The Spirit Within

This week I attended the dedication of a Legacy Sculpture presented to the City of Olathe honoring the city's sesquicentennial [150 years]. This life-sized monument, which is nearly 60 feet long, depicts a stagecoach, people and horses all in recognition of the heritage of Olathe as one of the final stopping places along the trails heading West.
Kwan Wu, the artist of this sculpture [who is internationally recognized for much of his work and happens to be a resident of Olathe], spent two years creating this bronze mural.
He commented that as he worked on this piece he found himself talking with the people as he fashioned them from metal - their spirits very much alive and vibrant.

I understand this very well. During the 31 years I was employed at the school for the deaf, I often felt the presence of those who had lived and worked on those grounds since 1867. Now that I am beginning to write their story, I find myself carefully listening to them and hoping to give accurate 'voice' to their tales, for these people are very real, very alive and very much a part of my life.

The Classics

Now that I am traveling almost weekly on a research project - 150 miles roundtrip - I have a lot more time to listen to my collection of CD's. I'm not much one to listen to the radio because I haven't found a station that plays only what I want to listen to . . . yeah, I'm getting set in my ways!

Which brings me to the question: What makes some songs classic? I'm sure everyone has their own opinion as to which music is 'classical' but since this is my weblog, I feel compelled to speak from my own point of view.

Songs can either be about the music or about the lyrics. If the song is about the music, the melody (as it were) needs to be complex enough that every time you hear it, you hear something new. Not an easy task, I would guess . . . having been someone who has never written music, but has an appreciation for the complexity that can be heard in 'classics'. [My current favorite is Howard Shore, composer for Lord of the Rings trilogy.]

If it's about the lyrics, the story line should be timeless and personal to the listener. Some of my favorite classical song writers are Harry Chapin and Simon / Garfunkel. I love storytelling in song and love that their stories are as relevant today as they were in the '70's. Fortunately or unfortunately, I measure other story writers against these people . . .

So as I'm cruising along I-70 you might see me singing the stories of these never-out-of-date writers or lost in the battle for Middle Earth. It really makes the trip to Topeka go quickly!

The Writing Process

For anyone who writes and actually thinks about it, there is a very personal process that is travelled . . .

As many of my close friends and perhaps not so close acquaintances are aware, I have been asked [and accepted] the task of writing a book about the history of the Kansas School for the Deaf. This was well over a year ago, and I am finally at a point of actually putting pencil to paper.

This is not to say that the writing process didn't start many months ago, because it really did. Too often, there are those who think if you don't see the tangible proof of the 'fruits of labor' nothing has happened. I have personally found that the start of the process happens in the churnings inside my head. This can go on for a very long time. The trick is to know when it's gone on long enough and recognize that the ideas are ready to 'be birthed'.

It's exciting to be at that point, because often you can't write fast enough to get the ideas committed to paper. I do know that this is not going to be a matter of a few weeks or months, but at least two solid years of research and writing before sending material off to a yet-to-be-discovered publisher.

What's reassuring to me, is the task is very personal and very fulfilling - so whether anyone is interested in reading the book when I'm finished is not the point. Some of us write for others and some of us write for ourselves. This has a bit of both, perhaps, but I do recognize that it's going to be a journey and labor of love for me.

Being connected . . .

It's amazing how many avenues for "connection" are available to any person with access to a computer. I'm finding that the time a person can spend in front of the screen is a bit daunting at best.

I've recently joined LinkedIn and Facebook: one for business connections, the other for fun [much to the chagrin of the younger generation!].

Like anything else, if you're going to make it worth your while to become part of "an organizaation" it takes responsibility to keep up-to-date and active with what's happening. A person gets very little out of something by just sitting on the sidelines watching.

Hence the challenge to check on the status of the groups. I still belong to three service organizations . . . though I'm finding it challenging to attend meetings on a regular basis - time and gas, both. It makes me wonder about the groups a person joins online and if this is just a fad or another option, or is this the movement of the future . . .

Personally, I'm more comfortable with face-to-face, but there is something about being able to tell your side without interruption [and sometimes, no comments because you've been so tardy with entries, like this one!]

So, hello to anyone who might still be checking my blog! I do plan to keep it going, if for no other reason than it gives me an outlet for writing!

Picking a Cause

It's fairly obvious that times are getting tough all over for everyone. I've heard more people talking about budgeting their personal finances than ever before [myself included!]

Most of my work career has been in the non-profit arena - I tend to include the educational system in this genre - and certainly where I'm working now, we have felt "the pinch".

Because of my background, I have a special place in my heart for organizations that work hard to raise money for research since tax monies are usually not allocated for these purposes. As many of you may know, I have had the opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day, 60 mile walk twice before - once as a walker in New York, then as a pit crew worker in Kansas City.

Once again I have signed up to walk. This time in Seattle, in September. Why this cause? Probably because I have had too many friends who have been through the ordeal of fighting cancer, something I haven't been faced with personally, and hopefully, will never have to.

So, this is my blatant request for help! In order to participate in the walk, each person raises $2100. I've gotten a start on this, but could use some help. If you want, please click on this link: The 3-Day which should take you directly to my donation page!

Thanks for giving this some consideration and I promise not to solicit too often on my blog!

Grapes of Spring!

March has always been a transitional month in my mind. Living in the midwest, the month of March seems to signal Mother Nature's struggle and reluctance to give up the cold of winter and give way to the warmth and hope of a new season.

I don't even mind the snow storms we sometimes have, because you just know the cold wetness won't last that long. There's a feeling of getting out of old ruts and awakening to new avenues of adventure.

Given a chance, this discovery can happen in just about any aspect of life: hence, my new found affection for the grape variety, Malbec. This is a grape from Argentina that I find to be very pleasing to the palate. I'm not even going to try to use the appropriate terminology in describing the flavor - I'm just not that refined as a wine connoisseur. But I do know what I like!

Last night I had the privilege of accompanying friends to a wine-tasting event [they own a wine and spirits store and wanted opinions on various wines]. I was more than happy to oblige. Rows and rows of tables, laden with bottles of every imaginable variety of grape.

Welcome to Spring!

Fiddles and Violins

I have often wondered why I feel more inclined to get out to cultural events when I'm on vacation or out of town. There are so many opportunities around if a person just pays attention!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to see and hear Joshua Bell playing with the Kansas City Sympony. It's difficult to find the words that can describe the beauty he can coax out of an instrument. Of course having a Stradivarius violin doesn't hurt! [By the way, if you have never seen The Red Violin, it's a great movie.]

This past weekend I saw and heard an equally amazing performance by the StepCrew. [A lot of people don't realize how very Irish Kansas City can be!] What these performers are able to do with 'fiddles' is incredible! For two hours, with a short intermission, there was non stop fiddlin', dancing and singing on stage!

Two very different but equally wonderful performances using basically a similar instrument . . .