Roxie Watson Living Room Session~Waltz Across Texas

Sittin' in on fiddle with my sister, Becky Shaw & her band~Roxie Watson out of Atlanta! I really so love the country fiddle tunes. And I love sitting around the living room just pourin' out my fiddle heart!!! Even if there were a few (ahem) notes that were askew, due in part to possibly one Mimosa too many!!! But we whooped it up pardners! What an awesome experience with a great girl-grass band. If you want to hear more alternagrass oldies & originals, get Roxie Watson, True Stories on CD Baby.com.

OH, BOYS!!!

Bliss in Seattle...

I was so excited on my recent trip to the Northwest to go downtown in Seattle to the Benaroya Hall to see my 15-year-old nephew play the cello.  What an amazing space, and a wonderful concert by the Academy of Music NW Chamber Orchestra.  Also impressive were the two massive blown-glass chandeliers blazing in each corner window, by Seattle artist Dale Chihuly.

 A proud auntie, that's me, and not afraid to say it.  Proud of my nephew, of course, and proud of my sister and brother-in-law for raising an incredible musician who has an undeniable passion for the cello.

Goodnight Christmas + Good morning, New Year

 Christmas crept up on me this year, the same way it does every year.  And now it's come and gone...gone!  I wasn't ready for the flurry of activities- the decorating, the cards, the parties, the cooking & baking of cookies, the children's concerts, the shopping, the rehearsals...December is activity without end.  Now that it's over, frankly, I'm a little blue.  

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I can't seem to get to the front of the line when it comes to keeping up with everything up-and-coming!  I did, however, get all the decorating done the weekend of Thanksgiving...victory!  And I did get quite a few batches of several different kinds of cookies baked, with childrens' hands right in the middle of that cookie dough...helping hands, that is, of course.  And concerts?  Musical events?  Love them.  I love to see children singing & playing instruments.  I love Christmas music so much that I start listening to it in October.  Getting together with friends and family always warms my heart.

Wait...did I just say, I started something early?  Why, yes I did.  Guess what?  In my heart, I was actually ready for Christmas.  My heart is always ready to celebrate that simple beauty that Christmas is...love, joy, peace, even when everything externally about me may not seem ready.  My life may not be like a neatly - checked list, in fact, it may (does!) look a lot more like a mess.  But here is the glowing truth of Christmas~ humanity is a mess.  And  God put himself right in the middle of it.  Because of love, because He knew we wouldn't ever see ourselves as 'ready' enough, good enough. 

So, our celebrations end, and the New Year is at hand.  

Happy 2009!

  

Goodnight, glowing Christmas goodness!!!

Ever the Gentleman.....

I am so moved by this German steel engraving from 1920...a sweet & peaceful portrayal of Jesus, lover of our souls, waiting to be invited in.  I know it is only the artist's interpretation, but such a beautiful one, and one that I am especially fond of.  If you click on the picture, you will see incredible attention to detail, and yet it is so simple.  Just like Him.  

Here is love.