2voices1song.com

Hello there, readers--

I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten you, left you out in the cold, or slipped away without leaving a forwarding address.

Wrong! 

What I did was get a website where everything I do can come together in one place. Meena Rose and I now collaborate on a website labeled Two Voices, One Song.

Over there you'll find Claudsy's Calliope, Claudsy's Blog, and much more. The rooms there are spacious and attractive. We can branch out into fiction, reviews, profiles, inspiration pieces, poetry, travel, etc. It's like a department store for readers.

Why did we do this? We both felt the need to expand and test our wings in other skies. We also had some fun doing it.

Right now we're coming out of NaNoWriMo. For those who've never done it or seen the insanity it brings, know this; very little else gets accomplished during November. Couple NaNo with the November PAD Chapbook Challenge over at Poetic Asides and you have manic novel writing episodes leavened with poetry created to someone else's tune.

We've moved into the bigger holiday season, which means we'll be posting more regularly than during November but not as often as in months previously.

There are also other reasons for the slowdown. We've both got major projects in the works right now and the push is on.

We so enjoy having friends and neighbors drop in for a look-see. Please come whenever you like, stay as long as you like, leave us a note if we're not home to let us know you popped in for a visit. We certainly don't mind. We do return the favor and visits.

Now you know why you see nothing new here. Several of you have stopped by to see me here and found me gone. I hope you'll move your viewing pleasure to the new digs. I've missed seeing all of you. I think you'll like what you see there as much or more than what I presented here. Try it. You may really like it. 

The address is: 2voices1song.com/  You can't miss it. It's the big place on the corner of Dreams and Motivation.

TaTaForNow

Claudsy

Today is a look forward, back, and side-wise. It is a speculation on a future as yet unformed. All of the past ceased to exist when the present moment came into existence, and all of tomorrow can never exist for this moment in time is all that can exist. Embracing this truth means knowing that everything before this breath reaches the bottom of my lungs has faded as fog to the morning sun, and all that I can be, have, do, think, and will must be chosen within the space of that breath. That knowledge is mighty and terrifying in its entirety, for I must choose well or continue to hide from disturbing consequences that greet me each moment of the rest of my life.

Storing Life To Travel

The Universe is an astonishing place. Have you ever really noticed how it takes care of things?

It’s as if the Universe waits for a person to find the right keyhole, place exact key inside, and turn it so that the correct thread of existence and potential can be woven into the proper tapestry. Many times when life become tougher, all it takes is one decision, one action, and life’s ride smoothes out.

Since I’ve announced new plans to vacate the north on Dec. 14, so many things have fallen into place. It’s astounding how making the right decision allows influencing factors to come into their own.
If I wrote this scenario in a novel, no one would believe it. After all, life just doesn’t happen that way. Yet, I wonder how often it really does happen that way and we just don’t notice because our attention is focused elsewhere.

Yes, we’re beginning our trip around the country almost five months early. For months now we’ve waited patiently for certain issues to be resolved so that we could commence with this trip. The sense of urgency, however, didn’t let up. Finally we couldn’t stand that constant push from the hindbrain any longer.

Sister Jo and I sat together and talked. The upshot was that we chose to do the trip as soon as we possibly could. We chose to disregard the need for security, a permanent home, lots of belongings, and hit the road running. We can now see the country and learn about it and ourselves without encumbrances. As soon as we were willing to let go of everything, and make plans to leave immediately, our thread of existence was placed on the loom of the proper tapestry.

Everything will go into storage except what we can carry with us in the car. And we will tent our way across the country, write articles with photos along the way, put together a book about our adventure, and then decide “what next”?

Some call us insane since it’s winter. I agree. It is insane to leave comfortable warmth and safety to travel the deep south, visiting friends and family and seeing what we can find along the way. We wonder, though, why youngsters should have all the adventures? Can’t us older women do the same thing?
That’s why we’re setting out to answer that question.

Some call us brave to even attempt this trip, regardless of season. After all, who wants to live in a tent for over a year, especially someone over fifty or sixty years old? For me this trip isn’t brave, really. I’ve done many other things that required much more courage than this.

Now we work; work to get all our belongings sorted, packed, and placed into long-term storage. We check off each detail accomplished each day. Those check lists are our lifeline in this endeavor. We can’t do this without them.

By the beginning of next week I must have a new website created for this trip of ours in order for everyone to follow our exploits. That’s part of why we’re going. Not everyone can make such a journey. We might as well share as much of it as possible, both with words and photos.

And there you have it. Our next few weeks will be ones of details, decisions, hard work, and planning. In the end we’ll have an entirely new future in the offing.

I hope all of you will come along for the ride. I hope everyone can experience some of our feelings as we move around the world learning about it.

