Winter Doldrums

Now that the holidays have settled in and the slush of the winter's doldrums is upon us. The season of sparkle lies frozen under a drift of snow, liberally seasoned with a handful of road salt, and those dull sunless days have descended upon us once more. The only remedy is to escape!

Book that ticket to a tropical paradise or fly off to a grand ski soirée in Aspen or Biarritz. Where ever your magical, therapeutic destination might be, you can always count on it to stimulate and revive.

That is unless you are unfortunate enough to land in one of those new and random, climate change, "got ya" spots ...

That's right, the new year is full of new surprises! 60 degrees in Chicago in February, or 100 plus in Australia. Roll the dice and take your pick, cause where ever you go Mother Nature has a surprise in store for you. Unless of course, you go where I always go this time of the year - that's right. The desert! Where the weather is always unstable as the temperature can vary from 30 and frosty to 90 and sunny, but the pool is heated and the jacuzzi is always ready for a whirl ...

The perils of climate change are with us for sure, but we are adaptors aren't we? We helped make it, so why not try to enjoy it while we can?

See you there!

The Stealthy Beast Approahes

February is approaching like a stealthy beast. The hour is upon me that society has designated the official end to all things juvenile and anything involving fun or abandonment.

It is the dawn of my Medicare Birthday! A day to both dread and celebrate at the same time ... a time to reflect and regret, or maybe rejoice and enjoy?

The one thing that I have come to terms with over these past decades is that there no time or season that really defines us. In fact the mere fact that we have survived (and hopefully prospered) these many years is a major accomplishment, if not a miracle indeed!

It seems that I have always been here, where I am am right now, but not with all the conviction that I now posses. You see, there is a most definite thread in our lives that if kept strong and intact will lead us though life's happiest and most difficult moments as well. The essence of pure light that demands us to feel and be real - to live and love, and transcend all.

Before you think "how pompous he is" or " what does he know", let me just say this. I have spent my life as a student and then as a teacher. I have listened and learned many times over. I have loved and lost, have rejoiced and grieved. But the one thing that has sustained me, I think, is that rather ethereal and illusive moment when all becomes clear for an instant and the universe makes sense.

Now having said that, let me caution you to beware! Because if that moment is not captured immediately at the time of exposure it may be lost much as a photo and the next illumination may never occur.

So once again let me say - life is everything, it is joy and happiness, it is sorrow and pain, it is all that we desire and all that we disdain. It is the culmination of our soul searching for light and it is the beginning of our infinite plight.

Live life in the moment - but make that moment profound!