A shadow of Spring in the Fall

Source: http://vi.sualize.us/view/kallini2002/bacc8993e315c84ad049d5ed10a8b2e0/

Calendar Wisdom.

Delicate whisper of a garden

Incubate a thousand dreams

A shadow of spring in the fall

(composed with Book Lover Kit, but not by me)

I am doing well with the song of myself (September assignment).  My web site is all about me, that is my song.  October is my favourite month and I was born on Halloween.  Let’s see what October will bring.  Beauty, love, wisdom?  Change?  Not only in colours, I hope.  I hope. I hope.

Shadow of History.

The colours and feelings of fall can be exhilarating, the red maple leaves in a cool breeze, a sometimes melancholy season following summer’s easygoing charm, all leading up to the spectral celebration of Halloween.  Poets often like to reflect on the supernatural; considering its power, watching for ghosts, and talking to the past.  During the month, consider what spirits may haunt the neighborhood you walk through everyday, perhaps moving through your streets.  What is the history of your place?  How does it still exist and how has it been covered over?

Quote of the month:

“Autumn is a second spring

When every leaf is a flower.”

- Albert Camus

Source:

http://imgfave.com/popular/page:2

Calendar Wisdom.

I am trying to stick to the monthly assignments from the calendar.  In February, I have not done such a good job.  Not in March, not in April.  The major conclusion: I need to focus.  This month – on flowers, gardens & possibilities.

Garden of Possibility.

May is all about flowers – from nursery rhymes to festivals and traditions all over the world.  The gentle beauty of these blooming plants is a perfect symbol for the growing warmth and ease of the coming summer.  We also celebrate motherhood this month, often with flowers.  This month is an opportunity to recognize the power of new life, of nurturing new things into existence.  Using flowers as a metaphor, consider how the year is progressing.  What has bloomed and what is still coming along?  How does your garden grow?

Quote of the month:

“Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.”

- Louisa May Alcott

Source: http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/indschool/WB/calendar1.jpg

Calendar Wisdom.

For all these (3!) months I have not done well at all.  All of these months I have not succeeded, even in March when I decided to stick to “Success” and “supposedly” made resolutions.  No, to be more specific, I made resolutions; the only problem was I did not carry them through.  But remembering the Art of Reframing, it was not a disaster, but a learning experience.  So, I need a plan, I need motivation, I need to check my progress daily.  I will see what will happen from now on.  But I have to admit that two ideas are firmly planted in my head – Love (February’s theme) and Success (March’s theme), they are unrelated (or so it seems so far!).  I have read a book by Anthony Robbins “Awaken the Giant Within” and I will be quoting him regularly.  I guess I can give myself credit for at least trying to find a way – Anthony Robbins is considered to be a psychologist of change and success, even though his expertise is not indisputable.  Regardless of his credentials, I believe that if I do the exercises that he suggests and take his advice with a pinch of salt, I will do better than without any plan or direction in mind.  I have to stay on track!  I can change almost everything, but it takes time.  So, opening a new chapter…

April Fools.

Perhaps it’s light-hearted nature of Spring that brought about April’s Fool Day, the way it looks like summer one day only to be freezing the next.  Take a moment to inject humour into your day.  See if any of the word tiles below strike your funny bone.  If not, try randomly grabbing words and putting them next to each other.  Take it further: put together those words that seem least likely to be side by side.  Create an absurdist collection of funny language.

Quote of the month:

“Humour is the great thing, the saving thing.  The minute is crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

 - Mark Twain

I tend to think that I have a great sense of humour, but some people just don’t get my jokes and in the worst-case scenario it all turns very ugly.  They may get angry, offended or aggressive.  I think they take themselves way too serious.  Do I have to adjust all the time?  I guess it is a choice…  I always laugh at myself, so it must be a good Sign!

Calendar Wisdom.

I am trying to stick to the monthly assignments from the calendar.  In February, I have not done such a good job.  Even though, I was thinking about love, but I did not write so much about it.  But it certainly made me think.  I even picked a couple of books on dating.  I did not expect to find much in them, but surprisingly enough they opened my eyes.  I even started following the advice given in them.  I hope I will write about some of my experiences in the LOVE department or as we used to say in Russia “on the love front” (I guess, everything is a battle for us!)

But there is a new beginning.  AGAIN.  A new Chapter.  Calendar Chapters are months.  So there is a new month.  March’s theme is “New Thinking”.  The major idea is in order to get where you want or anywhere at all, from point “A” to point “not A”, you need at least to start moving.  Forward, one might assume.  Or backward.  Or in circles (I hope NOT!)  Well…

New Thinking.

Sometimes the challenge of moving forward isn’t simply seeing the path, it’s taking the first step.  And to move our thinking forward, we have to make mental leaps into uncharted territory.  Pick your favorite word in the first line of a poem, using it from the tiles.  Each day use this word in the first line of a poem, using it as differently as possible each day: as a noun, a verb, an adjective, as something good, something bad, as something personal, as something public.  Stretch your imagination and see where one word can take you.

