Caleigh O'Shea's Blog, page 29

Handling Change

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor

We got a new symphonic band director this semester, and to say the transition has been smooth would be stretching it.

A lot.

Now most of us don’t handle change well.

We might think we do. We might say we do. But if we’re honest, we know that change — in certain areas of our lives and in large doses — is unsettling.

I liked our former band director. He challenged our artistic sensitivity, drew out the best sound from a somewhat rag-tag group of about 50 players, and sold our concerts to happy audiences.

But after our first rehearsal under a new guy’s baton, I found myself dragging.

Nothing was the same. He didn’t warm us up the way our old director did. He wasn’t as organized or sure of himself. He wasn’t comfortable directing a group with students and community members, and he had no clue what level we could perform at.

So we spent two full rehearsals sight-reading — boring — and time was ticking away toward our first concert.

Complaining to others and jumping to the drastic “solution” of quitting band entirely didn’t get me far, so I sat down and vented my feelings in an email to our new director.

I let it “simmer” for nearly a week, rewriting it a half-dozen times every day until I got just the right balance of honesty, concern, and tact. I offered suggestions, like letting the full band vote on which pieces we wanted to play for our concert, and selecting pieces our paying audience would enjoy listening to. And I volunteered to help however I could to make the transition smoother.

Imagine my surprise when some of these things were implemented!

Three weeks in, and more community members have joined, we’ve zeroed in on our concert pieces, and I’m having fun once again.

And that’s one of the beautiful things about being in band.

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown

Signs of Fall

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Webs.

Silent

Like dew drops

Dotting my bush

And letting me know

The spiders were busy

During the night as I slept

Creating works that would rival

Some pieces that are in museums.

Silken treasures that speak softly of Fall.

Note: This poetic form is an Etheree, a 10-line poem that starts with one syllable and adds a syllable in each succeeding line until there’s a total of 55 syllables. It can go from one to ten or in reverse from ten down to one, or can even double up and down both ways. I had to challenge myself to write one since my friend Linda writes some beauties!

P.S. My son Domer will be home next week, so I’ll be playing hooky from the blog. I’ll try to catch up with all of you when I return. Don’t start October without me!

My Butterfly Magnet

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond.

~Irish blessing

Last year, a friend gifted me a couple of stalks of something I researched and learned was Sedum.

Someone had given a bunch to her, and she had no clue what it was. Just that it was easy to grow, even for a person without a green thumb.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Sedum, here’s some in bloom this year at one of our parks:

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Sedum is a perennial in the Crassulaceae family, commonly called Stonecrop. It’s a succulent, with thick interesting leaves and clusters of star-shaped flowers and is available in two varieties — a low-grower suitable for ground cover or tall stalks ideal for border gardens.

Blooming in late summer through Fall, Sedum is showy in pinks, purples, blues, and yellows. It requires little attention, seeming to love sunshine and well-draining soil.

Sadly, the Sedum my friend gave me last year died out. Totally.

And when I told her how crushed I was over it, she offered me more this year. In fact, she gave me a huge clump of them in early Spring, long before they flowered.

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Since putting them in the soil didn’t work last time, I planted them in a container, which the experts say is a good growing place. It’s raised off the ground, where curious bunnies and squirrels can’t get to it.

Even Dallas isn’t interested.

As spring turned to summer, I started watching eagerly for the Sedum to do something.

Like bloom.

I didn’t know what color it would be and, like a kid digging inside a Cracker Jack box, I was curious over what “toy” I’d get.

Gradually, my Sedum got taller, and little yellowish-white nubs appeared:

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Some time later, the nubs erupted into tiny star-shaped pinkish-purple flowers:

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Then more flowers started showing up:

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And I noticed that butterflies, moths, and fuzzy bees were drawn to it in droves. Why, it’s a butterfly magnet!

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And here:

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The Sedum at our park was equally popular. Look at the bees (those brownish splotches on the lower left flowers):

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I can only hope my Sedum is sufficiently established to withstand an Illinois winter. The experts say I don’t have to do much of anything (deadheading, fertilizing, etc.). All that’s needed it letting it die naturally when the cold wind blows in, then waiting for new growth to emerge next spring.

What could be easier?

And honestly, isn’t its beauty worth a little effort?

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Sedum in bloom at our local park

Sunday’s Gem — Iolite

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

Taking its name from the Greek ios, meaning violet, Iolite is the jeweler’s name for cordierite, a silicate mineral found in metamorphic and igneous rocks in Sri Lanka, Africa, India, Brazil, Norway, and Madagascar.

