Amazing footage

For many years, my mother donated money, in my honor, to this wonderful organization. Enjoy and, if you are like me, shed a tear over the sheer beauty of the moment!

For my mum...

The last two scenes of "Gypsy"

Rosh Hashanah

Self-examination and repentance is an integral part of what makes us human and able to move in our world. I will be thinking, today, on how I can be better and to think back over those I have wronged.

I am sorry if you are one that I have wronged. I was probably listening with my ears and not my heart. I am working to be a better listener to what you say ...and to what you leave unsaid.

Last day of Summer

Yup, it's Labor Day! And. true to Michigan's changeable weather, it is a full 30 degrees cooler than Friday or Saturday. Whoa! Mother Nature is really reigning us in to gear up for the start of School and Fall.

I spent the early morning, as I have for awhile this summer, on my porch. With a cup of strong coffee in one hand and a good book in the other ("In Spite of Myself - a Memoir") I sat with my yoga blanket over my knees and drank (!) in the cool, quiet air. So still. Sigh. Really, really nice.

I thought about my parents and how they loved to sit out here. I miss them. I thought about my friend, Kimber, who would have caught up to me tomorrow - her 49th birthday - and how we will visit her grave instead of having cake together.

I thought of the summer happenings...

My first garage sale and how fun (and work!) it was. Shared it with my friend, Nicole, and how that really jump started our friendship.

Music Sunday when the JAPC choir rocked out with some amazing music and how wonderfully my husband conducted and kept us under control.

My new glasses - after alot of years - replacing my little blue number.

Seven weeks of Summer Theatre Camp at the Barn and out in Milford.

The fun of hanging out with the Warner Clan over the 4th of July and all of us at the Quonset - inside and out! The boat ride with Kori and the cousins. The fireworks over Traverse Bay. Hanging with Adam, Mal and Steve at the Lake. Meals at Rolling Farms Cafe, Flap Jack Shack, Sleders and Amical!

MOOMERS!

Mallie and I being part of a film - "I Hope You'll Smile" - and hanging out with the Edwards Family. What a nice evening of crying! (We were part of a funeral scene.)

Stephen playing L'Inferno at the Traverse City Film Festival and the feeling of walking up to the theatre and seeing his name on the marquee!

Mallie starting cello lessons.

Anna's mum's funeral - all those amazing quilts displayed that her mum made coupled with a really lovely service. Add in the wonderful afternoon spent with Jeanne and Kathie at the St. Clair Inn.

Doing "Dream Dinners" with Mallie and making 48 portions in 2 hours! Fun.

Attending a little going away party for Julie C. and enjoying the company of our church family.

Women's Sunday and the lovely evening spent at Marieke's house - finding out what I want to be when I grow up! Totally jamming at 80!

Stephen and I,in concert, in Indian Village's Centennial Park on a lovely, breezy afternoon/evening. Eleven songs back-to-back!!

The lat three days of August with Mal and Q: Torch Lake and sleep over at Kori's. (The two of them tubing, Q. kissing Max and a long slow drag across the lake, feeling so deliciously relaxed that I put slugs to shame!) Showing Q Leland and eating my final "South Shore on Pretzel bread" of the season. Hiking to the beach of Pyramid Point, coming to the quiet, deserted, pristine beach, skinny dipping in broad daylight. (My child says she is scarred for life and we have the pictures to prove it!) Moomers, of course. The Woodland Herb Farm,(Just south of Northport. A place in business for 37 years and I think I have stopped there almost every summer of those years!) shopping at Jaffe's. Then toddling over to Black Star Farm Winery for a great lunch at Hearth and Vine with Kori and Tony. Yum! Walking around Suttons Bay and driving past the amazing Japanese house!

And here we are. Savouring the last morning and the amazing COOL! It will all end with a porch party at the Fergessiens. Food, drink and laughter.

All in all, a grand summer!

A fitting epitaph

Good morning! I was reading a passage in a book called "Bold Women in Michigan History" by Virginia Law Burns. In a passage about the abolitionist, Elizabeth Chandler, I read this poem she penned....

"The Silver Glade"

Lay me not, when I die, in the place of the dead,
With the dwellings of man round my resting place spread
But amidst the still forest, unseen and alone,
When the waters go by with a murmuring tone;
Where the wild bird above me may move its dark wing,
And the flowers I have loved from my ashes may spring.

As I think about my mother, whose ashes rest in the columbarium at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church alongside those of my father's, I think this might have been her wish as well. We did take a portion of her remains, about a month after she passed, and spread them on the beach of Good Harbor Bay and out into Lake Michigan.

I think also of my friend, Kimber, who passed away just a year ago only 2 weeks shy of her 48th birthday. I visit her grave occasionally and I am always struck by the beauty of the cemetery ...and the complete waste of space! I think I may be more closely aligned with Miss Chandler's view. No offense to those who favor traditional burial but it is not for me.

Just what I was thinking today. Carry on.

Just in case you missed it!

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan Voted Good Morning America's 'Most Beautiful Place' - ABC News