Quote of the month:

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

 - Pablo Picasso

So… I am picking the word “SUCCESS”

Today is the last day of February and I don’t have time to say anything about love.  I was planning to write the whole essay.  Did not happen.

Love was promised to me in abundance for the year 2010.  Yep!  The year of the Tiger.  I read some astrological prognoses for a Scorpio.  Astrologers said it could not be any better for me as far as love goes.  It should turn my head and I should walk on air and rush about and float on the waves of love.

The year of Tiger began on February 14^th 2010.

It coincided with the St. Valentine’s Day.  Does that have any significance?  Probably not.  By the way, one of the horoscopes said that I would go on a wonderful date on St. Valentine’s Day.  I was on a date (amazingly enough!), but I wish I had have turned it down.  But maybe that was also meant to be.  The previous night was much better, when I went to a Salsa Night and danced the night away.  Maybe that can be counted as a wonderful event.  I had I a suspicion that I was almost asked out by my love (former!), but I missed his hint and we did not meet.  Maybe that is for the better as well.  Enough with the guesswork already, whatever will be, will be.

Will this year be full of love for me? No, really?  Some say, love is not enough.  Not enough for a marriage.  And they are right.  I was married, I should know better.

I shall come back to these promises next year and see.  And now, I simply continue living my life as is…

Calendar Wisdom.

Well, coming back to my calendar.  Now it is February and there is a new Chapter.  Apparently, the new theme is LOVE.

Symbols of Love.

Love is perhaps the most difficult of emotions to put into words, but that certainly hasn’t stopped anyone from trying.  When it comes to love, we come up with all sorts of ways to communicate it – gifts, surprises, good deeds, and, yes, loving words.  Consider your love for someone and look over the poetry magnets.  Which ones jump out?   Try it with different people in mind – a partner or a friend or a child – and compose a few lines with these symbols of love.

Quote of the month:

“There is no remedy for love but to love more.”  Henry David Thoreau

So, if it is the theme of the month, I will be writing about love and marriage.

Many years ago, my ex-husband and I were about to get married and the first date suggested at the Registration Office was February 13^th , Saturday.  I am not superstitious, but I refused categorically.  The next day was obviously February 14^th, the Valentine’s day (how romantic is that?), but we did not know it then.  We lived in Russia, and were totally oblivious to the dates like Valentine’s Day, Halloween (on which I was born), Thanksgiving and the rest of them.

So, not to be married on the February 13^th, we chose February 6^th instead.  Was our marriage meant to be?  Who knows?  We had a car accident on the way to the Registration Office and not all of our guests arrived to participate in the ceremony.  It is generally considered to be a bad sign, but again who knows?  And now, I can say only that we were married for 16 years and we are not married any longer.

My ex has found another love and I guess he will remarry soon.  And I struggle to remember all of those who had the folly and courage to propose marriage to me.  The question somehow resurfaced and it did not always had to do with love.  Maybe it is time to write a little story about men in my life.

A poem about Winter Landscape.

Surprisingly enough, I was thinking what I could write about Winter Landscape.  That was my homework for January.  Yes, that one from the calendar.

And that is what I found.

A Russian romance “In the Moonlight the snow is sparkling”.

Because it is Russian Romance, it is in the Russian language.  Obviously, but that is not the point.  I had to look up the word romance because I was not sure if I used it correctly.  Apparently, I was right and one of the meanings of “romance” is “a short, lyrical composition.”

But then I looked at the origin of the word and that where I lost my conscience. (A joke!)  The word “romance” stems from the word Roma = Rome.  If I take things literally and I do it quite often, just for fun, then a Russian Romance is a contradiction of terms.

So, all these meanings: a love story, a literary genre, the aura of excitement and more simply come back to Rome.  Literally, all roads lead to Rome.  Or rather all ROMANCES originate in Rome.  Or?  Maybe that is the reason why my Italian friend is so amorous all the time.

Coming back to “In the moonlight the snow is sparkling”.  This romance is neither about winter, nor about landscape, it is about Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yFfX-UK9PI&feature=related

В лунном сиянье

слова и музыка Е. Юрьева

Полный текст песни

слова и музыка Е. Юрьева

В лунном сиянье снег серебрится,

Вдоль по дороге троечка мчится.

Динь-динь-динь, динь-динь-динь —

Колокольчик звенит,

Этот звон, этот звон

О любви говорит.

В лунном сиянье ранней весною

Помнятся встречи, друг мой, с тобою.

Динь-динь-динь, динь-динь-динь —

Колокольчик звенел,

Этот звон, этот звон

О любви сладко пел.

Помнятся гости шумной толпою,

Личико милой с белой фатою.

Динь-динь-динь, динь-динь-динь —

Звон бокалов шумит,

С молодою женой

Мой соперник стоит.

В лунном сиянье снег серебрится,

Вдоль по дороге троечка мчится.

Динь-динь-динь, динь-динь-динь —

Колокольчик звенит,

Этот звон, этот звон

О любви говорит.