I have never been fond of the term 'normal'. The definition states that 'normal' is an adjective that means 'conforming to a standard, usual, typical, or expected'. 
Maybe my distaste for this word came from that fact that one person's normal, isn't necessarily the next person's normal. And just because something 'normally' happens, that doesn't mean that it is something that 'should' happen. 
'Nornal' - I've been extremely near-sighted my whole life. I started wearing glasses in elementary school. So my 'normal' vision was horrible and if I did not accept a medical intervention and start wearing glasses, my life would have been very limited.
'Normal' - I came from a household that valued education and knowledge. It was normal to have conversations around the dinner table that encouraged us to expand our own viewpoints. It was normal, and expected of us, to respect each other's opinions, even if they were different from our own. One day in middle school I went home with a friend from school. At the dinner table that night, differing opinions were NOT welcome! That was my friend's 'normal', but not a normal that I valued or wanted in my life.
Normal also doesn't mean excellent or outstanding. In many careers and industries, if you are normal it is easy be overlooked. Your career could become stale and unrewarding very quickly. 
As more and more people are becoming vaccinated, there has been a lot of talk lately about 'life getting back to normal' - but I don't think that our previous normal is what we should be striving for. 
And maybe, just maybe, we need to be striving for 'BETTER'!

By nature, I am a creative individual.
By nature, I am a planner.
How does that work? Aren't those opposite? Or non-compatible?
Actually, I've found that the combination of the two is what has made my life livable throughout many different circumstances over the years.
Today's performance by one of my handbell ensembles is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
When the pandemic started last year, all rehearsals went on hiatus - and all my performance plans went out the window. Over the course of the year, some ensembles were able to re-start (physically distanced) rehearsals and performances while others were still on hiatus. And even in the groups that re-started rehearsals, not all of the previous members were able to restart with them. So plans kept happening - and changing as the pandemic continued  - and everyone's 'reality' morphed on a daily/weekly basis.
One of my ensembles started back with 5 of the original ringers, so I pulled some of our 12 bell ensemble pieces to work on. Over the course of a few months, 2 more ringers were able to rejoin us. Yay - more ringers! Augh - more ringers - how do I fit them into the music that we've been rehearsing?! Ah - that's where the creativity comes in - adding bass notes on singing bells or adding various percussion instruments has enhanced our performances and given everyone an opportunity to participate. But this morning I pushed (shoved? pressured? encouraged?) one of my ringers out of his comfort zone! I had chosen Sandra Eithun's 12 bell arrangement of "Shall We Gather at the River" for our Mother's Day performance. It's a lovely arrangement that I've had other groups play previously. But I took us in a slightly different direction this time - 6 ringers played the piece as written - but they played everything on handchimes, and had 1 of my ringers play the melody on a bell tree! He had never played a bell tree before, but . . . oh, well . . . 
It actually turned out beautifully! He went from not knowing how to put together (or play on) a bell tree, to practically memorizing the music and taking the center spot with confidence and aplomb! 
So, a little bit of planning combined with a little bit of creativity AND a lot of flexibility and cooperation. It's a basic recipe for success as far as I'm concerned.

Needless to say - 2020 was weird!
But there were blessings, nonetheless.
So here's a look back at some of the messes - and the blessings that I observed.
Mess - Pandemic closed country's borders / Bless - Weekly face time with siblings that live far away.
Mess - Contamination worries / Bless - Better, and more consistent, cleaning of community areas and transportation.
Mess - Enforced furlough when businesses closed / Bless - More time for music and family.
Mess - Politicians / Bless - Overwhelming voter turn out
Mess - In-person conferences and workshops cancelled / Bless - Was able to have world-wide participants at my first virtual workshop presentation!
Mess - Group worship services cancelled / Bless - Churches became creative in how they worshiped and served the Lord
Mess - Large group holiday celebrations limited or canceled / Bless - More intimate celebrations with loved ones.
Mess - Music rehearsals canceled / Bless - Production and publication of personal music videos.
Mess - Businesses were not able to function as 'business as usual' / Bless - Businesses were able to be creative and find new and better ways to serve their customers
Mess - Both sets of parents needed new living situations / Bless - Reliving of precious memories while going through and packing up their households.

