Haiku Moment

Crystal singing bowl
Glorious shattering chimes
Crown chakra wind storm

Grinning

Caroline and I spent an animated afternoon in the front row of the Kenny Loggins benefit concert in North Kohala. What a fantastic day!

Kenny Loggins was in top form, along with his backing artists, Chris Rodriguez and Paul Peterson. They played on the back lanai of a private home, to a small crowd sitting under a tent. Towards the end, there was much dancing and celebration of the great music.

Crosby Loggins opened the concert with several tunes from his debut album. He's an impressive musician in his own right - an outstanding guitar player with a beautiful voice.

I am so jazzed -- and so very lucky to have been part of this intimate concert venue!

Euro agenda for 2008

Peter and I plan a European vacation next June-July with Sean and Frannie. The four of us will spend time in Alicante, Spain with Francis and Nina, and their son Cisco -- who live there each summer to be near Francis' parents. The rest of their time is spent in Amherst, Massachusetts, where Francis is a professor at U Mass.

June 18: Fly to Paris. We hope to visit with Olivier and Ruxandra; perhaps Annie or Jonathan and Carrie will come in from London.

June 23-28: Accompany Sean to SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation conference in Marseilles. Hope to visit with Cédric and his family, perhaps Saleh and Adrien -- definitely visit Nice, Cannes, and Monaco.

June 29: Travel to Alicante, Spain to hang out with Francis, Nina, and family. Hang out in Alicante, Santa Paola, and around Costa Blanca. Explore Spain and Portugal at our leisure.

July 5: We hope to be able to visit Ukraine, and perhaps travel a bit with Rachel for another week, but this part of the trip will remain unclear for a few more months.

I enrolled in the structural anatomy / neuromuscular therapy program contingent upon this pre-existing vacation being granted as a summer break, so I don't plan to study very much while I'm away.

One of my daily readings

is called the Daily Motivator, published by Ralph Marston. Today's entry is worth repeating here:

The value of forgiveness
Forgiveness can indeed be difficult. Yet in the long run, it is far easier to forgive than to live with resentment or continuing retribution. Through forgiveness, you can move away from the pains of the past. With forgiveness, you can achieve real freedom.

There are always opportunities to benefit from the value of forgiveness. You can forgive yourself, you can forgive others, and you can forgive even when you don't know exactly who to forgive.

Because forgiveness is not about who is to blame or who is at fault. Forgiveness is mostly about letting go, completely and permanently, within yourself.

Forgiveness is recognizing the reality that what has happened has happened, and that there's no point in allowing it to dominate your life. Forgiveness refreshingly clears the slate and enables you to move positively forward.

Carrying around a load of resentment can be an enormous and unnecessary burden. Forgive early and often, and you'll considerably lighten your load.

-- Ralph Marston