The Kentuckians Barbershop Chorus

See some of our Garden performing with the Kentuckians Barbershop Chorus!  They are a professional chorus with a lively sense of humor and showmanship.  

FREE Christmas Show Preview
Sunday 2014 Nov 30th  7:00pm
Crestwood Christian Church Sanctuary
1881 Bellefonte Drive Lexington, KY

Kentuckians Christmas Show "Hear Them Bells"  
$15 per ticket  (includes guest choirs, comedy stage show, and a great MC too!)
Saturday 2014 Dec 6th  7:30pm
Haggin Auditorium, Transylvania University
300 West 4th Street
Lexington, KY

Buy tickets at door or early here: 
Kentuckians Christmas Show - 2014-Dec-07 | The Kentuckians Chorus 

			Kentuckians Christmas Show - 2014-Dec-07 | The Kentucki... The Kentuckians Chorus P.O. Box 25008 Lexington KY 40524-5008 Phone: 859-223-8853
			View on www.thekentuckians...	Preview by Yahoo

A great thanksgiving graphic

Just had to share. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you enjoy your time with family and friends.

I wanted to share this blurb from the Human Rights Campaign:

This year, we have so much to be grateful for... 

We now have marriage equality in 35 states (and counting), an executive order that protects 14 million workers employed by federal contractors from anti-LGBT discrimination, and groundbreaking pro-equality work in the Deep South that is changing hearts and minds in one of the most difficult places to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). 

Speaking of prepping... Chocolate Crisis, anyone?

Now, I must stop this wandering thru the webs.  I read what I thought were some sensationalist yellow-journalism style articles declaring a cocoa crisis and chocolate shortages on the horizon... so I used my search tool (not the Big G, btw) to discover that there may be a bean of truth to this.

Find my search results here.  And the one article that actually seemed legit came from Confectionery News dot com, but was published in 2003.  One must wonder why the sudden upsurge in stories after 11 years without a blip.  I blame social media (yes, I am a pot and you are a kettle), ebola, and the fallacies of human nature.

Please, Powers That Be, don't let the Chocolate disappear!

The Ultimate Internet Glossary

Stumbled across this last night when I was wandering thru the intrawebs.  

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/glossary-internet-4chan-lolcats-buzzfeed-zynga

For those of us with a little internet savvy, this is amusing.  For folks with minimal to none on the internet knowledge scale, it is quite an education.  Plus, once I started reading and and following the embedded links, I could not stop... for many hours.

So, I just thought this would be an amusing thing to share.  Enjoy!

Are you prepping?

As the Community Coordinator of Garden Source Spiritual Center, one might believe that I am a bit more hip to current events and the like; however, quite the opposite is true.  I tend to avoid local news like the plague and national & international news are not even a blip on my proverbial radar.  But, being of the age of the internet, when the news is big enough, it will pass before my eyes unbidden. 

I will not preach of how horrible the acts were that are going unpunished or the whys and what fors.  It is not for me to judge.  But there are more ticked-off people in the United States than I have been aware of in a very long time.  The website for the city of Cleveland, OH, is shut down while the FBI investigates that little bit of homegrown hacker terrorism.  And I fear that news out of Ferguson, MO, will not end quietly.

So, are you prepping?  Do you have adequate emergency water and food storage?  Know how to use a gun, bow, or other hunting/defense weapon?

What will you do if your malls, grocery stores, and government buildings are being rioted?  Or if in the midst of the the riot, a blizzard or other natural challenge blows in to add a little more crazy to the day?

Humor me for just a moment.  Take an assessment of what is around you.  Know who you can trust... (According to Fox Mulder, "no one.")  

Let us hope, or pray if you will, that the world will take a collective breath and find some calm.  Until that happens...

Watch your 6.

----

Also, if you are interested in finding out more about prepping, come to any of our gatherings, many folks of the Garden are either active preppers or passive preppers (is that a real term?) and will be more than glad to answer your questions or just chat about what is on your mind.  We usually meet the Third Sunday of each month at 5 PM at the Plantory on W. Sixth St. in Lexington.  We will not be meeting in December, that is our time of Winter social and Yule party.  But, please, come out in January.  Until then, drop us a line at GardenSourceSC@gmail.com or check out our website GardenSourceSC.Org.  

