ONE MORE CHRISTMAS GIFT

Here's an idea for you. To all the parents and grandparents out there spending lavishly on Christmas gifts for their kids and grandkids how about buying one last gift for them that they can take and give to a needy family or an organization who distributes toys to needy children. Not only will this bring your kids joy but it will encourage them to be mindful of those who are less fortunate. Here in the United States millions of dollars are spent each year on gifts for those we love. That's all well and good but I am even more impressed at all the good folks out there who take time to buy and donate gifts to those who don't have any money for these things. And I love it when our children want to share their happiness with others. So this holiday season I hope you show your children that giving is even more important than receiving. May all of you have a safe and fun filled Christmas and a very happy New Year!

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

"All we are saying is give peace a chance."  This comes from a song by the late, great, John Lennon who was gunned down by a madman while he was in his prime. What an absolute waste! Chapman, the man who murdered Mr. Lennon years ago, is rotting away somewhere while
Lennon's words and music still live on. Many a man has been slain for only trying to make this world a better place for everybody. That I will never fully understand. The title of this blog is Dreaming and as John Lennon once said "You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one. I still have that dream inside of me and I'll probably die without ever seeing my dream fulfilled but at least I will never give up. Personally I think its time for another era of "togetherness" and I intend to do whatever I can to get this accomplished. And my hope is that each one of you good folks will join me in that dream. Again I quote John Lennon who once said: A dream you dream alone is only a dream, a dream you dream together is a reality. Right now I invite you to join me in this dream. I hope you will. Just remember, peace begins with each of us in our hearts and in our minds. You right now have an opportunity to do something nice for someone and if you do that then you will be joining me and many others who have this same dream. Be good to yourselves and even better to others! "HUGS" to all.

REBIRTH OF THE TREES

I believe everything in this life will "die" but yet "live" on. I know that is a paradox but still I believe it to be true. Nature teaches us so much if we but take a moment to notice. So much beauty in nature while at the same time it can be so destructive. Here in western Kentucky we see many storms come and go every year. In the spring and summer and the hot days of autumn there is always a chance of tornados and severe thunderstorms. In the winter we have snow storms, ice storms, and at times even a deep freeze. I have always been in awe of the power of Mother Nature. As a kid I loved to watch as the hot summer day quickly turned into an awesome display of thunder, lightning, and high winds. But I am progressing a bit. Today I wanted to share with you my memories of Leo F. Buscaglia, Ph.D. You may know of him and his writings or maybe not. I was introduced to his writings several years ago back in the 1980's. A co worker was reading one of his books and told me that she thought I would enjoy reading it also. Well, I did read it and fell in love with his work immediately. The book was entitled Bus Nine To Paradise. After I read the book I wrote a letter to Mr. Buscaglia and he answered it right away. I really didn't expect to get a letter back but hen again Leo was a very unique fellow. He was known as the Love Doctor. All his books were about love. How to love, how to be love how to show love , how to accept love and anything you could think of about love I guess he wrote about it. He even taught at a University and the class he taught/ Yeah, it was called Love. He was such a standout personality and he practiced what he taught. Before he made his transition from this earthly life I was fortunate enough to be able to correspond a few times with him through personal letters. I would loved to have met him face to face but still I felt a kindred spirit with him. Well yesterday I was out in the yard raking leaves which are now in the process of changing their form from tree leaves to mulch. Back into the dust of the earth (or as I prefer, back into the oneness of all)  only to later come back in another form. as I was doing this I was reminded of one of Leo's books titled Freddie the Leaf. This was a really short book about the leaf which had fallen from the tree and was in the midst of transition. I may suggest you take a book at he book yourself if you can find the time. Also I remembered a story from one of his other books. In it  was told of how Leo really loved leaves. Especially leaves that had fallen from the trees in the fall. The story went that one autumn while all the leaves where on the ground everyone in Leo's neighborhood were busy raking , burning, and doing away with the leaves. Leo's remained on the ground at this house.  The neighbors were concerned that unless his were raked it would be an ugly sight on the neighborhood. So a few of them knocked on his door and asked him if they could rake the and burn the leaves for him. Being the man he was Leo knew they wanted the yards all to be clean and neat but yet he did not want his leaves to be destroyed. So to make everybody happy guess what he did? He raked the leaves up, brought them inside his house and spread them around! Everybody was then happy. I love that story and think it tells you what a unique and loving man Leo was. So as I raked the leaves I thought about Leo and thought to myself, Man what a great job he had, teaching others how to love. I miss you Leo! The next time you see a leaf that has fallen may it remind you that you too may at times seem to be dying but in reality all you are doing is making a transition into something different. That goes mentally as well as physically I do believe. Everything has its season. My wish for you is that all your transitions will be as easy as possible. Remember to love. Love ,love and then love some more. And as always if you will do a little something nice for someone just because you can. "HUGS"