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1.83 ct. violet-blue Iolite mined in Madagascar, photo from www.geology.com

Iolite is a pleochroic mineral, meaning it appears to be different colors when viewed from different directions. Typically presenting as violet-blue or indigo, Iolite can shift color to yellow-gray, honey, or even clear. It can serve as a less expensive alternative to sapphire or tanzanite, though it’s challenging to facet and cannot be improved by heat or irradiation.

Known as the Vikings’ Compass, Iolite was used as a polarizing filter by explorers to determine the exact position of the sun so they could sail to the New World and back. Officially named in 1912, Iolite was popular in jewelry in the 18th century in Europe, but isn’t well known today. In fact, despite its ready availability in the mass market, jewelers fear they won’t have sufficient supplies to meet demand.

A relatively common mineral, Iolite is a 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness (ranging from 1-10), but in jewelry form must be protected from cracking because of its cleavage.

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This 3.54 ctw rectangle and baguette Iolite ring is available at JTV for less than $50!

Feng Shui experts claim Iolite uses water energy (stillness, quiet strength, and purification) and should be placed where you meditate, repose, or pray. Water energy is associated with the North (career) area of a home or room.

Metaphysical practitioners believe Iolite opens our awareness from higher vibratory realms. It activates the Third Eye Chakra (our center of perception and consciousness) and, to a lesser degree, the Crown (controlling how we think and respond to the world around us).

Typically listed as a 21st anniversary stone, Iolite isn’t a traditional, modern, or zodiac birthstone.

On an emotional level, Iolite is said to instill hope and provide for a calm state of mind. It releases discord and helps overcome codependency in close relationships, helping us to accept ourselves.

Iolite is believed to strengthen the nerves, ease headaches and eye strain, relieve insomnia and nightmares, and support a strong constitution. An outstanding detoxification stone, Iolite is touted for relieving dizziness and enhancing the growth of hair and nails. It’s said to inspire creative self-expression, whether through writing, song, or other artistic endeavors. (Yes, please … I’ll take a wheelbarrow-full!)

Clean your Iolite with a soft cloth in warm sudsy water. Store it separately from other jewelry.

Note: The claims here aren’t meant to take the place of medical advice. They’re based on folklore and other sources, and likely “work” best if one’s belief is strong enough!

Doctors Don’t Know Everything

Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is. ~Norman Cousins, American journalist

Dallas here.

It’s been a ruff summer.

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Sometime in late winter, somebody (who shall remain unnamed!) dribbled a little in the living room, and when Mama found it, I got the blame.

Huh!

So she took me to my dogtur, who did a bunch of tests and determined I have early stage kidney disease.

Disease? Me?

No way.

Well, Mama went to the Interwebs and learned kidney disease is pretty common in senior pups.

And we can live with it for years, providing changes are made in foods and such.

Mama didn’t believe it. She was certain I wasn’t long for this world.

She did a LOT of crying. And trying to hide it from me. And then she went out of town with her sister, dumping me in the kennel and instructing them to transition me to the yucky kidney food.

I think she thought she’d get back home and find me gone.

Well, I lost five pounds because I wouldn’t eat that slop, but I was still alive.

They moved me to another brand of kidney food, but I refused to eat that either.

I wasn’t getting any of the good stuff — no cookies, pizza, donuts.

Nothing.

So I slept all day. If you can’t eat, and your Mama pins a pitying stare on you, I figured maybe this really was the end.

Mama had my dogtur do another blood test and this one came back perfectly normal!

Then Mama talked it over with my breeder, who said I was too good a pup to treat like that. She said, “He thinks he’s being punished, and he doesn’t know what he did.”

Mama took me back to the dogtur and told her that, if I had to go to the Rainbow Bridge, she wasn’t going to send me there starving.

Go Mama!

She put me back on the food I was eating before all this fiasco, started giving me cookies and other treats, and would you believe — I’m practically back to being Dallas once more!

I’ve gained much of my lost weight back, I play ball with Mama every day, I’ve taken little walkies, and Mama says I have the spark of life again.

Take that, kidneys!

Note: Debbie here. This is not medical advice, okay? Part of me questions whether his initial diagnosis was accurate. I just know that both Dallas and I firmly believe you live until you die, and quality trumps quantity any day.

How Rude!

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you — not because they are nice, but because you are. ~Author Unknown

We’ve all come across them — boorish human beings who can’t interact with others without stepping on toes or leaving behind uncomfortable feelings.

Too often, these folks never even realize they’re making life hard.

For themselves and others.