Life lesson? There will always be messes - but looking for, and appreciating the blessings leads to a happier and more fulfilling life.
​What blessings have you found amongst your messes?

It is always a blessing to actually stop and take a moment to think about the blessings you have received. You get blessed twice! The first time was the actual occasion and the second blessing comes with the recounting and revisiting of the blessed experience.
Yes, this year has been some what of a mess . . . but there continues to be blessings on a daily basis. 
I'm glad I was brought up to look for the blessings beyond the mess. 
We are blessed to have my mother-in-law and both of my children celebrating Thanksgiving with us today - small group of very special people. My mother-in-law was able to sell her house and move into a beautiful retirement community this year. That has had its own challenges since it's difficult to meet people in a pandemic where everyone is supposed to stay distanced, but she is enjoying her daily walks through the woods and around the duck pond. And it's a blessing to know that she is safe and in a good place.
Both of my boys are working, as are my husband and myself. What a blessing! We are very grateful for the opportunity to be useful and to be able to participate in our communities.
It has been a blessing to be able to provide music for our religious communities, both on line and in person. There are definitely challenges that are attached to providing music these days, but the blessings outweigh the challenges. 
The other day I heard someone say that they were being required to do things differently, but not to go too far away from the original goals. It made me think of the saying of "thinking out of the box". Sometimes you need to stay 'within the box'. Did you realize that, even INSIDE the box, there are 6 sides and 6 corners? LOTS of different perspectives. Lots of different angles. Lots of opportunities for creative answers on how to do things. We can't always do things "the way they've always been done", but we might be able to put a new spin on something and become blessed with new, possibly even BETTER, outcomes and answers.
I hope that you become blessed with bigger and greater opportunities for unexpected outcomes and growth as we work our way out of the mess of 2020 and into the new opportunities of 2021!

There are many D words that we are Dealing with During this panDemic - 
Desperation, Despair, Delusions, Dedication, Distractions, Deliveries, Depression, Determination, Demands, Dreams, Dread, Diligence, Downsizing, Downloading, Decisions, Distancing, Drama, Delights, Draining, Doctors, Dementia, Desires, Details, Deceptions, Deaths, Diseases, Disinfecting . . . Dear me they go on!
The Decisions we make every Day have become just a little more Difficult with all of the regulations and recommendations that we have to wade through on tasks as simple as going to the grocery and as complex as how to go to school or work and remain healthy. The Demands on our time and attention have to be carefully weighed against what we personally feel we can or can not Deal with on a Daily basis.
My personal challenge is to keep hold of the positive D's - Desires, Determination,  and Dedication so that I don't Drown in the negatives. 
My Desire is to try to Discover how to turn the negatives into positives. Instead of Drowning in Despair I am Determined to Deal with individual Details and see if I can make a Difference.
My Determination is focused on how to change the negatives into positives instead of Dwelling on the negative. Our personal choice is the biggest Determinant in our Demeanor in how we approach each Decision we make on a Daily basis.
I will be Diligent in Dedicating my Days, hours, and minutes to Discovering what Delights can be found on the Deviously Deceptive path that Determines my Day. 
I will hold tightly to the values and people that I hold Dear.

Just because - 
There are 31 days in August, so I've decided to list 31 blessings off the top of my head.

