sandraplace

When I was a child, we celebrated May Day with the traditional Maypole, May baskets and community gatherings for these events. Sadly, those things have gone away in most communities, but it does not lessen the joy the month of May brings.

I was a young adult (probably more accurate to say that I was an older child) when I started my first day and first round of college at Northern Michigan University.  For years prior I had listened to an odd assortment of music that can best be described as carrying social justice messaging.

We were so excited for our Christmas celebration this year. We lit up our Yule log, decorated the house and enjoyed the celebration of Winter Solstice preceding Christmas. Yes, I celebrate both! And I do not believe I am an enigma. I have authored several poems about this season that is full of light and grace.

We were so excited for our Christmas celebration this year. We lit up our Yule log, decorated the house and enjoyed the celebration of Winter Solstice preceding Christmas. Yes, I celebrate both! And I do not believe I am an enigma. I have authored several poems about this season that is full of light and grace.

We greet Autumn with warm remembrances of cider, apples and bonfires. Landscapes show leaves of hardwood forests changing from summer green to magnificent color as the natural world settles in for the winter. As the month of October nears its end, we pause to think of this dying of the natural world as it reflects on our own eventual demise.

We greet Autumn with warm remembrances of cider, apples and bonfires. Landscapes show leaves of hardwood forests changing from summer green to magnificent color as the natural world settles in for the winter. As the month of October nears its end, we pause to think of this dying of the natural world as it reflects on our own eventual demise.

Earlier this month I was privileged to have been asked to present on the first day of a healthcare leadership conference in two different Michigan locations. The first was in the Upper Peninsula (UP to Michiganders!) in the small town of Ishpeming at their beautiful county medical care facility.

I love antiques and the stories they hold. I am incredibly fortunate to have some silver from my Great Grandmother on my mother’s side and some English bone china tea cups. When I touch one of the cups or read on a piece of silver where Great Grandpa engraved her name, I feel taken back in time, remembering their home and garden.

As night approaches in summer, the frog and cricket symphony swells, the owls hoot and the trees whisper their songs on the summer’s breeze. There is a certain magic to the voices of summer and its chorale of life.