It’s been a very intense year so far. Every day i want to write and I have had some frustration with not being able to post new pictures on my computer. Long story- not interesting to anyone, I’m sure! So we’ll just glide right past that. Update- problem solved

So where am I right now? Here’s a quick update. I fell in love.*

And now it’s September and I fell out of love. Okay, back to what I was writing two months ago.

My son Moose and his wife Jenny had twins- Ruby and Wren- on December 26. They came home from the hospital at the end of January a couple of days before their official due date of 2.22.22.

I drove back and forth to Rhode Island and Maine 3 times between October and December… and then a 4th time in April for my brother Tim’s funeral after he died from Covid.

Tim on the far right, 1972, with our younger brother Peter at the helm (age 15 at the time and youngest crew member) during transatlantic to Kiel, Germany for Operation Sail, aboard the Black Pearl.

A week after Tim’s funeral I flew out to Minneapolis to meet my granddaughters, Ruby and Wren, in the sweet pink baby flesh! They were 3 months old and it was the perfect balm after losing my brother- not that it could make up for it, but it certainly softened things a lot and nurtured my soul.

Oh, did I mention I had an appendectomy? February 22, the same night my brother Tim was put on a ventilator. Ugh, not a good night. The night before I was probably the sickest and most scared I have ever been in my adult life, vomiting violently to the point I thought I was actually going to suffocate as I was unable at times to even get a breath. it was horrible. Anyway, I got through it and felt a thousand times better after the offending organ was removed! But an emotionally challenging time as Tim was also clearly not recovering from Covid the way it was anticipated.

Next? May rolled around and I went to Florida to do 3 Healing Sound Journeys- the first public events I had done since the start of the pandemic! I have LOTS more to say about that trip and the things I learned about my work, all (or most) of which I am saving for another post. I will post a groovy picture here though!

Instruments set up for a Healing Sound Journey at the Temple of The Living God in St. Petersburg, FL.

And then it was June- which is when I started this post! A trip to Haris Lender’s Yurtananda, her very groovy retreat in the hills of Virginia down the road from Swami Satchitananda’s ashram in Yogaville. She had just completed a beautiful outdoor music stage and invited me up to do a Healing Sound Journey outside in the woods with the birds and the bees and some trees- and a few people too! She was unquestionably the hostess with the mostess and it was a wonderful time!

For those of you who are on Facebook, here is a link to a short video that Haris took. Unfortunately there is no other access to it. To watch video click here.

And that’s all for now- almost! I got back home and was able to do a bit of gardening- put in a sweet little herb garden… planted 3 kinds of thyme, rosemary, lavender, parsley, echinacea, mint, catnip, lemon balm, lamb’s ears, kalanchoe and a gorgeous orange canna.

I also managed to find time for a bit of artistic expression (besides cooking, music, sound healing and gardening) and I did this collage on canvas which I think is my favorite to date. So, I’ve caught you up to June with many gaps but I’ll leave you with this image. More to come.

My brother Tim passed away on March 18, 2022 due to the seemingly ever-present virus that has been around for the past two-plus years. He was seven years older than me. Simply put, it sucks. His beautiful wife, two brave and brilliant daughters and four young grandchildren left behind. Plus four younger siblings… and a huge posse of people who loved his boundless energy and positivity.

The greatest connection that he and I shared was our love of music. Throughout my teen years I have a memory of being in our father’s house in Newport or at Horn Corner, the communal house Tim lived in up in Vermont- and I would hear his voice…. “Hey Rosie- come in here! You gotta hear this!” A new artist, a new song and he would point out the words or a harmony or a particular instrument or just some beautiful subtlety in the arrangement. He loved good harmonies- he loved the Beach Boys! I always remember the first time he played the Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” for me and telling me that it was The London Boys Choir- a choir of all young boys. He was so taken by those beautiful voices. In fact (I only just found out when I googled it) it turns out that it was actually The London Bach choir… but regardless. It was a moment in time and in history- both my personal history and the history of rock and roll.

”It should be known the London Bach Choir, the original choir hired by The Rolling Stones for "You Can't Always Get What You Want," was anyone (men and women) aged 18 and over, contrary to popular opinion (for years) that the voices of the choir was all young boys.” (Steve Hoffman Music Forum)

Over the past few weeks I have been compiling a playlist on Spotify of some of the music that Tim turned me onto, with some help from my siblings. On different days different tunes get stuck in my head. This one is in there a lot.

He also loved to dance. A few years ago we were talking and I said I hadn’t been dancing in ages and how much I missed it. He said, “Rosie! You gotta keep dancing! You have to dance at least a half hour every day! Put on some music and dance in your living room- I dance every day!”

Today I got an email from Chuck Prophet, a great musician, who is going through some health challenges. I thought about what I could do to send him some uplifting energy and decided that the best thing I could do was to put some of his music on and dance. I didn’t ever get to share this song with Tim but I have a feeling he would have loved it. For me, it is for sure on my top ten list of favorite songs ever recorded- and it’s great to dance to so turn your speakers up! From now on I will always think of my brother Tim when I dance- and I am making a point to dance a lot more.