Puppies and Sunshine

Posted on by mariannedecher

My inventory on puppies is low but the SUN is shining in Oregon (alert the media!!), the flowers are coming up, my computer crashed and swallowed everything, my handpan should be here in 48 hours (YES!!!!) and the chamber ensemble, of which I am a member, put on a downright respectable performance last night.

Wait – did she say computer crash? Yesiree. According to Pete the computer guru, it was not a virus but a glitch that just wiped out my files, email accounts, histories, pictures, address book etc. with nary a backup. Acceptance Part 2. I can scream and cry or just pull out the banjo, wallow in flower buds, look for puppies, and sweat out any “grrr” in Bikram Yoga class. Of course, these things always happen 10 minutes before Pete leaves on yet another business trip but alas…. (Here’s the plus side of Pen Pal Letters!)

Puppies!! Sunshine!!

Puppies!! Sunshine!!

Acceptance

Posted on by mariannedecher

Trying to accept with grace and poise

Despite the racket of my mental noise

Friends are working long hours, they say

And wouldn’t they love to have my kind of day?

But I just turned down my last terping* request

Pain prevents me, I gave it my best

Can’t keep wallowing in what was “taken” from me

Can’t live in limbo as to what will be

Acceptance is daily

Neither welcomed nor easy

The past is over

The “now” is up to me

But f* the platitudes

I wail when I must

This too shall pass

Onwards or bust

(Terping – an affectionate, at least to me, slang word for being an American Sign Language interpreter. I was relatively kick-ass good at it for 11 years until 2 car accidents and 2 spinal surgeries knocked me out of the field for good. Have been trying to reinvent myself for the last 4 years. Do I feel left out when friends tell me how hard they are working and I wish I could? Sure. But I just have to keep the faith that good is on the way.

Daylight Savings Time

Posted on by mariannedecher

Daylight Savings Time

An hour was taken from me

I didn’t fill out a deposit slip

So where could it possibly be?

What is it saving

And where did it go?

Is it in a bank?

I want to know

I hope that hour is safe and warm

And when its vacation is done,

Compounded interest is what it brings

After “I’ll never tell”, road trip fun

An Ode to the HandPan

Posted on by mariannedecher

More info and pix coming soon as to what all this means. But here is my (drumroll please):

ODE TO THE HANDPAN – DUN, DUN, DUN – IN IAMBIC TETRAMETER

An instrument like none before

Appear, it shall, upon my door

Its frogs are lubed, ’twas sneezed upon

Don’t ask, the story is quite long

A handpan with a sound Divine

From Terratonz, will soon be mine

With boundless humor, energy

Kind Daniel demoed all for me

A daylong smile across my face

My life’s been touched with special grace

Brought into a new family

May music mine spread love and glee

Wintergrass, 2014!!!

Posted on by mariannedecher

Wintergrass, the mega super, awesome, amazingly spectacular indoor bluegrass festival in Bellevue, Washington was…SO good! Not too much hardcore traditional bluegrass this year but that’s ok. What was there, was stellar. Below are some fun pictures of the event. I recorded a few of the musicians but you just have to see them in person. An iPhone video does not do justice.

The first picture is from the window where a permanent “coat check” sign appeared. I guess the clerks got tired of telling people that the *real* coat check, for this event, was downstairs. Love their humor. The second picture is what happens when you hear too much bluegrass over 3 days. (We “did” 11 straight hours of music on the 2nd day).

Post-Midnight Bunnies and Banjoes

Posted on by mariannedecher

Yesterday, I hugged a friend’s therapy dog because it was supposedly hypoallergenic. Welll – not so much, unfortunately. At 2am, still waiting for the reaction to die down and for Auntie Histamine to kick into gear, I found myself watching tutorials on my iPhone – on how to make origami Easter bunnies that have a basket area large enough to hold a hard boiled egg. Yep, that’s how I spend my time, folks. I am clearly an asset to this planet 🙂 But truly, origami is an amazing art form. Check out Origami Spirit

On another note – pun intended – I had my first clawhammer banjo lesson today with my new teacher, Curt Alsobrook. He is awesome! I have about 6 months of group and private classes under my belt? fingers? in the past, but got derailed with the chronic pain years, so here we go again.

And I just have to sing it again, “Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee – because I really do!!!”

Check out Curt’s “wicked good” playing here:

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0l0JOPTaw

Grateful (Pen Pal Project update)

Posted on by mariannedecher

First, I am grateful for laughing with friends. Thanks for making my day, Christine, with sparkly energy and lovely sincerity. Don’t you feel as if a new door has opened? 🙂 And thanks, Annie, for being awesome.

Wowee – when I started the Pen Pal Project, I was hoping for people who needed some cheering up and who might just scribble a note to me on a used pub napkin. It turns out that I have been cheered tremendously by what has come in so far and I have been blown away by the creativity and thoughtfulness. I don’t want this to sound like some competition though because it is definitely *not* that. (I’m still waiting for a scrawled on piece of a grocery bag – grins). I cherish everything that is sent this way.

If you want your contributions shown and names/blogs listed, I am happy to do that. Likewise, if you would like to correspond without any internet hoop-de-doo, I would like to honor that as well. Once we really get going, I can connect my Pen Pals with each other, if you’d like. Check the tab in the menu bar for an update on the countries of origin for correspondence. Be well, be blessed.

Nuvofelt asked that I post this "naked art". It is exquisite and had virtually no postal abuse. Everyone go check out Nuvofelt on wordpress!

Here is the “naked art” that made it from the UK to the US with nary a scratch. Exquisite paper. I want to learn how to create this. Feel free to identify yourself and your blog in the comments. THANK YOU!!!

 

A photo on cotton with stitching and 3D charms from Australia.

A photo on cotton with stitching and 3D charms from Australia. Wow! Feel free to identify yourself in the comments if you so wish. THANK YOU!!

 

Pen Pal Letters

Posted on by mariannedecher

Yippee, the pen pal letters are starting to arrive. They totally made my day after a tough week, which included the unexpected loss of someone. Bless you and thank you. You know who you are. A reply will be on the way Monday. *Doing a happy dance*

See the tab in the menu for an explanation about the Pen Pal Project.

Handwritten letters and even origami. Woo hoo!!!

Handwritten letters and even origami. Woo hoo!!!

Benevolent Beef

Posted on by mariannedecher

Help – I’ve started writing silly haikus and I can’t stop. The picture below shows 2 screamingly cute, cow, salt and pepper shakers, straight from Thailand. I was in that particular restaurant alone, not down in any way, but these little guys perked me right up. 

Behold, Bewitching

Beaming Binary Bovines

Blessing Blissfully

* Behold – look at

* Bewitching – charming

*Benevolent – expressing goodwill or kindly feelings

*(Binary) Bovine – (Double) Moo