree or gift or novelty item at an unbelievably low price, you will love the KARM Christmas Store.  Also, it is spacious and not crowded.  

Holiday Spirit --  We're about to enter the official week before Christmas. This year I've been so involved in my residential move -- getting this place ready  (lots of repairs and updates were needed) and closing and saying goodbye to my former residence (my favorite charming window where I liked to sit, my shrubs and trees that could not be moved, the Loft where I wrote many a spirited blog post) -- that I didn't know if I'd have any holiday spark. But I do ... and am pleased about that.  Gearing myself up for it.  I plan to make my traditional holiday quiche and some other goodies.  

Greater Good -- This organization's website is another awesome place to shop, especially if you like to shop on the Internet. Gifts of every kind are offered by groups served under the umbrella of The Greater Good, such as the Rainforest site, the Animal Rescue site, and others. I ordered and promptly received a wonderful bracelet for myself that is engraved with the words "Bless This Woman".  This classy bracelet helps me remember that I'm a woman even when I'm hoisting heavy boxes and moving furniture.  I like being a woman; in fact, sometimes I love it :) So I wear my bracelet proudly!  Their website is at http://www.greatergood.com.  The other organizations I've just mentioned are at http://www.therainforestsite.com/click and http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/click. Visiting these sites daily and clicking on their buttons saves acreage in the rainforest and provides food for shelter animals, respectively.

And Now, A Howl Of Sadness -- The Federal government has voted to permanently remove all gray wolves from protection, meaning these beautiful animals are now being murdered by the hundreds, by all kinds of unsavory methods.  This is our government bowing to the special interest groups -- namely, people who like to shoot at live targets and cattle ranchers who have an unrelenting hatred for all wolves (cattle ranchers have always had the legal right to shoot any wolf who was thought to pose a danger to cattle).  Wolves have just found their way back from the brink of extinction and now are being destroyed again.  As of last evening, the Feds were collecting public comments regarding also removing the red wolf from protection.  I sent in my comment, which boiled down to "For God's sake, don't kill the wolves!"  Actually I said more than that, but I did include that phrase.  Please, if you care about the wild, intelligent, mystical, beautiful wolf, check out the website of the hard-working group, Howling For Wolves at http://www.howlingforwolves.org, located in Minnesota.

The Night Sky --  It has been so beautiful this week, especially with yesterday's full moon and nearby Jupiter, whose moons can be seen swirling around the planet, even with my little binoculars!

Wishing To All The Very Best --  For this holiday season and the new year.  Let's sing, dance, have joy, meditate, mindfully help those less fortunate -- and pray for peace, compassion, and good will.         

The Full Moon Of May's Dwindling Days ...

 ... is in the astrological sign of Sagittarius (the moon is always full in the opposite sign of where the Sun is ... hence Sagittarius the 9th sign/Gemini the 3rd sign, with the moon in a fire sign and the sun in an air sign.   

I have put my newest song “Vanishing Freedom” up on my Reverbnation page at http://www.reverbnation.com/clarasolobluesjazzandexoticmixes.  Different in character and genre than my usual stuff, it provides me with an opportunity to vent some of my thoughts and feelings about what the government has done and continues to do with our lives, the earth, logic, and ethics. I think it’s worth a listen and hope you’ll tune in :)

Over the past weeks and months I’ve been putting a lot of time and work into a different kind of project that I’m really looking forward to unveiling via this blog, when its time is right. Yes, I’m excited about it and will post about it as soon as I can. My above comments about the astrological signs bring to mind the concept of “cusps”.   My project is on the cusp of becoming news!

Drum circle, anyone? I’m eager to find or form a recreational and/or shamanic drum circle so my wonderful djembe Ruby and loyal hand-drum Gabriel can meet and enjoy the camaraderie of other drums :) The two circles I used to attend are no longer meeting.  I drum almost every day as part of my meditation. The drumming puts and keeps me in the moment and is very soothing in a quietly exciting way.  Playing piano or keyboard and singing also provides me with a blissed-out though different kind of feeling; the hand-drum is especially centering.  If you're in the Knoxville area and are interested, please let me know.

I found a wonderful organization that is working to save U.S. wolves from annihilation. Howling For The Wolves has a marvelous website at http://www.howlingforwolves.org/  To help rescue and protect U.S. horses from slaughter and inhumane transport, please check out all-volunteer Southern Winds Equine Rescue at http://www.southernwindsequinerescue.org/ .

