reVeries

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Feathered Friends

Happiness Is... Enjoying Little Things

Wherever there are birds, there is hope. – Mehmet Murat Ildan

Birds are my favorite people.

No matter what yesterday was like, they always start the new day with a song.

Feed The Birds. A swarm of common MYNA, red-crested CARDINAL, Java SPARROWS and WILD CHICKEN gather on a sun-warmed grassy area. Monkey pod leaves rustle as ubiquitous PIGEONS glide effortlessly along the coastline, and small FINCHES flit between flowering plumeria trees. Photo: V.E.V. Waikiki Beach: Hawaii

Variety of endangered birds including the NEGROS FRUIT DOVE (bottom left) are conserved while breeding endangered species. Negros Forest Park

You’ll have a lot of respect for a bird after you try making a nest. – Cynthia Lewis

The WHITE TERN, also known as the FAIRY TERN, is a small, graceful seabird that is native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world.

It is predominantly white in color, with a glossy, smooth plumage that is almost transparent in the sunlight.

A pair had built a small simple nest made of twigs and other debris, barely large enough to hold the single egg that was laid on an umbrella tree branch. Colony Surf Grounds: Waikiki, Hawaii

Good morning, world! I’m youth. I’m joy. I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.

TERN CHICK Fledging. The egg had hatched after around 21–22 days.

Downy chick is now fledging, meaning awaiting feathers and wing muscles to be sufficiently developed for flight.

Leftmost: Colorful bird cages filled with sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn await backyard feathered visitors.

I caught a glimpse of happiness, and saw it was a bird, fixing to take wing. – Richard Peck

Above right: AMERICAN ROBIN, the quintessential bird with its warm orange breast and cheery song, makes an early appearance at the end of winter. Photo: V.E.V. Columbus: March 2026

Right: In the stillness of winter, the bright red male NORTHERN CARDINAL with black around its face, red crest and beak is a beacon of hope, here pecking on scattered millet from a wind-fallen birdcage.

Above, rightmost: In the soft call of the MOURNING DOVE, we find echoes of love and loss. Photos: V.E.V. Columbus: March 2026

Left: Trio of ceramic birds, clockwise - TOUCAN souvenir, Costa Rica. Gifted mini BLUEBIRD by Fav Granddaughter (can you spot it?) on top of canister school project, also by FG; foreground. Mexican whistling bird

The bluebird carries the sky on his back. – Henry Thoreau

Right: Closeup of mini BLUEBIRD (less than an inch long from beak to tail)

Leftmost: White-glazed Mexican CERAMIC CHICKEN on foreground

Left: Birthday air plant gift from Second Daughter in CERAMIC BIRD vase. March 21, 2026

Faith is the bird… that sings when the dawn is still dark. – Rabindranath Tagore

Lonely BLACKBIRD, perched in leafless maple tree branch, sings a song of solitude, echoing the heart's quiet yearnings. Columbus, March 2026

Pair of CANADA GOOSE has come back to signal spring.

With a distinctive black head and neck, male bird stands as sentinel on church front. Columbus, March 22, 2026

Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps the singing birds will come.

Have a glorious chirpin’ day!

Friday, May 8, 2026

Rats!

Rats! The Story of the Pied Piper, a musical by Dave and Jean Perry

Featuring the Gahanna Middle School East Seventh Grade Choir

May 7, 2026

You had me at "a long time ago." - Anonymous

Fairy tales are like reality TV - full of drama, questionable choices, and a lot of magic.

Rats! is all that, but in a most adorable way. It was told like never before - a fast-paced, 35-minute musical with charming seventh grade choir characters singing fun and clever songs and delivering witty dialogue.

Plus, as doting parents and grands were concerned, it featured our Fav Grand/D as one of the show's narrators and chorister.

Why don’t we let the story, though familiar to most of us, come alive as we listen? Let the door open to imagination and wonder through the magic of storytelling.

A long time ago… a time before airplanes and cars and buses and trains…

… a time before TV, CD players, computers, and video games...

there was a quaint little village in a green valley next to a gently flowing river.

Artists came from around the world to paint pictures of the valley with its river and village because it was so beautiful.

And the name of the village was Hamlin.

Alas, Hamlin was overrun with rats, and the citizens were in a tizzy…

We’ve got a rodent problem.

