June

Drinking morning coffee in the back yard. Sitting near the freshly blooming irises.

Ahh June June how this mid westerner waits for this hot & sticky month. Thunder storms, hot days, lemonade, the last day of school, summer solstice, fresh cut grass, humid nights with mosquito’s nipping at my heals and lengthy afternoons in the hammock.

Vice

Vice: noun immoral or wicked behavior. I do not covet another women’s husband nor do I commit any form of adultery. I do not smoke, drink, gamble or participate in debauchery. I do not steal, commit fraud, or exceed the speed limit.

At night when all the shades are drawn and window closed tight I eat bread. Bread with butter. Bread with butter, jam, and milk. Garlic bread, rye bread, and French baguettes. This has become quite the sin amongst dieting Americans.

Last night at a meeting; pizza was served. My skinny girlfriend was eating only the top…including the pepperoni but not the tasty, buttered crust. She saw me eat the whole piece; including the carb laden crust. I did notice the next piece she consumed all the ingredients of the pizza slice including the crust. Free at last! I say to you one and all ‘LET THEM EAT BREAD’.

Signed, A very happy round bellied bread eater.

Broken

At a spiritual study group last Sunday I shared a table with a man I will call John. His head was shaved close and he wore a medium weight jacket on a January evening when the temperatures plunged below zero. He has been at this self help meeting on and off for over twelve years.

John rarely talks about the designated topics; he hardly ever speaks at all. What touched me last Sunday were his eyes. Turned down, deep set, dark and sad. John’s wire rimmed eye glasses were obviously bent out of shape. He had tried to put them back together and reshape them to no avail. They sat on his face in a barely usable distorted manor.

Over the years I have had minimal interaction with John. The small details I know about his life are; no family, lack of job in this desperate economy, eye glasses on the verge of complete disrepair. This man, this anonymous invisible man is broken.

With hints of tears for John I realize my sorrow is not just for him. The sadness is for the homeless woman on a cold January night, veterans coming home ruined from this senseless war, our mentally ill tossed aside on our city streets and for the countless families loosing their homes to foreclosure. They are broken. We are broken.

January

Snow, ice, way to much shoveling, white and brown for as far as the eye can see. Hibernating inside under the covers with a loved one and the family pet. Dreaming of June.

One Love

"One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
Hear the children crying (One love)
Hear the children crying (One heart)
Sayin', Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right."

Lyrics: Bob Marley / Photo: Detroit Girl

Location: School in the Jamaican mountains participating in a book drive from the U.S. We brought in science curriculum, colorful reading materials, dictionaries, and fun learning supplies.

Every city has a school that needs support. 'Let's get together' and volunteer love, share in some support. Education is the key to lifting our children out of poverty. This adventure was one of the high points of my life so far. Hope to have many more to come. Peace.

List #1-Things I Hate

Greed, stupidity, war, misogyny, lack of health care, road rage, abusive people, racism, racial profiling, paper work, taxes, pollution, rush hour traffic, brussels sprouts, fertilizer, house work, heavy metal, vibe suckers, smoke filled rooms, corruption, liars, airport delays, crowded malls, non-compassionate conservatives . . . more to come.

The Entrepreneur

At the gym for a 5 a.m. work out, slap on business clothes and am on the road by 8 a.m. In a breakfast meeting by 8:30. Yeh…that’s a lie. You all know it. Alarm rings at 8 hit it; 8:30 shut it off. The cat steps on my head, on my bladder, then whines until I stumble out of bed at 9.

My partner has put on the coffee I suck it down so my caffeine head ache stops throbbing. I proceed to a comfy chair or out to the deck to read computer journals. More coffee. After 2 cups we start to talk business.

10 a.m. EST start the machines, open the e-mail, see who needs stuff, and make phone calls. Begin moving all that binary coding around that some how makes the pages, art and web sites we push to the internet. Around noonish eat some breakfast. Take a walk in the sunshine then back by 1.

The partner is off to play hand ball a couple of days a week. So when I answer the phone and say “he is out of the office” or “in a meeting”. FYI he is really out getting some exercise.

On a slow day I'll ring my sister and talk about a lot of nothing. Still working on the computer t doing the multi tasking thing. This office is lonely.

Around 5ish we eat, run to meetings and come home by 8. How you might ask do we make a living? From 8 till 11 p.m. or later we go back to work. We are open Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time. If the job requires ridiculous hours we will rise to the occasion. We have been known to work holidays too.

The upside of self employment: no boss, no cubicle, and no rush hour traffic. Knock on my door and I can be cajoled into taking a walk in the woods out back, having coffee down by the river, or strolling to town for some lunch.

Does this schedule stuff my bank account or boost my retirement savings to a million dollars? NO. I will have to work till I’m dead. But I will have lived every day in between.

My company is available for career counseling between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Gifts v.s. Presence

I was asked an interesting question about the holiday traditions “do you remember the gifts you received in 2006?” This got me thinking…what do I define as gifts.

We draw names in my clan then exchange holiday gifts. Some of the women got together to conference with regards to future presents for 2008. Some family members want to move up the gift price from $25 to $50. In my family it is the women who keep the holiday traditions together. We organize, we shop for food, we cook, we shop for stuff, we wrap the things, we arrange and we deliver our families at the proper place at the scheduled time.

GIFTS. What is the most precious and important gift to me? TIME. Why time? If I live till eighty (God willing) at twenty years of age this was one fourth of my life. Now that I am over the age of forty I am staring down at one half of my life expectancy. It just no longer seems valuable to me to spend so much time on things. Hours spent in shopping malls, finding the boxes, wrapping the items and then returning the item because it doesn’t fit.
Some of my memorable days of 2007 are listed below.

The family vacation when my mother, son, husband and I drove to the Florida Keys and back all in one day. The countless dinners spent around the dining room table with my friend Ann and her family. They graciously took me in when my father was so sick at a nursing home. The annual baking night spent with my sisters and mother during the holiday. Seeing my sister in-law knowing she will have made an incredible pie. An afternoon in the hot tub with my dearest friend Ann. Christmas Eve visiting with my nieces, nephews and extended family. New Years Eve spent with my politico pack. Dinners with my husband & son telling ridiculous stories. Sporting events when our house was filled with friends and neighbors.

My niece called this fall to arrange an afternoon visit and I almost declined. I had numerous projects on my desk with deadlines looming. She has been off at college for several years and I see her maybe three times a year. Well I tossed off my work that afternoon and spent a glorious hour in the sun catching up on life events. I can’t remember what work was on my desk or if I made those deadlines. I do remember our conversation that afternoon.

What do I want in 2008? Evenings at the theater with my mother. Lunch with every sister and friend I know. More movies with my friends than my brain can remember. Days spent on picket lines & in freedom marches with all my old pals. Televised sporting events in my living room packed with neighbors so I can stuff them with junk food. Hours spent by the river drinking gallons of coffee with everyone I know. Oh yah…endless parties with all of you.

Winter Ice in the D

The attached photo displays an ice storm on December 26th 2007 off an upper branch of the Rouge River. The Rouge is an important part of the water shed in south eastern Michigan. The once polluted tributary is now being brought back to life with the resurgence of the environmental movement. 

Visiting this river over the years has provided me with endless hours of enjoyment. The Rouge is once again home to a plethora of wild life. I have seen frogs, toads, trout, cray fish, turtles, owls, fox, and more wild life than I can mention here. 

For more information on the Rouge River visit: www.therouge.org

Please share your stories about the Great Lakes and rivers in south eastern Michigan.