I'm off to Virginia today and Maryland tomorrow. I'll update from the road, but for now i'm struggling with packing my stuff into the car and getting moving down the road. I finished paying the bills that have to go out this week though.~w

I just spent the last two hours reading poetry by Middle School students in the US submitted for the Poetry Alive! student poem of the month. I couldn't pick just one and there are many more worth reading. I found it to be quite an amazing experience. Now i must get to bed.~w

I can seem to find enough hours in the day to do everything. Maybe it's the travel looming in front of me, but all these little things keep adding up and i find myself running out of time to do things like write an interesting blog before dashing off to run errands on my was (already later than i intended) to work.~w

Snow! For the first time this winter we have a real layer of snow on the ground. Granted the wind is trying to blow it away, so there is nothing left on the trees. The teachers next door have left for work though, so i suppose the roads must be clear and school is open. I'll bet the wind that's been making my chimes sing all night & morning is not very warm though. The cool thing is you can actually see the wind as it picks up little snow crystals and swirls them around in the sunlight. It looks like Tinkerbell's fairy dust or something.

If i didn't have work to do i'd sit at my new desk (an antique on loan from the boss until i move out of town or need it out of my way) and watch the wind blow and write a novel or something. The desk is actually an old vanity and a bit fragile to move about, but it's perfect for my laptop to sit by the window. It also just looks like something creative will come from anything near it. Ah well, perhaps when i get back from travelling next week.~w

I've gotten myself all flipped around again. It happens sometimes. Am i writing in the morning or at night...sometimes it's hard to tell.

Ever met a person who's home has been burned down because of their religion? It was hard to get the whole story since she's just learning English and i don't know Farsi (or even how to spell it properly). Still her stories were enough to remind me just how lucky i am to have grown up in a country where i can speak my mind without fear of government retribution. In Iran having a Persian name or professing to be a Baha'i is enough to get you permanently expelled from school, fired from a job or subject to a raid or burning of your home. You might as well be a witch in Salem, Mass back in the good old days. It's hard for me to understand that kind of fear of other.

Some days i just wish the whole world could be as peaceful as i feel when i'm playing my flute.~w

"Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul."
-- They Might Be Giants

This song has infiltrated my brain. I saw a bluebird out my window the other day, or he saw me, or we saw each other...anyway. The song has been stuck in my head, and so when i saw a bluebird house on sale for $5 at the drug store, i decided it was a necessary addition to my yard. Who knows if my little friend will find it suitable, but if not there seem to be plenty of birds in my yard that could make use of it.~w

I've been busy playing flute with the birds and then i got caught updating a graphic on the Poetry Alive! "poet-tees" page. I was just coming in to check email and saw a reminder to myself about it. I though "eh, it won't take but a minute." However, it took me a while to fuss with it and get it to look decent (notice i don't say "perfect"). Not really what i intended to spend the last hour or so doing. The cat is trying to convince me that we should go back outside and she's probably right.

Other than that, i spent yesterday mulling over a bit of coyote wisdom. Just now though, when looking for it i found that snake had something to say to me here.~w