One of those things that will help us along the way is also the thing we plan to help keep us awake on the road. Jo is going to relearn her Spanish and I’m going to learn it for the first time. Yep! We’ve got the CD’s for the car, the books, and the desire. It will help the miles pass quickly during those long days of driving. We will have something to show for our hours of auto travel, and it’ll come in handy in many places along the way.

So, drop by in the coming weeks for updates about our progress. Enjoy yourself, I hope, during each visit.

Until later,

Claudsy

Navigating Destiny

Traveling the sea of experience, I am lashed and tossed by waves of desire and the winds of dream. Who’s desire and who’s dreams? I wonder. Do I control my journey?


Philosophers argue about the reality of fate, destiny’s navigator. Yet, for all that, the inexplicable urges I’ve felt throughout my life often struck me as signal buoys detailed on someone else’s maritime chart; buoys proclaiming treacherous rock and reef, guarding life’s shores.

 I pass my time trimming sail and ensuring the even keel of the day-to-day exigencies of living. Frequently I try jobs or pastimes hitherto unfamiliar, adding nutrients to this Sargasso Sea of nature’s devising. The reason for this deviation from my plotted course originates with a deep, uncontrollable urge to go or to move to a particular place or to perform a certain task. The gratification of these urges brings about some unique and interesting diversions, like the discovery of a new bird soaring on trade winds of pleasure.

Such purposeful movement developed only after adulthood settled firmly on my shoulders. Then, urges started taking me all over the country to work at various occupations. Variety soothed storms of indecision; knowledge gained became Neptune’s trident. Oftentimes, however, the urgent need found fulfillment only after meeting a certain person, arriving at the scene of an accident to assist the injured, or save a drowning victim. Sometimes it proved as simple as discovering something hiding in forgotten coves along the shore of my spirit.

The compulsion remained unchanged for each adventure. A sense of urgency to follow an unseen course to an unknown destination pushed me forward. If I fought the urge with obstinacy, or a desire for control, the sensation grew until holding back the gale-force winds of need became an impossibility. If I acknowledged the feeling but mentally announced the inability to follow the call, the sensation withdrew, as the sun will do behind high-flying clouds until a more appropriate occasion presented itself.

Twenty years ago I relocated to the south end of Flathead Lake in Montana. I’d almost made the stop seven years prior, but conditions made sailing impossible. I ignored it then. Finally, the urge reclaimed my attention in a more frantic, yet persuasive, manner. The course set, I could not deny the deep-seeded need to drop anchor in western Montana.

Upon arrival I discovered why. I needed to place myself in the rising tide of my true heritage. Yet another chapter in my firstmate’s logbook opened to capture my soul and send it wandering the waters of the past and the future. My life became the water’s flotsam. The current of whatever necessity rolled onto the beach at the edge of my destiny’s shore, carrying my life with it.

Many times unexpected pretties litter the sand to bring joy and beauty to the day’s seaside journey. At other times only the broken remains of life’s seafarers greet me as I walk the surf of solitude. Either gift creates its own peculiar meaning at the end of the day, though the result continues unplanned in sunset colors of personal growth and understanding across sometime’s future sky. Would that I could sail the chart I choose. The pilot of my ship, however, chants to a briny rhythm, using desire’s ebb and flow of dream’s gently cooling breezes as the dolphin escort for destiny.

Now, I’ve returned. My latest port-o-call is the north shore of the Flathead. In so many ways my life’s journey has circumnavigated the western U.S., either with “permanent berths” or fascinating ports. Even now, I’m not allowed to get comfortable in my new berth.

The call is winding up to a scream. Soon new ports will gather on my horizon, awaiting a course change. These don’t call for permanence but rather a long look-see; a few days in port--long enough to capture the scene and flavor for use in a written piece. Then my ship will slip anchor and ride the tide to another glimmering new possibility.

Until next time,

Claudsy

*NOTE: As always the photos are courtesy of BJ Jones Photographry at: bjjoneseyes (at) shutterbugstorefront (dot) com

A New Day Dawning

This is my new, more varied, blog arena. Not that my other one is bad or not being used, but this is one for more purposes, more review than my blog on Wordpress.

I intend to do book reviews, interviews with writers, editors, publishers--if possible--and all types of people on the street. I'm going to do travel pieces and opinions. Who knows what I'll end up with. I'm eclectic to the max with interests in too many areas to contain on a single page.

Every few weeks I want to try adding a new page where something different can appear. So, for those who visit there will always be something new to see, read, and hopefully, appreciate.

For this moment, though, I'm just announcing my entrance into this space, my new study where words flow and pictures litter the walls with color and adventure.