Just a quick hello. I sure hope that your week has gone well. Myself ? Been fighting a bit of congestion in the head and chest. Kind of like walking through an Oregon fog ----sometimes it moves out , then before you know it it's full blown climatological soup. Me thinks the Winter has stayed over long. But according to Punxsatawney Phil , Spring will not arrive for 6 more weeks-----well I guess now it's just a little bit more than 5 weeks Yee HAAA ! Can't come soon enough---cough, cough.

Hate to say ------ naw, not really------ I was drawing the curtains again this evening against the cold (only suppose to go to the single digits tonight -- a relief from the below 0's that we've been having up here in the Northeast ) and what to my surprised eyes did I spy? YES. Another glorious moon , filling but not full,and gently sprinkled all around it , spangly stars, like freckles on a a fresh young face. Yes , indeed, I'm always delighted by the sight of the moon, in all of its stages , phases & moods. It shines but remains cloaked in a deep indigo blanket. It's light, sufficient tonight, to glint across the heaps of snow , giving a shadowy depth to the night landscape . It's great and ageless mysteries beckon to be explored. It IS magic to me.

Isn't it wonderful how magic can touch us, sometimes even sneak up on us ? And sometimes when it does, it moves the world just a little toward goodness and joy. Let me introduce..... a young girl , pretty , smart, AND a little high-strung. And to this picture , I'll add a younger brother, good-natured, easy going and adoring of the older sis, who most of the time suffers him loudly. Now add to the mix a hurried and harried morning--- Quick kids , out the door, into the car, can't be late for school. On go the jackets and the hats and the mittens and the boots , but WAIT . "WHERE is my scarf?" yells Sis, as if she were two rooms away , not 3 feet from us. And the mad scurry begins. Into the bedroom---nope, not there. Check the mitten tree----nope , not there. "NO .I Can't wear THAT one , it's too short." All the while, Little Brother is calmly watching the maelstrom around him, unflustered by the noise and the commotion brought on by The Typhoon Terrorist. Faintly in the background can heard the weary voice ( and it's only 8:30 a.m. ) of authority warning of dire consequences of being late. Still Sis is running and complaining.

Then,as suddenly as it began, the storm who is Sis, comes to an abrupt halt. Looking from the bright red scarf upon the mitten tree to Brother, and with sugar in her voice thick enough to gag, she plaintively asks Little Brother if she could wear his scarf. HERE COMES THE MAGIC. Unflinching and unflustered, with calm in his voice and a glint of hope in his eye, he answers simply , "You can take my scarf- for a kiss." Time stood still for a split second. She acquiesced. And the world for one young lass and one little brother was again in balance.

I wish that these eyes that had witnessed those few moments of chaos and resolution could adequately describe what had passed between those two. Gratitude , understanding, caring and love in a child-size dose FILLED the room in a way that only spontaneous emotion can. And for that split second, I'd wished that I could have opened the door and let it fill the air. I wish that the skies could have carried it 'round the world , dropping bits of compassion and love like fairy dust, settling into the dark crevices of our meanest human character. THIS WAS MAGIC.

Addendum....... Later that day Little Brother confided to me ,that earlier in the week , he had made a request of dad -I don't recall the specifics of that request,; no doubt something of great importance to the little guy . In return for fulfilling this request , Dad asked only for... a little kiss. This little guy, it seems , learned well. Small magic, big yield.

I send you wishes for small magic to replace your chaotic moments, Cyth