Top 5- II

In the spirit of sharing and making lists (easy when you're struggling for other blog ideas). Please list you top five places that you go to relax and unwind on a hot summer's day:
5. Lancaster, Pa. - Favorite B&B
4. Longwood Gardens
3. The local park
2. The backyard deck with a glass of Pinot Grigio
1.Walking at the shore/boardwalk

Top 5

List five songs you're currently digging. It deosn't matter what genre they are from, wehter they have words ....or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, songs and authors, and consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play along..
1. Carole King- "It's Too Late." The Tapestry CD has been in the deck a lot lately, and many of the songs survive the test of time.
2. James Taylor- "Secret of Life."
3. James Taylor- "Handy Man." Seems the entire greatest hits is not far from my car.
4. Bruce Springsteen - "Man's Job & If I should fall behind." There are few Bruce songs that I don't like really.
5. And for something new...."Devil's in the Details" by Lowen & Navarro. I may be off a little about the author on this one.
OK...that's six, so what? I never was good with math! Have fun!

Is it karma?

I went shopping for historical novels of American history for my Mom's upcoming birthday. I cannot explain it but something kept pulling me to "The Alchemist," by Paulo Coehlo. It seemed to be everywhere but that was not my mission. Mom wanted to read American history and I was determined to start with the newly released "1776." I need new books like I need another pair of shoes. Determined to read those that I have at home before buying new ones I trecked on. Several books stores later I was loosing my determination as this book seemed to be everywhere. Humm, was it some kind of karmic sign or what? While reading on the net curiosity got the better of me. I had to find out what this book was about. To try to keep my vow to abstain from any more purchases I went to the local libary which to my suprise had one copy (with my name on it). If you haven't read it, let me suggest you do so. It's only 177 pages, a quick read by any standard. If you've read it please feel free to share your thoughts and comments. It calls itself a fable about a shepard boy who follows his dreams to find treasure. He travels across the desert to the Pyramids meeting interesting characters along the way. Each has a special role in his journey of self-discovery. There are messages about spirituality, culture and following your heart. Another recurring theme; when you make a decision to follow you dream the world conspires to support you. I loved it, it was the right book at the right time. Hummm, is there a pattern here? One things always leads to another. In the same way after watching "The Sea Inside" I wanted to read Ramon Sampedro. Following "Before Night Falls" it was Renaldo Arenas. After watching "Must Love Dogs" I went in search of Yeats. You never know where your next inspiration may come from. Happy hunting!

Mad about the movies

Yesteday I was feeling kinda low and thought a light hearted romantic movie would do the trick. "Mad about Dogs" was not exactly a formula film, Diane Lane and John Cusack were hard to resist for this movie buff. Turns out that the film star of the day was Christopher Plummer. He was great, no villious, vile behavior like I'm accostomed to. During the film John Cusack's character was always watching Doctor Zhivago. That got me thinking......
A few favorite tearjerkers:
Casablanca
Legends of the Fall
Out of Africa
Now Voyager
Jezebel
Sophie's Choice
Can you add some of your own to the list?

Thank God it's Friday

Thank God it's Friday was never more appropriate. I can honestly say that I like my job as a social worker and most of the people act like a supportive team in a professional emergency.

Some very weird stuff occured this week. A co-worker announced that she was terminally ill and asked that we respect her privacy at home, as these were her last few days in the office. Withing minutes you could not walk anywhere without hearing a discussion of the annnouncement. The worker was the only one who was calm and apparently accepting of the situation. Perhaps she was trying to lead her peers by example, demonstrating that her faith gave her the comfort that she needs during this trial. There were cards, gifts, and an impromptu luncheon in her honor the second day. There has to be a lesson in all of this and I want it to be about more than living every day to the fullest. None of us has any time to waste that's for sure. I hope that the faith of this strong woman saves her from pain and can be an example for her family/friends/co-workers to follow.

Day three we had a visitor from Transylvania, not exactly. There was a bat flying around and someone trapped it under a wastebasket untill the proper authorities were called in. Why not release it outdoors? Although I did not volunteer to perform this task. Humm, too weird, thought bats flew around during darkeness. We needed to lighten up, that's for sure and soon postings for a save the bats campaign started poping up. There were pictures of bats and batman logos multiplying faster that you can say, " To the batcave, Robin." There is important work to be done here!

Even if we are not sure what it all means while its happening, there has got to be a reason to believe. Hope, love and faith can be the most powerful forces on earth, if we would just utilize them.