Hope
By Maggie Fenton

“The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.“ — Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

In Ohio, April seems to be a month that demands celebration. After a long winter and a psychotic spring, blooms start to pop as if to say “I’m here! I made it through the winter? How about you?” Some days, I tune out the horrific news and go looking for signs of life that seem to be everywhere. Mother Nature gives me hope when it seems to be in short supply elsewhere.

It seems natural that Earth Day is celebrated this month. This week, we will get our order of over 1,000 native trees that we’ll be planting in the next few weeks. We’re hoping to get help but if we don’t, having banked the trees in a muddy cover, we will employ the slow and steady method to get them in the ground by the end of May. Someday, this little 21-acre spot of earth will be a forest. We like to think we’re giving the next generation reason to hope.

Be Well. Stay Safe. Hope.

Crones to Combat Climate Change
By Laurie Dameron

Simple Action of the Week: Vampire Energy 

Vampire or phantom power means that your appliances when plugged in are still draining electricity. So unplug hair dryers, microwaves, and other appliances when not in use. The most energy is drained from your gaming/stereo/TV  system. You can plug all cords from those into a power strip and leave “OFF” when not in use! Vampire energy is huge when you think of the millions of homes! So conserving every little bit adds up to making a big difference! You can also save money – they say around 20% of electricity in homes is vampire energy!

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/keep-your-devices-wasting-energy-and-money

Happy Springtime!

YOU ARE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!

Dear Elsie

Hello from the hilltop, Dear Crones. Here on Pixler Hill when a woman turns 80 she starts to age backward, one year for every month. April Fool!

‘April is the cruelest month’, a quote from T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, certainly describes the state of our world this year. Everything, not only the weather, changes from moment to moment and still the hope of a bright future shines through the clouds. One of the biggest challenges of life is its complexity. For some that manifests in the evolving parent/child relationship. A reader’s query follows.

“Dear Elsie. What can we do as we age when there are adult children in our lives? I am fortunate that mine are good, kind people, still they each have different ideas of how I should be living my life. I’m grateful for their concern but don’t always agree. How can I accept some help or advice without giving over control or alienating anyone?
Treading lightly.”

Dear Treading lightly,

When you are talking with your adult child do you ever wonder who this mature sounding person who doesn’t hesitate to state their opinions is, and where’s that silly little kid who used to drive me nuts by constantly asking questions.

Family dynamics are so varied that there are no easy answers. Mostly we need to do the best we can with love and wisdom to guide us.

If you, or someone close to you, was involved in the life of an aging parent you might try recalling how that was. Did the parent welcome advice, assert their independence, tune everyone out or dump it all in someone’s lap? Was the child unsure of how to deal with the subtle shift in roles? Maybe being too eager to solve a problem, or felt resentful, and a little frightened by feelings of responsibility. Did the younger person hand the situations over to a sibling, or wish they could?

Do the same with your child. Try to see things from their perspective. The love, anger, inconvenience and the wide range of emotions associated with family. This could give you insight into their present behavior.

Now put yourself in the older person’s place and get a sense of what they were experiencing. Know that this business of aging is not for the faint of heart!

Get your needs and wishes as clear as you can in your mind. Acknowledge your child’s strengths and weaknesses. And yours. Be realistic. Write it out if you need to. Then talk with your children, separately and also together, with kindness, patience and love. Life’s journey is ever-changing so whatever place you are in at this time, be gentle and true to yourself.

Elsie

Bird Woman
By Sarah Kendall

half awake
morning air slips in the window
cool against my cheek
light dapples the wooden wall
blue sheets lap against the brass bed

I hear the bird

feel him fill his small throat
his chestfeathers, white, soft
ruffled by the same cool air
the sweet notes of his song
beat against my heart

walls around me disappear
nightgown catches on a branch
as my body rises up into the tree
my beak opens
my buried songs flood out
sweet and magnificent

I sing! I sing!