Valentine Notes

Friends and Family are telling me to lighten up.  Today’s blog post shouldn’t be about climate change, or California politics, education, or the health care system.  They want a blog post about love, for Valentine’s Day.  And they’re right. St. Valentine, imprisoned in Rome, would pass notes -- Valentine notes -- to other prisoners, to  give them hope.  These are my notes of hope, because where there is life, there is hope.Candace Escobar helps me with this blog every week. She is my sounding board and my editor, and she keeps me honest. Candace helps Robin and me with our little company and she is kind and patient with our daughter Lily. Thank you Candace, this is for you.Julie Murphy -- five years ago Robin and I went out on Valentine’s Night for a date, and you came to babysit. You and Lily made Valentine Hearts with love notes and stuck them all over our kitchen. We loved them so much that we left them there, and five years later they are still stuck to our cabinets, faded and curling, but such a part of the house that we don’t even see them. Now you’re having your baby, and Lily will babysit for you, and make you Valentine hearts.


David Trulli -- you have another art gallery opening tomorrow at Bergamot Station, which I can’t attend, but I want this blog post to promote it.  What I like about your artwork is that there is always a sliver of hope in it.  A woman on a swing, a man wanting more, a vine on a fence, a blade of grass pushing through the sidewalk. Break a leg tomorrow night.


To everyone, this is my Valentine note of hope that I pass to you. Be thankful for the problems in your life that never go away.  If you can say, “My life would be perfect, except for...” that means your life may already be perfect. The “except for” problem -- money, health, parents, children, wife, husband, home - contain the seed of awareness of how lucky we all are. It’s the dark that reveals the light, the yin to the yang, and we all share in it. Until it ends.Thank you life, for the rock I push. I look over and see everyone else pushing their rocks, and our pain, toil, and joy unite us.Here are lyrics to two great Valentine songs that capture everything I could ever want to say about the beautiful ache of life and love, and Jobim says it all in fewer words than I’ve already written here. 

Whenever I hear these songs, I think of Robin. My love. With you in my life, I am never alone. You are my blade of green grass that I keep in my pocket wherever I go. Together we can push up any sidewalk. Most of all, this post is for you.  Happy Valentine’s Day!
The Waters of MarchA stick, a stone, it's the end of the roadIt's the rest of a stump, it's a little aloneIt's a sliver of glass, it is life, it's the sunIt is night, it is death, it's a trap, it's a gunThe oak when it blooms, a fox in the brushThe knot in the wood, the song of a thrushThe will of the wind, a cliff, a fallA scratch, a lump, it is nothing at allIt's the wind blowing free, it's the end of the slopeIt's a beam, it's a void, it's a hunch, it's a hopeAnd the river bank talks of the waters of MarchIt's the end of the strain, it's the joy in your heartThe foot, the ground, the flesh and the boneThe beat of the road, a slingshot's stoneA fish, a flash, a silvery glowA fight, a bet, the range of a bowThe bed of the well, the end of the lineThe dismay in the face, it's a loss, it's a findA spear, a spike, a point, a nailA drip, a drop, the end of the taleA truckload of bricks in the soft morning lightThe sound of a shot in the dead of the nightA mile, a must, a thrust, a bump,It's a girl, it's a rhyme, it's a cold, it's the mumpsThe plan of the house, the body in bedAnd the car that got stuck, it's the mud, it's the mudA float, a drift, a flight, a wingA hawk, a quail, the promise of springAnd the river bank talks of the waters of MarchIt's the promise of life, it's the joy in your heartA snake, a stick, it is John, it is JoeIt's a thorn on your hand and a cut in your toeA point, a grain, a bee, a biteA blink, a buzzard, a sudden stroke of nightA pass in the mountains, a horse and a muleIn the distance the shelves rode three shadows of blueAnd the river bank talks of the waters of MarchIt's the promise of life in your heart, in your heartA stick, a stone, the end of the roadThe rest of a stump, a lonesome roadA sliver of glass, a life, the sunA knife, a death, the end of the runAnd the river bank talks of the waters of MarchIt's the end of all strain, it's the joy in your heart
"Waters of March" is track #9 on the album Encanto. It was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.





"Corcovado"
Quiet nights of quiet stars Quiet chords from my guitar Floating on the silence that surrounds us
Quiet thoughts and dreams Quiet walks by quiet streams And a window on the Mountains and the sea, how lovely
This is where I want to be Here with you so close to me Until the final flicker of life's ember
I, who was lost and lonely Believing life was only a bitter, tragic joke Have found with you The meaning of existence, oh, my love
"Corcovado" is track #6 on the album Elis & Tom. It was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.



Waters of March - video




David Trulli - Event Horizon - Robert Berman Gallery
Exhibition: February 15 - March 22, 2014Reception: Saturday, February 15, 5-8pm
Robert Berman GalleryBergamot Station Arts Center2525 Michigan Avenue, B7Santa Monica, CA 90404310.315.1937