THE BEAT GOES ON

  The beat does go on, and I am thanking God for that. The beat I speak of is the heartbeat of my Number One son and oldest child, Craig. Unfortunately, one of the things he inherited from both his dad and me was the predisposition for a heart attack.  Friday, Craig suffered a heart attack at his home in Dallas.  After driving himself to the ER, and the surgery to implant two stents in the right coronary artery, he is finally out of ICU. When I spoke with him around 5 o'clock Saturday, he was not only feeling better (the artery had been 85% blocked) but also feeling bored!  I think that was a good sign.  The doctors say he may be able to go home on Monday.  In the meantime, he is anxious for his roommate to bring him his laptop.  Nothing conquers boredom like surfing the net -- and of course checking in with Facebook.  I'm sure he will write about how he thought he was only suffering from acid reflux, and how he even postponed talking to his doctor for several hours. Hopefully, this might save the life of at least one of his friends.  The baby boomers are now at that age where their years of imagined invincibility are waning.  All the cheeseburgers, booze, and smoking are starting to take a toll on many of their lives.  My 6'2" baby boy is safe for now.  Next come the changes necessary in his lifestyle so he will be around and able to care for his aging Mom in the years to come!  I love you, Number One son!

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  How fitting that tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  The day our hearts beat with love for family, lovers, and close friends.  The day we celebrate with hearts of all kinds.. cards with shiny foil hearts trimmed with lace, heart-shaped boxes filled with luscious chocolates, and pretty jewelry with sparkling hearts. Since ancient times the heart has been thought of as the seat of the soul.  Philosophers long ago thought of it as the seat of reason and emotion.  And of course in modern times the heart has represented romantic love. Thus, our love songs are filled with "hearts".. Running through my mental repertoire of songs -- and a quick Google search -- I found that there seem to be more songs about hurting hearts than happy hearts.  There are many about broken hearts, cold, hard, lonely, and hungry hearts.  And even "achy, breaky hearts"!  Is it any wonder there are so many heart attacks associated with sad times, breakups, and losses?  How many times do we say, "my heart hurts for her", or "it just breaks my heart to hear that", or even "my heart goes out to you". Let me tell you, your HEART is listening!  We would all do well to watch our words carefully when we are speaking from or about the heart and our emotions. And as for those "love" songs.. concentrate on Young at Heart or Put a Little Love in Your Heart, and try not to wallow in your sorrow by listening to the achy, breaky ones for hours on end!  Your heart will love you for it.

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  One cannot help but be made aware of all the excitement surrounding the resignation of the Egyptian President Mubarak.  There is a young Indian university student from New Delhi that writes a very interesting blog that I check in on from time to time.  He is about the same age as my two oldest grandchildren.  It is an eye opener to read what young people in other countries have to say about world current events, as well as what's happening in their own country. Today he wrote an open letter to Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress -- one of India's major political parties, and the party in power today.  He was highly critical of the corruption in her party, outlining in detail his grievances and reasons why he would not vote for her or her party in the next election.  He went on to say the following:  "Or look at the positive side, I may not be needed to vote in 2014 as your government can topple before it completes the present term! Or better, the citizens can rise in an Egyptian style uprising to demand an ouster of this government! I am telling you, these are exciting times we are living in."

  This is from India.  A country with a democratic form of government and a constitution that allows freedom of speech!  In scanning the Internet news sites I noted that Algeria has tried their own form of revolt in the past day or two.. and as I write this there are clashes in Yemen between protesters and government supporters.  The wave of freedom and peace seekers is rolling now.  The Mideast is sure to be on guard, and hopefully looking to their own governing powers to see where change is needed.

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  Today the temperature is going to be in the 70s here in the Hill Country of Texas.  Yesterday, as ice in the birdbaths melted, and the sun was shining brightly I had scores of birds in my back yard. Some who haven't been around for a while.  There were at least two dozen or more Robins in my yard and my neighbors' yards. They were fighting over the water, and chasing one another through the trees.  The squirrels thought that looked like fun, so they joined in as well.  I've taken some pictures, and plan to go to the park this afternoon as I heard there are some new ducklings that have hatched out recently. I will photograph them as well if I can see them.  It's also time to be making a trip to the Eagles' nest near Lake Buchanan.  Ahhhh, harbingers of spring!  It's wonderful to feel warm weather and watch all the wildlife enthusiastically embracing it!  It's supposed to be in the 70s all this next week.  I hope spring is approaching wherever you live as well.

Peace, love, and sunshine,

Marilyn