In Pearlspective

Image by Brigette Tohm via Unsplash A s a musician, every occasion in my life has a song to go with it.  New Year's Day means Auld Lang Syne will be ringing merrily in my ears. All day. On loop. It's a pretty strange song really, but it sure has a catchy tune! A uld Lang Syne is a song I've never quite been able to figure out, not even with Google's help, but what little meaning I've been able to gather goes something like this: " don't let time separate friendships " . That's it. O ne tiny phrase sums up that entire song, but that tiny phrase has an important meaning. Friendships are valuable gifts and we should not take them for granted. The older I get, the more aware of that I become and the more valuable friendships are to me. I must admit that as a traveling musician I am not always the best friend. More often than not, I am a terrible friend! I'm rarely in the same place for more than one or two weeks, including my hometown....

What Makes Christmas Different This Year?   T he Christmas season is hailed as being "The Most Wonderful Time of Year". Christmas is generally a memorable time, especially for families, and some memories are even repeated making them well loved traditions. Today I invite you to glimpse into my Pearlspective of Christmas, past and present. Growing up, my family and I, my cousins, aunts, and uncles would all gather at my Grandma's house in Minnesota. There was an abundance of food: Grandma would cook the turkey and the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten; one aunt would bring Snickers bar salad, aka heaven in a bowl; my other aunt would bring "Pistachio Pudding", which is a strange but tasty mixture of jello, coolwhip, pineapple, marshmallows, and nuts (presumably pistachio); my Mom would bring a tempting assortment of homemade pies. Uffda! After we finished eating (too much), we all gathered in the living room where each grandkid would take a turn pe...

O n this day in tomorrow's history, a new blog appeared on the Internet. I am starting this blog for a very important reason: I want to! You see, I am addicted to thinking and when I think, I write. A blog gives me bit more space to write, making it easier to communicate a thought or idea more thoroughly. Image by Thought Catalog via Unsplash What will I be writing about? Life. My life, mostly, and the things I learn from living it. Being a traveling musician, a southerner who grew up in Minnesota, and a young American, gives me a wide variety of experiences to write about; but for starters, there are two basic things about life that I'd like to point out: 1. It's not easy. 2. It's worth living! That first point is probably rather obvious to most of us, but I didn't always believe that second point. In fact, for a while I believed exactly the opposite. That was many years ago after a childhood illness had left me with physical handicaps. At that ti...