Lemons and Lemonade

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

Summer is upon us, and I'm quite thankful for the well-needed break! The next few days, I will be travelling. I haven't had much of a break from packing, unpacking, making phone calls, and making plans yet.

These lemons are from one of our family friends. They're a good reminder that, although I'm stressed, there are always friends around to brighten the situation. There's always another loved one around to help you turn lemons into lemonade.

Although I'll be travelling soon, I look forward to sitting outside of my own house, and relaxing with a cold glass of lemonade this summer.

Raise your glass! Here's to summertime!

Day 1 - May 16, 2010 - Walk with me a while.

Walk with me



“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence, and nothing too much.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

These shoes aren’t particularly old. They’re not expensive and flashy either. I purchased them on sale at Payless for about $11. I’m sure that within a few months they’ll look a lot more worn out than they currently do. I’m pretty rough on shoes, and all my clothes for that matter. I expect these shoes to accompany my feet through city streets, around my college campus, along sandy beaches, into subway trains, onto playgrounds, through forests, over fields, and off the beaten path. When I see a pair of shoes, I wonder where they’ve been. Where did they have to go to get to the place they are today? Who wore them? What was the journey of the wearer?

Journeys may be difficult and tiresome, but they are always rewarding. In fact, the journey itself is often worth more than the end result. Perhaps good silence is worth its weight in gold in a world filled with unending noise. Maybe plain clothes and old shoes will take you farther in life than Gucci and Prada. Maybe a genuine spirit lives more deeply than one surrounded by extravagance and pretense.

Well, let’s get to walking!

Humming a Tune.

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung. ~Tagore

365 Days to Sing.

Today, I became a college senior and in 365 days, I will graduate.

I’ve decided to start a 365 Day project because I want to do more than string and unstring my instrument over the next year. I want to live life singing boldly.

Music is for everyone, and it is a part of the human experience. We do not ask our friends, “Do you like music?” We know the answer. Rather, we ask, “What kind of music do you enjoy?”

All of us make music throughout our lives. When we’re young, we drum on pots and pans while playing on the kitchen floor. As we age, we sing in the shower and hum popular tunes we’ve heard on the radio while we work. Some people learn to play instruments or join choirs, while others simply sing in the car while driving to the super market.

Whether you consider yourself a skilled performance artist or an amateur karaoke star, you can claim the title of musician. So what if you can’t carry a tune? You’re making music every day. Life is a tune. You’re making it up as you go. We only fail to create beautiful songs when we stop trying or when we forget to try.

For the next year, I want to track the melody I’m creating through pictures and words. I will try to post as consistently as possible. I will not pose, edit, or craft images with photo shop. I will record reality. I will capture what i see in front of me and write what I feel.

That’s about it. Back to singing. Back to living.