Note by Note: Messy Girl | No. 16 | 6.5.19

How messy are you? 

Me? A whole bunch. 

I distinctly remember the image that prompted Messy Girl. As I opened the rear door of my minivan, I surveyed the slew of dried-up snack fragments, mismatched sports equipment, miscellaneous papers…

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Note by Note: Plant Me a Tree | No. 15 | 5.19.19 

Have you ever taken a bath in the forest? 

As in “forest bathing”? As in retreating to nature to immerse yourself in its healing powers? 

Shrinrin-yoku forest therapy was developed in Japan during the 1980s as preventive health care. Researchers…

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Note by Note: Big and Wide as the Sky | No. 14 | 5.7.19

This Mother’s Day will be particularly poignant as my youngest son graduates from high school two days later. The impending empty nest will mark an ending and a beginning. 

Parenting is so complex, so challenging, so life-altering that it almost…

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Note by Note: Dear John or Jane | No. 13 | 4.18.19

What were your favorite sounds from childhood? 

(I’ll give you a minute to ponder this…) 

My top picks include my mom playing piano downstairs as we went to sleep, the school librarian reading us another chapter, Stevie Wonder singing as…

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Note by Note: To the Girl | No. 11 | 3.25.19

“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.”  ~Jean-Michel Basquiat 

While still a novice at guitar and solo singing, I wrote “To the Girl” to my younger self. I felt an overwhelming desire to tell my…

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Note by Note: Sweet Bird | No. 10 | 3.10.19

Spring is coming….really, it is. 

As you and I have struggled with the ice and snow of this frigid winter, how have those tiny birds survived? 

And how do each of us survive turbulent times? I was convinced during one…

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Note by Note : Let It Be | No. 9 | 2.25.19

It seemed a big advantage to have a last name that began with “Z’. Seated alphabetically, I often had time to rehearse my answers before the teacher called on me. So I wouldn’t make a mistake. 

I remember reading ahead…

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Note by Note: Crazy In Need | No. 8  | February 10, 2019

“Love is the most universal, the most tremendous, and the most mysterious of the cosmic forces.”   ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 

Who and what do you love to your core? 

How do you put that love into words...or music…or art…or food…or…

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Note by Note: Will You Stand With Me | No. 7 | 1.21.19

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”  ~Eleanor Roosevelt 

I almost quit guitar lessons about twelve years ago. Between Mom duties, two or three part-time jobs, graduate school, band practice, major league volunteering, etc., there wasn’t enough…

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Note by Note: The Firefly | No. 6 | 1.5.19

“Growing pains are not just for the young…” 

While experiencing those uncomfortable pangs once again, this line became the genesis of “The Firefly”. I was reminded of fireflies kept too long in mason jars. Did you also gather up fireflies

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Note by Note: The Gift of Light | No. 5 | 12.20.18

Isn’t this a fabulous premise? A noted author travels far and wide to thank his mentors by preparing beautiful, home-cooked meals of thanksgiving. He shares each “pilgrimage of gratitude and generosity” with a mentee or two, thereby widening the circle…

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