Stitched up!!

"....stitched up, outta my mind..."lyrics from a John Mayer jazz duet.  Yep, went under the knife recently for a hernia repair.  Apparent cause - heavy cocktail lifting and over exertion on tee shots, and aging as a possible abettor!  

Oh well modern health care served me well...highest costs in the civilized world, not so much.  Great wife, self appointed recovery physician, priceless.  Cut me off of cocktails and golf for a while, but insists on a quick return to heavy sexual activity as therapy! Go figure.

I'm a lucky guy in all respects.  One thinks of such things while convalescing.  Having a great wife, meaningful work, super friends, fine children (grown and responsible).  I can't ask for much more.  

I have to include on that list many amazing new friends...glad to know you!  Thanks for all of your kind wishes and caring.  Now, back to work! We have a 2013 economy to build, a planet to improve, and peace to develop, one to one and globally...not for the wimpy. Let's start by dropping the silly battles.  Nobody is going to take your pistol away.  Get over yourself, think big picture, eh?

Harmony!

The beauty of voice harmony is quite a wonder.  I'm always amazed at talent...it's essence...what it says about humanity, what it might say about transcendance...the other.  Harmony however, speaks about the equation of talent...about being equal, while distinctively different.

I was just listening to the weekly "Prairie Home Companion" radio show, and they regularly feature harmonic voice pieces...basics you know, bass, baritone, tenor, alto and soprano. It's beautifully simple, and it spoke to me...well sang to me!

Each of us is given our own key, our octave if you will.  Some are quite talented of course, and the balance are perfectly pitched for our own ears, particularly when accompanied by a fine shower orchestra. 

Paul McCartney co-founded the fab four...the Beatles, and his harmonies with John Lennon created frenzied fan behavior.  He later wrote a song, "Ebony and Ivory" and performed it along with Michael Jackson.  A tribute to harmony, a salute to the value of the individual and the beauty of the combination.  Obviously the song's image is the key board, which indeed is visually incredible...88 perfectly aligned and entwined keys, that connect to 88 beautiful tones.  

Each key has its own voice and can be combined with other keys for perfect harmony and resonance.  Moreover, American jazz pioneers proved that even atonal sounds have their own special beauty...off beat rhythms can be respected and cherished.

Millions of hues make up our color, countless views form our consciousness, and in every mix harmony can be found, art can be created.  Beauty is there...appreciation is indeed the choice of the beholder!  I choose not to criticize art (talent) that I don't fully comprehend...I know the beauty and the harmony is there, even if I can't see it.  May each of us see more harmony in 2013.

The Untangling

Remember this photo?  Yep, that little tree on the right is the one of which I was so proud of it's decoration (and my work) a few weeks ago. I bragged then that it held at my estimate ONE MILLION plus lights.

Yesterday, my son and I began to remove those million lights. You may find this hard to believe, but it was unbelievably challenging.  I would have sworn that I just utilized a ladder to reach the top...but either I rented a "cherry picker" or the tree grew a foot or two!

My dedication to the "million points of light" created a tangle that rivaled a wire haired terrier's coat in appearance! The reindeer were removed before the de-decorating began. I wanted no audience whatsoever for this wrap of the season. Even still, distant chuckles could be heard regularly.

Nonetheless, another seasonal accomplishment was finally completed.  I even sorted the crates, to move Easter's equipment to the front of our storage barn.  I'm the poster child for organization for early 2013!  Happy New Year every one...may your days ahead not be tangled, and may you shine brightly!