Thanksgiving Prayer

THANKSGIVING PRAYER
(Max Coots)  

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:

For children who are our second planting, and, though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are.
For generous friends…with hearts as big as hubbards and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us we had them;
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn — and the others — as plain as potatoes, and so good for you.
For funny friends, who are as silly as brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;
For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who — like parsnips — can be counted on to see you through the long winter;
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils, and hold us despite our blights, wilts, and witherings;
And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past, that have been harvested — but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;
For all these we give thanks.

Source: the late Rev. Max Coots, who was Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton, New York. His passion for gardening yielded this beloved and much used meditation.

Holidays are not about gifts, plus work for the future

So, I have decided to take advantage of this soapbox, er blog, to offer up an op-ed piece.  My opinions may not reflect the opinions of other members or friends of the Garden, and that is cool because diversity is what makes our Garden grow.

---

Holidays are not about gifts.

Thanksgiving is probably one of the more "pure" holidays, tho not celebrated outside of the USA (at least not at the same time with the same name nor for the same supposed reasons). Thanksgiving is about bringing family, friends, and community together for a celebratory meal and being thankful for just being alive and surrounded by love.  At least, that is my take on it.  I will not speak of Christopher Columbus and his atrocities nor of the fiction of Indians and Pilgrims.  Remember, most of history class was a not-so-thinly-veiled lie. Point being, Thanksgiving is for giving thanks and sharing love, and if your feast is just a cup of warmth and a cookie, so be it.

Hanukkah (your spelling may vary) is meant to be a reminder of a miracle.  Break it down to it's core...  time with loved-ones.

Kwanzaa (no idea if I spelled this correctly, my apologies) is, to my understanding, about cultural pride.  What is it really?  Time with loved-ones.

Yule is a reminder that the Sun will return and that we have not been forsaken to eternal Winter (a recurring miracle)....  and time with loved-ones.

Christmas is a reminder of another miracle (see a theme?) in the form of a sweet innocent baby (all of you theologians just shut up about Christmas and Yule being same holiday, that is a whole 'nother op-ed piece).  Again... time with loved-ones.

If I have missed your personal fall/winter holiday, my apologies, but I think most would agree that it comes down to time with loved-ones.

Every holiday meal or celebration that I attend, I have but one goal... HUGS!  Sure, the food, conversation, and maybe gifts are nice... and I love all the candles and sweet smells, but the human connection is the heart of it all and really all we need.

So, please, stop worrying about making sure you have just the perfect gift for everyone you love!  Let them know how important they are to you and give them a hug (unless they squirrel away from your invasion of their personal space, then just let them know how important they are to you).

The Beatles were not too far off with the lyrics, "all you need is love".

---

Now, as for my work for the future...  As many of you may be aware, I am one of those bleeding hearts (any doubts at this point?) who just want to make people feel a little better in the simplest ways possible, and I loosely devised (with the help of my proverbial partners in crime) a plan to reach out to the homeless in our community.  This is currently dubbed The Garden Homeless Project and is in its infancy (like the sweet baby Jesus).  The endgame is to be able to set up once, maybe twice, each year as we head into colder weather to distribute hats, gloves, scarves, coffee, cocoa, and sweets such as cookies to the homeless in downtown Lexington.  Phoenix Park would be a prime spot.

Of course, this is going to be a lot of work and a little bit of legalities.  I would like a bit of the "homemade" love to be in each piece we distribute, even if it isn't entirely homemade.  I have already begun collecting fleece and yarn to turn them into loving warmth.  We can really use donations to acquire more.  It is often better to purchase supplies of fabric goods for crafting because of the fear of bed bugs or lice, etc., than to widely accept the the fabrics themselves as the donation. A thought just occurred to me that tags attached to each piece with a nod to its creator and the project would be a nice personal touch.  (So much brainstorming still going on, you see.)

