Sunday, March 30, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
So soon April
So soon April. It's
the hope and thought of April, as we come to the end of March, that propels us forward.
As I write I avoid looking out. If you don't look you don't see and that's the game being played.
Snowflakes drop from high gray skies. With a shake of the head it’s another day of regretfully acknowledging spring is a holdout this year.
With the amount of snow still left to melt a fast start to a slow season is clearly out of the question.
This is accepted given the nature of the 90 day forecast. It isn't a warm forecast for the northern tier. That's us.
Now it’s to wonder when even to expect spring. April becomes pivotal to the answer we await.
You have to look for signs of spring when it’s wayward like this year.
Along with the lovely gained light there are fortunately other indications that spring is picking its way, however carefully, to our collective door. Recent observations:
1) Water running in the street in the warmth of afternoon sun (back days ago when temperatures were close to March averages. Past days have been cold.)
2) One robin (on the wing) in our neighborhood and a cardinal, red against white, brightening a tree branch beside the house. Lots of little birds with their quick movements that catch the eye. An uptick in bird calls are heard.
3) Squirrels everywhere, bounding and racing, tails flying as the furry bundles of animal life leap from trunk to limb to wind-tousled boughs and never an inaccurate guess on their aim for the next precarious landing.
3) Widening areas of bare ground are opening up under evergreens. Beneath the pines and spruce in our yards always seem first places to lose snow cover.
My theory is the dense, dark boughs pull in the sun and bring the warmth down the trunk into the roots.
An unscientific method of getting to the mystery of things is very freeing I’ve discovered. It allows for much room in reasoning things out.
WCCO-TV, one of our local stations, aired a great First Day of Spring story. The feature, done by staff reporter Rachel Slavik, showed remnant snow heaps, hard as ice and just as resistant to melting away.
She pointed out holiday decorations not yet removed. An inflatable Santa Claus, limp as overcooked noodles, was among specimens of holiday adornments she found to remind us their time was long over.
She interviewed winter-hardened residents in parkas who good-naturedly unzipped them for the camera when reminded it was spring.
In t-shirt (brave of Slavik in that weather!) she did her story outside with green grass at her feet. It had to be artificial turf. Nothing naturally green will be here for awhile.
The angle taken on the spring story was an interesting one. It celebrated spring by taking note of the lingering presence of winter.
By making a spoof of spring, as it tardily arrives this year, the TV feature reflects the Midwestern method of giving perspective to things by poking a little fun at ourselves.
J.Crew is another example of cleverly playing the seasonal theme. It injects humor where some lightness of spirit is appreciated. In this case it’s in the shoppers’ pocketbooks.
“If I wear this sweater one more day, I’ll scream” sale was announced by sign on the J.Crew storefront.
I was passing by the store's location at the mall and stopped to read the sign. It had me chuckling as the truth of it hit me. It also had the effect of getting me inside the store
Many of us have the experience of looking into the closet and freezing in place. We become unable to pick out an item because everything has been worn way too often. Tired of it all!
With layers critical this year to winter comfort the continuing re-working of pieces into outfits used up our fashion creativity.
We can’t think of one fresh way to match, contrast or pull together our by now way too familiar winter wardrobe.
New and different speaks to us after a long season. J.Crew figures this rightly in its current sweater sale.
We’re ready for spring. We can come to terms with our late spring if we can get something out of it. An item of clothing or new haircut will work.
In bits and pieces, in clothing and fabrics, in switches to lighter layers, and in anticipated sunny skies and mild breezes, we and spring come together at last.
Ro Giencke – March 24, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
St Patrick's Day, a poem
in the lift of your head
the wit of your reply
and lilt of well filled heart.
Bask in the abundance which is life
and sing of the love that steadies you -
and sing of the love that steadies you -
warming as sunshine after rain,
gentle as dewdrops, mist and grace.
To write Irish poetry must ask a wee drop of Irish blood of which none I can lay claim. But put me stoutly on the side of the Irish today as the desire is for some of that Irish pluck.
And here it's snowing. It's impish of St. Patrick's Day to fall white instead of springing forth green with daffodil spears and blades of emerald grass.
March 17 wears its own look in Minnesota and has its own outlook too.
With a third of Minnesota's population of Irish heritage it makes St. Patrick's Day locally a big deal. We all get to celebrate and be Irish for the day.
Those of us who choose wear green in solidarity. We'll stand out for sure this year. Green has impact against our very snowy background.
Ro Giencke - March 17, 2014
R
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Reading and journaling, a route to you
Today is the 74th day of daily calm if the book of the same
name, written about in the previous blog, had been begun at the top of the
year.
I’ve had some catch-up to do as I broke the book open about the middle of last month.
It’s still early enough in the new year to feel the months ahead of me and the pleasure of a page to enjoy each day.
Daily Calm is a moment of quiet, a chance to cradle the book, take in the photo which is the daily entry and think about each piece of wisdom that accompanies it.
Joan Didion is the source of the thought for March 15 as the page was turned this morning. The four lines address self-respect that comes from knowing our intrinsic value in the scheme of everything that touches our lives.
We need to live by our expectations and not solely be shaped by others.
For personal growth it’s essential we place our worth and our needs appropriately.
It does nothing good to allow our esteem to bloat or shrink out of proportion to the fact that each of us counts through the generous gift of life.
