Jun9

greenhorn.

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one of my favorite teacher gifts ever

a big, colorful, ceramic unicorn

chosen and painted by a student

body painted green, my favorite color

eyes painted yellow, her favorite color

accents painted black, because they look cool

and a unicorn

because it was a gift straight from the heart.

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p.s. i named it ‘greenhorn’ because it looks like it has magical powers

 

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“be a unicorn in a field full of horses.”

-author unknown

Jun7

bye, george.

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one of my all-time favorite musicians, george winston, has passed away
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i first ‘discovered’ george many years ago when on a road trip to toronto and heard one of his beautiful songs on the radio. i had no idea what the song was, or who the musician was, but i wanted to find out. when i arrived in toronto, i asked my friend who worked for a record company to help me figure it out. i tried to describe what i had heard, but i’m sure it didn’t translate, and we never figured it out. before i left. she gave me a pile of cd’s  to listen to on the way home, that different record company reps had given her. imagine my surprise, when his song was featured on a windham hill compilation cd she had given me, and i found that it was george winston playing ‘thanksgiving,’ the very music i had heard and loved. from then on i was hooked, and listened to everything i could get my hands on.
years later, i finally had the opportunity to see him play in person and it was the most amazing thing. the stage was silent, he walked out quietly in his socks, made a gentle bow to the audience, sat at his piano and played incredibly beautiful music for the next two hours. a shy and humble man, a natural talent, and a very generous and giving soul, even when quietly fighting his own battles. he will be greatly missed by many, but his music will live on.
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Notes from his site:
*We are deeply saddened to share the news that George Winston has passed away after a 10-year battle with cancer. George quietly and painlessly left this world while asleep on Sunday, June 4, 2023. George courageously managed serious cancers, including having a successful bone marrow transplant for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in 2013 at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, that gratefully extended his life by 10 years. Throughout his cancer treatments, George continued to write and record new music, and he stayed true to his greatest passion: performing for live audiences while raising funds for Feeding America to help fight the national hunger crisis along with donating proceeds from each of his concerts to local food banks. Across an illustrious career spanning more than 50 years, George’s music first became known and loved by his fans with the release of his two most iconic albums, Autumn (1980) and December (1982). George’s recordings evolved with the times while garnering a GRAMMY Award for Forest (plus five GRAMMY nominations) and selling over 15 million albums. George touched the hearts of generations with his acclaimed solo acoustic piano compositions. From his early days in Montana, Mississippi and Florida, to his later life living in the San Francisco Bay Area and touring to cities worldwide, America’s beautiful landscapes and natural seasons shaped his singular instrumental folk piano. With 16 solo piano albums to his name, George recorded brilliant piano music, which includes tribute recordings for Vince Guaraldi, The Doors, a Hurricane Katrina relief benefit, Gulf Coast and Louisiana Wetlands benefits, September 11 benefit, a cancer research benefit for City of Hope, the Peanuts episode “This Is America Charlie Brown: The Birth Of The Constitution,” among others. George’s legacy includes his beloved catalog as well as an archive of his own acoustic guitar and harmonica recordings, and albums by an array of Hawaiian slack key artists on his own record label, Dancing Cat Records. George is pre-deceased by his parents, George and Mary Winston, and is survived by his sister, niece and nephew.
The family of George Winston will hold a private memorial service. For donations in memory of George Winston, please visit:
Feeding America:
City Of Hope Cancer Center:
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center:
Jun6

our part.

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“love football – hate racism”

well done.

 

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“ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year.

ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term.

ours is the struggle of a lifetime,

or maybe even many lifetimes,

and each of us in every generation must do our part.”

-*john lewis

 

*John Lewis was an American politician, civil rights leader, and Medal of Freedom awardee who served in the House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020.

Jun3

i’ve got the music in me…

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(not me, and i don’t have a dog, but how i imagine many passengers react (inside) to my car singing)

 

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during my weekday commutes

i spend my time

listening to books, radio, podcasts

and

singing along to a wide range of music

with mixed reviews.

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“music doesn’t get in. music is already in. music simply uncovers what is there, makes you feel emotions that you didn’t necessarily know you had inside you, and runs around waking them all up. a rebirth of sorts.”

-matt haig, how to stop time

 

 

 

 

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photo credit: google images

 

Jun2

odoriagaru.

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the kinder were literally jumping for joy

when watching the wind spin the pinwheels on the grass!

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jumping for joy – leaping-for-joy (japanese)

 躍り上がる (odoriagaru: to spring up, leap to one’s feet) to leap + up.

 

Jun1

in early june.

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after 3 years

my little stick

left untouched

given time and space

has grown into

a baby peony tree

 well worth the wait

for its very first bloom.

 

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“in early june, the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.”

-john steinbeck

May31

meraki.

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painted rocks left on a tree stump in our courtyard

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our science teacher

retiring after many years

has lovingly hand painted

180-ish unique and detailed rocks

one for each of the children in our early childhood  program

all having to do with science, nature, kindness, joy

our children were absolutely thrilled

with this lovely legacy.

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meraki is doing something with total love, and pure soul.

it is leaving a little piece of yourself in your creative work.

(greek origin)