Softly, gradually, it comes.

by Zinta Aistars

I love the snows, yes, but when the light shifts a certain way, as if more translucent, as if softer, and the air brings a fresh new scent, and the birds at my feeder come a little less often, and the icicles along the edges of the red farmhouse begin to drip, drip, drip ...

... I know, it comes. Spring is not so very far away. Even if there are more snows yet, and there will be, the earth is dreaming of new growth.

March marks my one-year anniversary since moving to Z Acres. I have watched the changing of the seasons and come full circle. With the first year, everything around me was a surprise. This year, I watch for the return of patterns.

The skunk cabbage is first to arrive. Low, juicy leaves unfold near the ground along the edges of the stream that feeds the pond. Last year, I had no idea what this plant was ... the green leaves vividly marked with burgundy veins, finally pushing up a large pod, a little pulpit, and inside a cream-colored secret ... I was fascinated. The leaves grew larger and larger, and the plants would be a foot, two feet, even three feet tall, lush along the flow of water. This year, I know.

Last spring, I watched bunches of daffodils and narcissus push up their green leaves and buds in bunches around the house, along the steps on the hill, and all throughout the forest. How wonderful! This year, I look for them, and I find them, and I smile with anticipation.

So it begins. Green pushing through the snow. There will be more, much, much more. I have seen the spring here once before, and this year, I know how fragrant and luscious and gorgeous it will be. I wait and watch.

With the winter nearly done, I have watched my wood pile shrink. What little wood is left is still under the last snow. The wood bin is empty. Whereas every winter morning, I would bring in wood enough to fill the bin, then the stove, warming the house, now Guinnez and I go out each morning to saw a fresh stack. Guinnez rolls in the snow, all play, while I pull deadwood from the forest, or go through the pile of too long pieces, and pull out just enough. I saw the wood into pieces and bring it inside the patio, fill the bin for one more day. We'll see how many more we will need ...

The ice on the pond is receding, and a thin layer of water floats over the remaining ice. In the winter, Guinnez walked across the pond, but now he stays on the edge, wise. We watch the cool water bubbling to the surface. Now I know ... it will melt away, and in spring warmth, the Koi will surface in orange and red masses, swimming in a frenzy of renewed life. But not yet.

Not yet. The icicles drip. All day, they drip. The snow melts, leaving ever smaller patches, exposing grass still green from the previous fall. Last summer's vegetable garden surfaces in squares, awaiting new seed.

Guinnez and I walk the grounds, old snow sloshing beneath us, watching the changes.

Full circle

Music changes young lives, one note at a time, with Kids in Tune

by Zinta Aistars
Published in Southwest Michigan's Second Wave Media
March 7, 2013

DEB FALING, LEFT, LIZ YOUKER, AND RACHEL BOOMSMA FOR KIDS IN TUNe (PHoTo by erik holladay, erikholladay.com)

Kids in Tune is about more than teaching youngsters music. It's about support, nurturing, joy and acquiring life skills through the learning of music skills reports Zinta Aistars.

A kid who would give up recess to make time for another lesson? Never happen.

 

At Woods Lake Elementary at 3215 Oakland Drive, in the Kids in Tune program, however, that is precisely what did happen. And not just one child made such a choice, but 79 children voted to extend their music lessons rather than go outside to play. 

 

For them, Kids in Tune is play. These children play musical instruments for two-and-a-half hours, four days of the week, as part of the Kids in Tune program, a collaboration of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS), Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Communities in Schools (CIS) of Kalamazoo. An after-school program launched in the fall of 2011, Kids in Tune is built on the Venezuelan philosophy known as El Sistema, founded by Dr. José Abreu. 

This is the El Sistema philosophy: through passion and support, nurturing and joy, given a chance to know music intimately and personally, a child will learn life skills through the learning of music skills. As the orchestra of tiny musicians soars into another go at Beethoven, however squeaky it might be at moments, it appears that change is well under way at Woods Lake Elementary. 

 

Standing at the back of the room, lips pressed into a smile, cheeks flushed, Youker listens. "It's working even better than I expected," she whispers. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT SECOND WAVE. 

Z and Jeanne Hess on Monday Night Live talk show

by Zinta Aistars

Keith Roe, Monday Night Live

Jeanne Hess, author of Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games, and I will be on Monday Night Live, March 4, live talk show with Keith Roe, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oh yes, this IS going to be good. "Past the Illusions" on Jeanne's blog is just one of the many topics we will be taking on. 

This will be my second appearance on Monday Night Live with Keith Roe, and I'm looking forward to it once again. It's amazing how fast that hour goes by as we discuss interesting and sometimes controversial subjects, following the tangents wherever they might lead. The camera never breaks away, no matter where we go. And Jeanne Hess? You don't want to miss her speak. Here's more about Jeanne and sportuality:

When spirit in sport becomes a killing thing, "sportuality" returns the joy in the games

Kalamazoo, MI—Listen to any sports cast, and you will hear the verbs "annihilate," "beat," "destroy," "smash," and even "kill." It sounds like the language of war, but in fact, it has increasingly become the language of sports.

With her book, Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games, author and sports coach Jeanne Hess has brought to the forefront a new language for sports. With a word, with a thought, says the author, new ways of living—and playing—can begin. Understanding the words that go into our sports language is the first step to restoring joy into the games we profess to love.

In fact, Hess has found this "new" language by going back to the roots of words commonly used in sports. She returns to the roots of words such as competition, community, communication, spirit, humor, enthusiasm, education, religion, holiness, sanctuary, sacrifice and victory, to find out where we took the wrong turn and where we lost the joy.

"I had thoughts about words commonly used in sport, that when reconsidered to their original root became more useful in teaching peace and joy in our culture," says Hess. "One of the first words I thought about was ‘competition’, with its Latin root as ‘competere,’ which means ‘to work with.’ Not 'against with.' What a paradigm shift to realize that those whom we often call enemy within sport are actually helping us work better, more effectively and to our highest potential."

Sportuality, a concept of combining spirit with sport, is an examination of sports at all levels from a Western perspective, focusing on how it reflects our cultural belief in separation and dualistic thinking, as well as how sports can grow peace, understanding and joy. Sportuality crosses disciplines of sports and spirituality to help athletes, coaches, parents, and fans evolve a higher consciousness within sports and competition. 

"I believe the ideas within sportuality are boundless; that one can use it as a tool for reflection and personal growth," says Hess. "The concept of sportuality applied to teams or groups as a means to start positive conversation."

Jeanne Hess grew up in suburban Detroit in the 1960s and came of age as a varsity athlete at the University of Michigan in the 1970s. The allure of sports and spirituality was nurtured throughout her 29-year career as a volleyball coach, professor of physical education, and college chaplain at Kalamazoo College, and by virtue of being the wife of a coach and the mother of two professional athletes.

Hess ranks in the top 30 all-time among NCAA Division III coaches, earning her 500th career victory on 2011. Sportuality: Finding Joy in the Games is Jeanne Hess' first book, and was released in January 2012. Since the book's publication, Hess is now available to speak locally and nationally about sportuality to interested groups.