Peace, love, light, and blessings!

Sugar, Spice And A Toss Of The Dice!

Welcome back, dear readers!  If you had deserted my blog I wouldn't have blamed you.  I haven't posted to this, my original blog, in a year or so.  I'll try and make my posts stimulating and I'd like to strike some balance between serious and inane :)

420 --

Yes, April 20th is the long-established day that honors the amazing, yet vilified Cannabis plant, which was re-named marijuana many years ago by our government in the effort to misrepresent it and make it sound foreign and scary.  My comments about it here aren't from the perspective of a user, but rather, from the standpoint of an herbal and wildflower enthusiast who thinks that God knew what He/She was doing when He/She created the Earth and populated it with plants and animals.  The Cannabis plant is among the most versatile, useful, and beneficial in this world.  Fortunately (although 75 years late) its prohibition, persecution, and blatantly untrue bad press are showing signs of ceasing, with two progressive states declaring it a legal plant and many other states coming forth with various decriminalization measures.  You can follow this progress by going to the website of NORML at http://norml.org/.  Anyone who wants to know the truth about what happened 75 years ago -- and how and why the government escalated its persecution and imprisonment of cannabis users -- to include seizing their homes and cars -- can refer to the History Channel's documentary and several other historical publications.  It's obvious that the federal government  had deemed itself wiser and mightier than the earth's Creator and that it was accountable to no one.

New Song --

I've written another new song (not sure where my music reporting left off in my earlier blogging).  This song is not in my usual blues, jazz, ballad, spiritual, light classic genres; it is a protest song.  Instead of being played on guitar like most protest songs of the past that I've heard, it is done on the piano.  For recording purposes, I'll play it on my split keyboard so I can use the bass feature, too.  The name of the song is Vanishing Freedom.  The song's content covers some challenging territory and, yet, remains lyrical.  When I get it done, I'll put it up on my website and on Reverbnation.

Reverbnation --

Some months ago I joined Reverbnation and have some songs up there on my page.  The title of my account there is "Clara (Solo) Blues, jazz, and Exotic Mixes".  I hope you'll visit.
http://www.reverbnation.com/clarasolobluesjazzandexoticmixes   

Facebook Artist Page --

When I joined Reverbnation, I found that my days as a FB hold-out (I didn't want to join) were over because Reverbnation considers a subscriber having a FB page as a given.  So I created, with the help of a dear friend, an "artist" FB page.  The artist pages are somewhat different from the regular FB accounts.  I'm still learning the drill as far as how to navigate the page and how to post to other people's regular FB pages.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/claras-music/378791192206945

Two New CDs --

During the past year, I did two new music CDs.  They are both for sale on  my new and improved website at www.claralandau.com.   The first, "Clara (solo) The Journey and The Gem" has some truly mesmerizing songs ... some originals and some awesome covers.  The second, "Songs for Spirit" is a collection of original spiritual (not religious) songs ... and one of the songs is by my friend, Sandy Garrett.  His song is absolutely beautiful and I dare say that mine are nice too :)  You can hear some of my stuff on my website's Song Page link, but you will need to get the CDs to hear some of the most delectable renderings.

New U.S. Secretary Of The Interior --

The appointment of new U.S. secretary of the interior Sally Jewell took place last week.  She replaces Ken Salazar.  This change in leadership governing our public lands and environment has been needed ever since  Salazar took hold of the reins; the role he chose to play was disastrous for the environment and endangered species.  I am especially hopeful that Secretary Jewell will return protection to U.S. wolves (who were removed from the Endangered List during the final moments of W's presidency and are currently being pursued and killed).  Also I'm hoping that Secretary Jewell will put a stop to the horrendous helicopter wild horse round-ups that lead many terrified adult horses and new foals to their deaths ... and that she will protect U.S. horses from being barbarically slaughtered in the U.S. or across the borders in Canada and Mexico.

Our Fellow-Beings the Non-Human Animals --

A recent mailing from ASPCA about the rise in animal cruelty, including instances of cruelty involving many species of animals -- seems to echo the violence being perpetrated on humans by other humans.  Also, I've got a mailing from WSPA that speaks of the routine very inhumane treatment of animals who are considered "food" and food-producing units.  It doesn't need to be this way. Why are so many members of our species so hell-bent on cruelty?  Where is the compassion?