… until a mysterious Pied Piper appeared, solving their dilemma for a small fee.

The Pied Piper: the original influencer, but with a much more rodent-friendly audience. If the Pied Piper had a podcast, it would be all about 'How to Attract Followers... and Mice!'

We know the rest of the story.

The piper led the children away when the townspeople refused to pay.

A lesson to learn: Pay up or else!

But as all fairy tales end (at least in this play version), all ended well. The children were returned after the villagers paid several times the original payment in gold.

We love fairy tales.

They express the truth in a way that speaks to the heart. Rats! teaches us through the Pied Piper that sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is to just play it by ear.

Though ultimately, life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

THE END

All solo pics: V.E.V. Columbus, 2026

Saturday, May 2, 2026

POETRY: Month of April

Celebrate April

Poetry is my least favorite of the literary genres. I find it difficult to understand.

But if I were to choose a poet and his works, hands down, it would be William Blake: poet, engraver, artist, and visionary; and the quatrain To See A World In A Grain Of Sand.

One of his most famous and oft-repeated quotations, it opens his Auguries of Innocence, written in 1803 though only published in 1863, decades after his death.

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

I love the juxtaposition of vast things with minuscule objects.

A world in a grain of sand?

Genius.

How about seeing heaven in a wild flower?

It is hard for our imperfectly evolved brains to conceptualize the vastness of things. Yet, Blake affirms that we only need the palm of our hand to hold infinity.

Complex concepts become understandable when viewed through the lens, if you will, of the very small.

As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm.

As is the atom, so is the universe.

As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind. – Deepak Chopra

P.S. If comprehension of Blake’s mystical idea fails, try this.

To discern an astral shape in an elastic band

And create a star in the palm of Lolo's hand

Catch a glimpse of joy in young Hapa Grandkids' gaze

Fascination in a moment, envisaged.

Hawaii, February 2022

Saturday, April 25, 2026

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS, I.T.V. Production: April 19

Celebrate April

Music is the language of the heart without words. – Shinichi Suzuki

This celebration may not have been on the list of National April Celebrations, but it's tops on my list.

Why?

Because it was a musical event that was produced by Second Daughter. That's no mean feat in itself.

It started with the idea.

The idea for this concert was born last autumn, when I mused that King Avenue has so many talented musicians, and we so often are accompanying others. Nothing wrong with that, but I thought it would be wonderful to have our own concert. (Program note from I.T.V.)

Instrumental music. No vocals.

The name for the concert was easy, borrowed from the title of a 19^th century piano work by Felix Mendelssohn. (Program note from I.T.V.)

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS. For when words fail, music speaks.

It was to be a benefit concert for UMCOR.

Overseeing the managerial aspects for staging, she had worked months gathering together a musical ensemble and managing their schedules as well as arranging for technical light and sound staff.

Then, there was securing the venue and handling logistical arrangements.

While overseeing the event, she promoted the concert through an advertising strategy.

The anticipation is half the thrill; the music will soon fill the air.

Now, let the concert begin.

Kitty Friends and Music Critics, the heartbeat of any great performance. Photo: I.T.V., Columbus, 2026

Welcome to the concert.

We’re here to make music, not to fix your Wi-Fi - so let’s get started!

N.B. Artist names not included for privacy reasons

Trivia Nugget: Euphonium is a brass instrument known for its rich, warm tone and extensive range. Often used in brass bands, military ensembles, and orchestras, it’s one of the most beloved instruments in the brass family.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: carillon (not in pic)

Suite from the Victorian Garden: clarinet, piano

And So It Goes: tuba, trombone, horn, euphonium

12 Danzas Espanolas from Andaluza: violin, piano

Trivia Nugget: Flugelhorn, also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore.

Someone Like You, This is the Moment: piano

Blues and Variations for Monk: unaccompanied horn

Flower Song: flugelhorn, euphonium, piano

Trivia Nugget: Ashokan Farewell, composed by American folk musician Jay Ungar, served as a goodnight or farewell waltz at the annual Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camps.

Piano: Ashokan Farewell | Fix You | Etude No. 6

Trivia Nugget: Event Producer, noun

1. A person who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data

2. Someone who solves problems you can’t