A 2017 report by the Associated Press found that three-fourths of Americans believe manners and behavior have tanked in our country. The frustrations of our modern lifestyle, isolation caused by technology, growing divides in economics and politics, cultural differences, and more are blamed.

Go out for dinner and look around — entire families are on their cell phones. Or hit the road and cringe when a monster truck cuts you off in traffic. then flips you the universal hand signal blaming you for being in the way. Or access Twitter or Facebook, only to have a stranger unfriend you because you don’t share their religious or political beliefs.

But I think the height of rudeness is when somebody asks a personal question … to one’s face … in front of curiosity seekers.

Recently, my car was in for service and I was in line to speak with a technician, when a total stranger stopped and remarked aloud that I looked familiar and wondered if I’d been in his high school class.

This was an old goat, mind you, and the waiting area was full, so I told him I doubted it.

And hoped he’d quietly move along.

But no.

He drilled me as to where I’d gone to high school.

Why would he care, since I didn’t know him (and obviously didn’t want to)?

Noticing all eyes on me, I lied.

I’ve since been told I should have retorted, “I fail to see where that’s any of your business,” or something to that effect.

Not very nice, but neither was the question.

He didn’t need politeness. He needed educating.

We don’t ask others if their teeth are dentures. Or why they got their tongues pierced. Or how much money they make.

We don’t ask how much another person weighs. Or whether they have breast implants. Or if they were around for Richard Nixon’s resignation.

Those who ask personal (read: nosy) questions deserve the same level of rudeness in the response they receive.

Thoughts?

New Day

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Morning Glory vine

Greets each day with regal hue

Eliciting smiles.

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Wordless Wednesday

Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ~Roger Caras, American wildlife photographer and writer

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Filling the Eye

Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. ~Walt Whitman, American poet

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There once was a tall yellow flower

Who announced it received the power

To attract fuzzy bees

Without making them sneeze

And humans to become less dour.

 

Sunday’s Gem — Moonstone

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

A birthstone for June, along with Pearl and Alexandrite, Moonstone is a feldspar mineral exhibiting a watery opaqueness and something called andularescence (a fancy way of saying there’s a soft glow of light appearing to float just below the surface, rather like that of the moon glowing through a thin cloud cover).

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This is an 83.7-carat rainbow Moonstone cabochon, oval in shape, mined in India. It sells for $355.72. Thanks to www.mineralminers.com for the photo.

The state of Florida chose Moonstone as its state gem because of its association with the lunar landing, but really there aren’t any Moonstone deposits there. Rather, this mineral can be found in New Mexico, Brazil, India, Germany, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and Tanzania, among other locations.

Named for its moon-like sheen, Moonstone comes in soft shades of peach, gray, blue, and white. It’s relatively soft (6-6.5 on the 1-10 Mohs Scale of Hardness) but can be fashioned into pendants, earrings, or rings. Spheres and eggs are also popular.

Ancient Asian myth claimed the best blue Moonstones wash up in the tides every 21 years. Moonstones have been used in Roman jewelry for nearly 2,000 years (and longer in the Orient). In India, Moonstone is a traditional wedding gift. Europeans believe it reconciles estranged lovers.

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Various colored and polished Moonstones. Thanks to www.quora.com for the photo.

Moonstone is said to help dancers and artists with self-expression and to promote sensitivity in psychiatrists and executives. The mineral is particularly beneficial for those battling weight problems, encouraging them to value themselves for who they are and helping them separate food from emotional needs. Moonstone is said to be beneficial for safe travel, particularly over water and at night.

Feng Shui practitioners believe Moonstone uses metal energy (the energy of intelligence, healing, and creativity) and should be placed in the northwest and west areas of a home or room. Position one in a child’s bedroom to eliminate nightmares.

Moonstone is the zodiac sign for Cancer (June 21-July 22) and is known for its calming qualities. Moonstones have been known to lose their silvery luster if worn by someone who continually holds anger within. They’ve become the stone of choice for a 13th-anniversary gift to counteract the evil influences of the number 13.

Moonstone is associated with the Crown Chakra (the top of the head), controlling how we think and respond to the world around us. A stone of intuition, Moonstone is prized for encouraging insight, easing stress, boosting creativity, promoting conception, helping the digestive system, and balancing hormonal cycles.

To charge your Moonstone, place it on a windowsill or outdoors overnight during a full moon. Cleanse it gently and store it separate from other stones which might scratch it.

Note: The claims here aren’t meant to take the place of medical advice. They’re based on folklore and other sources, and likely “work” best if one’s belief is strong enough!