Sunshine floods my spirit with hope...

I sat outside this afternoon in my robe and listened to the cacophony of bird songs singing the praises of Spring just around the corner. My daffodils are very close to blooming and small green sprouts of lilies are pushing up from the leaves I have yet to clean up...we still may have a late snowstorm. My lilac bush, almost a tree now is budding outside my kitchen window and the forsythia is turning green with each passing day. I understand that tonight under the full moon our temperature will drop drastically and I won't feel the caress of today's warm breeze on my skin. I do love the seasons we experience here in Ohio but some more than others. I find the rebirth of the earth I share with others a continual affirmation that Life will continue to flourish.
Yesterday I went to see my new friend Brenda at Sharon Brooke but she was having a very difficult day and was terribly exhausted so we spent two hours just visiting with one another. I met her guardian Mary who had purchased a new flat screen TV for Brenda to enjoy on days such as these. I think I am going back tomorrow to check if she is improving because she did want so badly to make her paintings but the body was in dire need of extra rest. I totally understand this when a person sometimes has to delay what they really want to be doing and take a moment to stand still. I think she was reteaching me a lesson. Her constant companion Penny Boy rested his regal head on my lap as if he was thanking me for staying. Witnessing this sacred friendship...woman and her dog is an art of making a beautiful life. We have so much to share and I am sharing my grand children with her and she tells me of her life in Cleveland with her beloved husband. Time is the truly greatest of all gifts.
Tonight I attended a Ladies Night out making fused glass jewelery with about two dozen new friends. Laughter and giggles filled the studio as we shared tools, techniques and finished products with our schoolmates. Did I tell you there was wine and lemon cello plus luscious humus spreads and delicious salads to aid in our artistic endeavors? Oh what a night to inspire the inner child in all of us! I also attended our CALC meeting to help finalize our Final Friday activities coming up in 2009. I feel a great sense of pride in watching the great happenings that are blooming for downtown Newark. I also saw Tiffany Auman from the Advocate and she will be teaching a freshman writing class at Zane University this Spring! Bravo Tiffany!
Well I need to get some work done here on my "wandjini"...made you look! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart p.s. I really should not drink lemon cello but it did taste so good!