1. My husband's hand is healing nicely and he is cleared to go back to work by the middle of September!
2. My 90 year old father called me through Facebook Messenger today. Don't tell me you can't teach an old dog new tricks. He had never even seen a Portal before the pandemic and now he can use a portal and an iPad with touch screens and we can talk AND see each other despite the frustrations of the day!
3. I am able to go to work in a safe environment and be productive in my job.
4. I was able to be with both of my (grown-up) children for their birthdays this month.
5. The portable A+ Handbell Tree Stand that my husband and I developed earlier this year has proved to be quite popular among handbell enthusiasts.
6. Virtual banking.
7. Sourdough pancakes are yummy and a nice diversion from sourdough bread.
8. There are 3 cooks in this household to share the daily meal preparation.
9. Education is possible.
10. I don't have to agree with someone to love them and value them as a person.
11. Because my doctor listened to me 18 years ago, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and began using a cpap at night. Because I consistently use my cpap every night, my quality of life is better now than it was then and I do not take any medication at all.
12. Arranging music and sharing that music with others.
13. Playing my flutes.
14. Catching up with friends from various points of my life through online social media.
15. Pantyhose are no longer part of my life!
16. Rice cookers.
17. Weekly zoom chats with my siblings.
18. Central air conditioning.
19. Laughter with friends and co-workers.
20. Safe, reliable transportation.
21. Creative genes.
22. Multiple alarms available on my phone to keep me on task throughout the day/week!
23. eBooks
24. The growing popularity of solar energy
25. Choices
26. A loving Savior!
27. Hearing the rain dripping through the leaves of the trees
28. Seeing pictures of all my nieces and nephews and their growing families
29. Florida life
30. Learning from mistakes
31. Supper ready to be served as I finish this list and blog post!

When does an happening become a blessing? What does it take for an experience to be labeled a blessing? What is the difference between a heartache and a blessing?
​There is so much happening in the world right now. And one person calls it a blessing while the next person is perturbed.
Since our local flute choir has not been able to rehearse as a group since March, we have chosen to meet in the street next to my house and just play through pieces. The small stretch of street next to my house has only one driveway on it - MINE! And so we were not obstructing traffic and we were able to distance ourselves from each other so as to not cause harm while enjoying one of our favorite past times. The walkers/joggers/bikers of the neighborhood have applauded along their way and we've only been rained out twice. But a few weeks ago, only 3 of us were available to meet, but we still wanted to get together - so we pulled out some trios and played. We actually had a cop stop and tell us that they had received a complaint! We asked him what kind of complaint and he said a noise complaint! Remember - there were only 3 flutists that evening (and we hadn't even pulled out piccolos!). He did ask if we were from the neighborhood and I pointed to my house and said, "Yes! That's my house and the only driveway on this road is my driveway." He looked a little chagrined but maintained that there had been a complaint lodged and they were obligated to follow up! We were finishing up for the evening anyway, so we just packed up and called it a night. 
As we pondered the crazy situation there was discussion about whether or not we should continue our open air rehearsals. Deciding that the complaint possibly had more to do with the fact that we were in the street and less to do with the 'noise level' (during marching season, the high school band practices 2 fields over and can be HEARD by EVERYONE in ALL of the surrounding neighborhoods!!), we decided to continue our open air rehearsals, opting to set up in my yard rather than my section of the street.
So we have continued to play. And the walkers/joggers/bikers continue to applaud and take pictures as they pass by. And I hope that whomever had been perturbed a few weeks ago, has had a change of heart/circumstances and will allow the music to be a blessing to their soul.

​I have relatives in different nations across the globe and not all of them have the same color of skin as me. Seeing how this pandemic has hit them keeps my eyes open that COVID-19 is NOT about any of the conspiracy theories running rampant in social media throughout the USA.
We also, as a family, have had different conversations about race and ethnicity over the years. I appreciate the recent thought from one of those relatives about white privilege, “In your/my world, we associate it with opportunities, wealth, success, the ability to achieve. But ‘white privilege’ means none of those things in the context of #blacklivesmatter. Really, it means that you get to not fear for your life because of the color of your skin. You can get caught speeding and not systematically worry that it might end in a bullet to the stomach. You can walk around your neighborhood in the dark, and not worry that someone will report you because of the color of your skin. You can reach into your pocket, and not worry that someone will scream “GUN” because of the color of your skin.”
Everything that is happening these days affects people that I love in my life – my family, my friends, and my coworkers. Therefore, it becomes my responsibility to be involved in removing the biases that are affecting them. My responsibility to become a blessing to them by examining my life and doing what I can do to show love and be a blessing. I need to use my strengths to give them strength.