My Magazine Article --

About six months ago, I finally wrote my article that chronicles my other-dimensional experiences ... events that were uplifting, amazing and, in several instances, saved my life.  I don't know what publication to submit it to.  It's entitled "An Angel At My Shoulder", though it's about many circumstances and spiritual beings.  But I feel the title is appropriate and the term "angel" fits well my benefactor and guardian (several years ago I wrote a song by the same title).  The article is, at once, shamanic and mystical and enthralling.  Perhaps I'll publish it on my blog.  Please let me know if you have an ideal publication in mind that might be suitable for it.

Update On Dixie Lee --

My beautiful dog is doing fine following the very difficult year she/we had with her fistula situation.  She miraculously recovered during summer of 2012 and has been well ever since -- all traces of the condition are gone!  She is looking forward to her 11th birthday this August.  For those of you who are interested in the science of numbers, 11 is a mystical number and one with which I'm very familiar in the best sense of the word : )

Blog Post Reprint --

This would be a good time for me to reprint my long-ago published post that lends some levity (and truth) to our current national and world conditions.  Here it is (reprinted from an earlier post that appeared in my now-deleted "Classic Clara" blog).

Mini-Series...

Continuing with the pro-animal, pro-environment mini-series, I want to update readers about the Rep. Nicely (not nice) horse slaughter bill in Tennessee. It has (for the time being) been withdrawn and sent to committee for "summer study". To date, it has not been withdrawn in the complete sense. Mr. Nicely's ugly bill was opposed, overwhelmingly, by the general public and, very notably, by singer Willie Nelson. Sincere thanks to Willie and everybody else who rallied on behalf of Tennessee's horses, to defeat this bill. Hopefully, the bill will roll off the books and not resurface at a future session.

My current posting is about wolves and you will find it immediately below this paragraph. There are more topics to come ... some will be provocative. If you're reading me and my stuff, I think you'll want to stay tuned. I'll be putting up subsequent series posts weekly.

Save The Wolves

The May issue of Men’s Journal magazine has a poignant and compelling ad and an article; the items are about two related travesties – the Bush Administration’s plan to slaughter hundreds of gray wolves and the Bush Administration’s handing over our public lands for use and abuse by off-road vehicles. In each case, pandering to political and industrial special interests and friends is responsible.

You may recall the post I put up recently (please scroll down) about the wolves and I promised I’d post about them again when I learned more. The Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund headline "Using Tax Dollars To Shoot Animals On The Endangered Species List? The Bush Administration In Action", begins the one-page article that sums up the situation well. A visit to the organization’s website tells us more and goes on to say "Bush Administration Takes Aim at Wolves – In Greater Yellowstone and across the Northern Rockies, gray wolves are facing mounting habitat destruction from industrial development and other harmful activity. Nonetheless, the Bush Administration recently stripped these wolves of endangered species protection, leaving them vulnerable to mass killing. Both Wyoming and Idaho are planning to use aerial gunning, as well as baiting and trapping, to exterminate hundreds of wolves.The comeback of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies is America's greatest wildlife recovery story. But the Bush Administration's ‘License to Kill’ plan could drive these wolves back to the brink of extinction".

Gray wolves were almost completely wiped out of existence by every vile means imaginable. Finally put on the Endangered Species List, there are now about 1,500 of these beautiful animals in the northern Rockies area, where they have revitalized the region’s environment and enhanced the tourist industry. Bush has recently removed the wolves from the Endangered Species List and now plans to sanction a wolf-kill, in which wolves would be mass-killed by any horrific means. We must let Congress know we do not want this to happen.

The Bush-Cheney Administration has done and continues to do damage of epic proportions to all things environmental, ethical, and humane. Now is the time to speak up in defense of the wolves. The truth is that there is not an over-abundance of wolves; additionally, ranchers already have the right to kill any wolf that may harass livestock; and the elk population is at an all-time high across the northern Rocky Mountains, providing plenty of elk as targets for "sport" hunters to shoot at. The Bush Administration is obviously determined that not one component of our ecological and natural heritage be left unmolested ... using our tax dollars to fund the killing and destruction.

Please visit the website of Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund at
www.callofftheguns.org
for all of the facts and to tell your U.S. Representative to oppose Bush’s wolf-killing plan.