We’re continually shaped by personal choices as well as the influence of others. To differentiate which is the better course in some decisions can take a lifetime to get expert at.
We begin by being aware of our inner guidance formed through experience. We learn to open to what we take in of life around us each day.
Many find that journaling helps in this process. You can go back and find answers revealed in what’s been written about and recorded.
We can see the composition of our thoughts, which is a distillation of our interests and concerns.
It furnishes contact with our inner reasoning and truths. Without this reflective exercise we might miss this profundity.
It accords us a context for how we view life. This can be instrumental in what we reach for next and how we carry it out.
My journaling has never been daily discipline. Nor does it constitute a summary of the day and its activities.
For many years, instead, my practice is to jot down thoughts read in books, clever advertising from off billboards, lines expressed well in letters now so rarely received, and out of conversations where a line scintillates long after it’s been uttered and the visiting has moved on.
Thoughts that come to me are written down as I remember to transfer them to paper.
Sometimes the thoughts hang in my head refusing to go away.
Other times it surprises me that the words spoken, or popping into consciousness, are mine. I put them down to think about why they were said and how they may apply.
Following, from the pages of my journals, a sampling of five years of thoughts that have occurred to me:
4) Going to new places makes you interested in other places. -March 8, 2014
What you do, from what you care about, makes a difference. -March 4, 2014
As a society Americans from the beginning have been makeshift and make-do. It’s in our character. If these traits were missing we’d not be capitalizing on an important aspect of our national tradition and culture. -March 1, 2014
When you appreciate things they come around to start appreciating you. -March 1, 2014
Our years of life experience become generous shelter shared with others. -February 28, 2014
Timing and sunshine make all the difference in the world. -February 27, 2014
When you pay your dues life pays its dues back to you. -February 26, 2014
Sometimes it takes a little effort to get to the better things. When it gets hard it’s good to remember half way effort only gets you half way. -February 24, 2014
New adventures are meaningful. -January 25, 2014
In the things that have to be done remember how to relax in the sun. -January 20, 2014
Be the best version of yourself. -January 13, 2013
We all gamble, in our own way, for what we want in life. -September 19, 2012
Not to grow is to diminish. -March 17, 2012
Happiness is as much what you put into it as what you take out. -January 24, 2012
Dark is dark everywhere before the dawn. -January 5, 2012
We’re educated to be re-educated. -December 18, 2011
We have to at times allow ourselves to be helped. -November 9, 2011
Italian music seems to understand where your heart is at the moment. -October 21, 2011
Sometimes you wind up in places you’re meant to be. -October 8, 2011
We have only one air to breathe. -July 25, 2011
We learn so much from our elders and don’t even know it’s learning until it becomes time to apply the lesson. -June 10, 2011
Try to do things right and things go easier for you. -January 10, 2011
I believe sunshine is the antidote to everything. -October 2010
Ro Giencke – March 15, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Calm at the center

For
me it was a recent noontime visit to a Barnes & Noble cafe.
All
the tables were taken including the spot I was now relinquishing.
Chairs
pulled out from the tables made for an obstacle course as I stepped around bags
of various types placed on the floor as I returned my empty coffee
mug to the counter.
Threading
between tables I brushed past a woman who sat with a pile of books spread on
the table around her.
Her
head was down. She was deeply engrossed. She appeared to be writing in a
journal.
This
was noticed afterward. First to draw my attention was the small book set out closest to her.
It
was diminutive in size but its title was not. The casual glance as I squeezed
past put the book title in my line of view.
Daily Calm was the title.
It was calming to me just to read the words. The idea of daily calm caused an encompassing
serenity to settle upon me.
For
me it altered the busy café. It was as if all of us in it could be without
hurry. It was as if possible that each of us could deliver from a peaceful
place inside us which could conceivably be sustained day after day.
I
spoke with the woman from some imperative need to tell her what she had done. I
told her she was creating an oasis of peace by the choice of her reading
material laid out for others to see.
The
comment pleased her. She showed me a lovely picture from inside Daily Calm. She said the illustrations
enforce the theme of the book and she is enjoying the pictures so much.
I
didn't look for a copy of the book that day but did so later and bought the
book. My copy is placed on a side table within easy daily reach.
The
book is a National Geographic publication. The photos are breathtaking. The
thoughts that accompany each picture can be transformative as you absorb them.
The
thoughts are quotes from people from all walks of life through the ages. Most of the
names are familiar. If listed here the range of wisdom
the book borrows from would be made clear.
But
it’s the photos that carry the real cachet. They convey the beauty of life in
all its forms and interpretations.
Let
the pictures lead you day by day. Read the thought for each picture as you
travel the year with this book. Many thoughts will reach into you and stay.
You’re
sure to find calm at your center. You’ll feel reconnected all over again to
this amazing, astounding universe.
It
can be a world too big to grasp but National Geographic has been able to
whittle it to size. The book, after all, fits in the palm of your hand.
Daily Calm 365 Days of Serenity Photos and Wisdom to
Soothe Your Spirit isn’t the only book that got my attention that day at
Barnes & Noble. Another on the table was Every Day is Another Chance (Blue Mt Arts).
I'll
long remember the calm the Barnes & Noble reader unknowingly radiated with
her book titles.
Her
inspiration became mine as she arranged her books around her like friends who
would prove to inspire me too.
Ro
Giencke – March 11, 2014
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