It is the beginning of May. The last day that my place of business was open was Friday, March 13th. This morning I turned in my last assignment for the online course I've been taking the last two months. While at home, I've been practicing, participating in virtual ensembles, and preparing for workshops that I am leading later this summer. And I've been riding my bike and walking around the neighborhood so that I don't become permanently attached to my easy chair! But we've also been watching Netflix and Disney+ and spending a lot of time on Facebook and Zoom gatherings; reading books and playing Sudoku, etc.
But it's not the same as interacting with co-workers on a daily basis and planning rehearsals for my musical ensembles. Some days my brain just fells like slush and I get barely anything accomplished. Other days my brain goes on overdrive and tries to figure everything out.
This week our governor laid out some guidelines for 're-opening' the state. And it made me start wondering...
Will we continue to wear face masks when we go back to work? Could that be the real reason people started to wear face coverings? If you live a dessert area you would want to cover your mouth and nose so that you can breathe without inhaling sand. And if you are the one in charge of taking care of the children, the elderly, and the sick, again, you would want to have your face covered so that you don't get sick yourself and you don't spread germs. And since we know personal hygiene wasn't the same back then (I'm sure everyone didn't brush their teeth every morning), it would be a little nicer if there was a barrier between faces!
Same thing with gloves. You wore gloves to keep your hands clean when out and about. When you got home, you took off your gloves so that you didn't bring the grime of the outside world into your home. 
So many of the ancient 'laws' were really just guidelines about how to stay healthy, but people wouldn't listen, and so the guidelines became laws. That's why keeping a Kosher kitchen came about - keeping your food dishes separate to avoid cross contamination.
We talk about common sense - and how it doesn't always seem "common". People want to do what they want to do, in spite of common sense. Therefore, someone gets fed up with the lack of common sense, makes it a law and mandates that everyone does this thing. But people still just go ahead and do what they want to do. Sometimes they get arrested - sometimes laws get changed.
There are even laws about the Sabbath - basically a day of rest, respect, and reflection. A time to take a break and NOT work, but appreciate all that you have in your life. But since people don't like to be told what to do, they decided that observing the Sabbath was not a good idea and they could do what they want, whenever they want, with whatever they want.
And sometimes worldwide pandemics break out. And everybody blames everybody else. And more laws get passed that probably should just be guidelines.
But . . . 
Have you noticed that the earth is enjoying our enforced Sabbath? The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner. Because we have been forced to sit back and rest and reflect, we are allowing our bodies and minds and environments to heal. And maybe a day of 'slushy' thinking is just your brain letting go of all the unnecessary stuff that you've been clogging it with. 
I do want to get back to work and to interacting with my co-workers and friends. But I don't want to go back to my old normal.
I want to make a new normal where I go to work, but I remember to celebrate the Sabbath. I want to go out to eat again, but continue making homemade bread for my family. I want to take the time to enjoy this beautiful earth and my family and friends.
​I want to celebrate the blessings and leave behind the mess!

The world is a mess right now - but that doesn't mean that we can't continue to grow and learn and create. I'm thankful that composer Ricky Lombardo has contributed his creative genius to the world with this suite he has entitled "Quarantunes". As Ricky says in the description - "Home is the place to be while quarantined and hunkered down during the COVID-19 pandemic to stay safe."
Since I'm home with a lot of time on my hands, I have enjoyed learning these pieces and would like to share them with you. I took a few liberties. Instead of playing everything on the c flute, I did the middle movement on alto and the final movement on piccolo. (Hope you don't mind, Ricky.)