Inspiration

Thine Iron Chime

claudiaJune 24, 2010Inspiration

If you recall the May post about Papa’s farm bell (http://bit.ly/9Of7zB), which my mom surprised me with for Mother’s Day, here’s an update. Mike, Adrian, Alec and Graham put the old cast iron bell up last weekend. After 25 years, it’s ringing again–and I teared up remembering all the Brooks kids clanging that bell at my grandparents’ farm. May it ring now for many years to come.

Thanks, boys, for restoring the bell. And most of all, thanks, Mom.

I love thy music, mellow bell,

I love thine iron chime,

To life or death, to heaven or hell,

Which calls the sons of Time….

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Our Consistently Surprising Alabama’

15 Years, 15 Blessings

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

A Good Way of Life

claudiaMay 21, 2010Inspiration, Stuff We Like

Mike and the kids make fun of me because I love A Prairie Home Companion. Always have. Always will. And every Sunday from 10-12 when I tune in, all I hear from my family is stuff like “turn that @#*&^ off,” accompanied by big eye rolls and aggressive station changing. Pee-shaw! Who cares what they think. PHC has been around almost continually since 1974 and 4 million other folks just happen to agree with me: It’s one of the most special programs on radio, a throwback to simpler times. Founder and host Garrison Keillor said, “When the show started, it was something funny to do with my friends, and then it became an achievement that I hoped would be successful, and now it’s a good way of life.” This Saturday, my pal Barbara S. and I are going to see Mr. Keillor and the whole Prairie Home gang perform the show live at the Fox Theatre in ATL. Guy Noir, Dusty and Lefty, Lake Wobegon, here we come.

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

At Heart, A Rural Poet

New Discoveries

Balance. Gotta Have It.

claudiaMay 6, 2010Inspiration, Life-Work

As busy people, we’ve all read tomes about balance. It’s kinda like water: We know we can’t live without it; yet, we just don’t always get in those 8 glasses a day.

Anastasiya Goers says it’s easy to know if you lead a balanced life because if you do then:

You enjoy every moment and every second,
You can cope with any difficulties,
You can be happy without any reason to be happy,
You can be yourself and love the person you are.

More of her thoughts here: http://bit.ly/97ufYr

Balance. Get you some!

Are you a two-sided southerner?

Adopted Alabamians

Your Happy Place

Busy-ness…

Places We Crave

claudiaApril 13, 2010Inspiration

“Southerners have a gene, as yet undetected in the DNA spirals, that causes them to believe that place is fate. Where you are is who you are. The further inside you the place moves, the more your identity is intertwined with it. Never casual, the choice of place is the choice of something you crave.”

Frances Mayes
Under The Tuscan Sun

‘Our Consistently Surprising Alabama’

15 Years, 15 Blessings

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

The Italian Take on Life

claudiaMarch 15, 2010Inspiration, Stuff We Like

“I wish I had the power to convey how lovely life is in rural Italy. I’m attracted to country life, an old obsession from having grown up in South Georgia. The life we live in Italy is like life in a lot of rural places….”

Frances Mayes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March 15, 2010

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

At Heart, A Rural Poet

New Discoveries