Archive for Change

FuN tHeOry !

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To All Things There is a Season…

Many have written about these times in which we live. It seems like it is truly a time of change: patterns, thoughts, ways of being.   This past week, we have experienced the hospitalization of a child, health issues with aging parents, our daughter’s moving out of state, and now the death of my brother-in-law.

It is mid-August, when daylight hours decrease and  the crescendo of the cicadas’ song breaks through the muggy air.  It is a time of quiet reflection, of turning inward, of recognizing the gifts I have been given: the gift of love, of family, of friendship.



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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Old Maple TreeTomorrow my oldest daughter will leave this old house to embark on her new adventure. Her roots will now extend to her other home in New York.  Bags are packed, laundry is being finished one last time in this place. Tonight the sisters and a friend are paying homage to the local ice cream parlor for one last ice cream—where they split the scoop so you can get 2 flavors.

I went to the store yesterday and bought staples and sundries at Ohio prices rather than New York City’s. Those items are lined up on the table, waiting to find their places in the bags that will take the trip.

There is a sweetness to these days, when I see my daughter ready to once again spread her wings and take flight.  This will have been her last summer here; her apartment in Brooklyn will be her new home.   It warms my heart and being to see her make choices that guide her in her adult life.  She turned 21 this summer, and she is gliding toward her future, EYES. WIDE. OPEN.   And it is good.

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Wise Words

Bitphoto courtesy Laura Weldon

My good and wise friend Laura Weldon sent me Paul Hawken’s commencement address to the Class of 2009, the University of Portland.  It resonated deeply with me and I pass it on to you:

Published on Saturday, May 23, 2009 by CommonDreams.org


Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org

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The Fairies Are Coming!

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Playing for Change


Playing for Change Playing for Change is a pretty amazing thing. Folks from all over this fine blue planet playing music. Being the change, one song at a time.

It is what we, as citizens of the world can do, united in peace by music.  Just. Like. That.  No boundaries or nationalities.  Sharing the vision. One song at a time.

Mark Johnson is the man with the original vision. Others shared it. Take a look at the video posted below. You’ll hear the story, and some mighty fine music.

Tomorrow: Bloggers Unite

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Cups of Kindness: The Power of One

Friends and neighbors helping each other

Friends and neighbors helping each other

A little over a year ago, we shared a table at a swim team function with a woman who is on the Board of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank . We started to talk, and I shared my vision of Cups of Kindness, an art show and sale which would benefit the Foodbank.  I thought of the words from from that old song,  “we take a cup o’kindness yet for Auld Lang Syne.”  We decided to, in the words of my English mother-in-law, give it a go.

Seventy -six artists donated over 150 pieces of artwork. The logo, website design and hosting, and photography was donated. Bloggers from near and far wrote about the project.  Artwork began arriving from local and national artists. An author donated 2 signed copies of her book.  The website went live.

We hung the show at our Elements Gallery, and at the Peninsula Art Academy. The opening celebration coincided with Christmas in Peninsula, and it was wonderful!

The website is back up and running, with a new look for Spring and with some new pieces. Please take a look.  And stay tuned for updates about Cups of Kindness, 2009.

Cups of Kindness is truly a testament to the Power of One. It is what we the people can do for each other.  We the people who reach out to our friends and neighbors who are in need. We the people, anonymous all, who, when we help our community, help ourselves. We who are one.

To date, we the people have raised enough money to purchase 22,022.07 meals.  That’s not half bad.




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Playing for Change: Don’t Worry

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Playing for Change

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My Town Monday: So Long, Mr. Hunker

You never know who will touch your life and how. You just don’t know how one action will touch the lives of those around you.

Twenty-two years ago, we went for a drive in the Village of Peninsula. We had been thinking of moving our studio from an industrial building in the city where the temperature was a constant 57ºF all winter and 89ºF all summer. In the Village, we saw many vacant buildings, and and weed strewn parking lots. The Towpath trail wasn’t completed. We know. We tried to take a walk on it. It was impassable.

I jotted down a telephone number that was listed on a sign in front of one of the vacant buildings, and called it the next day. We had been thinking about one particular building, but the man who met us had different ideas. He drove a small car, not at all new; and an ornament of a jumping horse graced the hood. He showed us a building that had housed a sailing shop. The previous owner had left things in a state of disarray: debris was strewn all over the place, there were holes in the walls. And the walls were all painted a dark brown. 1970′s harvest gold paisley carpet covered the floors. It was quite a site.

But the feeling of the place was right. We saw beyond the disarray, and envisioned a place where we could work and bring our then less than year old daughter. And it was close to home. We didn’t feel that we could move a studio and a business until after the Christmas holidays—we had orders to fill, shows in which to participate, and our studio open house to complete. The man told us he’d hold the building for us until after the holidays. He thought that the Village needed what we had to offer. He saw us more clearly than we did, and believed in the spirit of what we wanted to do before we were sure what it was.

Robert Hunker was a complex and interesting man. He owned many of the buildings in the Village and had the foresight to put them in an historic trust. He knew the value of historic buildings and worked to preserve them. He was equally passionate about horses, hence the hood ornament that appeared on every car he owned. He frequently invited our daughter to ride her horse on property that he owned in the southern part of the state.

Bob was the kind of guy who you either liked or……. you didn’t. And he had strong opinions—lots of them. We always got along with him. We treated him with respect and care and he responded in kind. When our daughters were little, he’d come in to see them, asking, “How’s my girlfriends?” He’d gently hold them, walking them around the space, as they pulled on his beard.

When the Village held its Harry Potter Fest, Bob volunteered to play Dumbledore at the End of Term Banquet. He was a generous and gracious host.

Bob Hunker died last Monday at age 82. He leaves a legacy of history, of restoration, of valuing things that should be saved just because they should. Bob was a visionary, seeing the Village as it is today and how it could be in the future, treasuring the rich history that created this place and the feeling it holds. He loved this Village and the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park in which it sits.

The Village of Peninsula, population 601, gently resisting change since 1827.

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Travis Erwin is the cruise director of the My Town Monday ship. You can visit his site for links to other MTM Marauders’ sites around the world.

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