I know…  It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated here…   I lost the HD on my studio computer in late Sept… then got knocked for a few loops with Hurricane Sandy… and I’m just now getting myself collected enough to realize, I can indeed -put my feet… back on the ground and start getting back to what I know…

The devastation and sadness from Hurricane Sandy has been overwhelming.  It wasn’t at all like loosing my entire home to fire a few years back… for that was only my family effected… just ONE family misplaced.   This hurricane hit entire communities – wherein everyone was effected one way or another… and many were in the same boat… set afloat – along with thousands of other families – drifting within a rising sea, of endless tears…

What amazed me – was there was NO WHERE to glance,  no where to rest my’s eyes… nowhere I could gaze,  that didn’t bind my throat into a tight knot of tears… for I felt everything I encountered, so acutely… and I couldn’t shield, or shy away from the pain I felt  – from what others were going through as well.  Seeing things that made NO sense…

like, large boats shoved into homes;  houses pushed down the street – dragging & smashing everything in its’ path;  roofs upside down on the highway… A good friend found not even one small trace was left – not a board, or any remnant of his home – to prove he had dwelt in a home there, for over 20+ years… for the greedy ocean, consumed his home, and anything else – it chose.

The fans who come into our beloved  St. Stephen’s Green – on Tuesday nights, I’m sure – noticed a change…  I’d developed a rather frightening lung infection that knocked me down hard.  The mold, mildew & debris I inhaled, took it’s toll on me, while I was helping salvage what we could from our place in Ortley Beach, and dragging the ruined remnants of our life, once again – out to the curb… to line the streets – with everyone else’s ruined remnants of their lives – after the storm.

It was a discouraging situation… and being ill on top of it all-  I’ve not felt like doing much more than sleeping.  But fortunately, I’m on the mend… and I can and will get my feathers smoothed down again…

But, Christmas is approaching… and in the shadows, of all the things – that have transpired… the shooting at the Newtown, Conn. School is more sadness beyond belief…   But within all this, I find –there is an inextinguishable, kind, human spirit… If we look beyond the immediate devastation, look beyond the initial impressions… and see the amazing acts of giving, caring, generosity and kindness from strangers all around.  And in witnessing these things, I feel it is a tremendous gift, that fills me with astonishment, and infuses my spirit with awe & hope and again, restoring my faith – in mankind.

So where am I going on this diatribe?   Lol…  Well…  I guess it comes down to my perception of this very real, up close & reality.  For after all… I am – the “Archer”… the classic Sagittarius, December, Winter Solstice child…  Which gives me a rather unusual view, of how I see this… and my own perception of this.

The storm was bad… devastating – and yes… it dragged so many of us – backwards, like the tide draws the water off the beach… Life – came up & dragged us backwards with so many difficulties to face…  But really then… couldn’t we be – much like an Archer’s Arrow?

For it too – gets drawn back,  pulled backwards in life…  But… (and here’s the part I like)… That arrow – will LAUNCH, powerfully FORWARD –bound for something that should be great!   That arrow – will travel forward – it will soar… it WILL fly!  So I try to remember that I am like that arrow…  And I need to keep my focus steady, hold on to what I know, hold fast to what is REAL – stay centered – and keep my eye on the goal… And I know – that somehow – I will hit that target… that bulls eye…  because somehow… I always do – when bad or negative things get me… every time… God willing, I fly again…