Nonetheless, if you would like to help out with ideas, time, skills, cash, or cheerleading, please let me know.  I can be reached thru our main email: GardenSourceSC@gmail.com. Just put "homeless" somewhere in the subject line.  Paypal donations can also be sent to that same email with a note that it is for the homeless project (otherwise it will be placed in our main coffers).

This idea is, as many are, just a band-aid on a much larger problem.  I have no delusions about that.  But I intend to work throughout the year so that next holiday season we can share some face-to-face with people who need a smile and a hug during one of the hardest times of their lives.  I have been homeless, tho only briefly in the greater scheme, and I want to give hope and love because I know what I have to be thankful for now.

---

"For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully as I am fully known. Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  ~I Corinthians 13:12-13~ (from the Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

It is cold and late, and I just enjoyed one of my favorite supernatural primetime soap operas (yes, alas, some of us are still a bit addicted to the old boob-tube, even if we partake of our entertainment via the new boob-tube).  And tho, I am not a huge fan of bands doing covers of songs that meant so much to me in my youth and young adulthood, what I heard tonight gave me chills and I felt it paid proper homage to the original.

So, without further adieu, this is not Mozart's serenade, but I think Michael Hutchence* would approve:  

Devil Inside, covered by London Grammar

(click here)

*November 22nd will mark the 17th anniversary of his passing.

New Logo!

We just got the artwork for our new logo... here is one example:

The Beauty and Power of Nature

Here is a video that Sue took some time back during a lightning storm.  It is short, but powerful.

Our latest sponsorship - Clark Moores Middle School Archery Team

front

back

Just wanted to share the pics of the Team T-shirt that shows our sponsorship.  We also own one of the t-shirts for our archive of activities.

Not sure why they are sideways... silly camera phone.

High school senior boycotts Obama school-served lunches | Fox News Video

Glad my child is not the only one complaining...

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3889604671001/high-school-senior-boycotts-obama-school-served-lunches/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_mobile&intcmp=obnetwork#sp=show-clips

Forget Facebook, Abandon Instagram, Move To A Village

Check out this article on the Goats and Soda NPR blog, I think many of us in the Garden will enjoy discovering that we are not alone in wanting to create a Village feeling in our community.

Here is the link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/10/14/351254666/forget-facebook-abandon-instagram-move-to-a-village

What are your thoughts??

Upcoming Garden and related Events

Hi Gang!  Sorry for my silence, just been such a time over the last few months.  Tonight, and moving forward, I'm playing catch-up and trying to stay motivated to my commitments of Circle, Choir, Garden, and Family.  Sometimes I wonder how others balance all these things and full time jobs. For those of you who do, I applaud you and hope you can find time for a nap or at least a relaxing mindful meditation.

Ok, on to my list (oh, so many lists) of Garden and related events:

Next Sunday, November 16 - Council Meeting at 3 PM, Fellowship and Potluck at 5 PM at the Plantory, 501 West Sixth Street, Suite 250, Lexington, KY. Topic: "How Permaculture Can Save Humanity and the Earth, but Not Civilization".  Love will be sharing a video with us as we potluck together and can have discussion after.

Many of us will be attending Sandra's Yule celebration in lieu of  a Council Meeting and Fellowship in December (she will also be hosting Thanksgiving).  If you are not on our yahoogroup and would like to receive more information about these events, please contact us directly at GardenSourceSC@gmail.com.  These events are not sponsored by the Garden and are held in a private home, so you can understand our need to be cautious with posting specific info on the blog...

Sometime in December we will be launching our Garden Homeless Project.  This will be on the agenda for this Sunday's Council Meeting and I will post more info soon.  Just keep warm thoughts that we can launch this successfully and it will be an ongoing service project for the foreseeable future.

Friday, December 19, the choir I am a part of "The U-Notes" will be hosting our 2nd Annual Carol-Wining, starting at 7:30 PM.  This is a night of carols, wine, snacks, and socializing in an effort to celebrate the diversity of Winter Holiday season while raising a little dinero for our music program... that sheet music sure isn't free.  :-)  This will be at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Madison County, Willis Branch Road, Richmond, KY.

Our first Council Meeting and Fellowship of the new year will be Sunday, January 18 at the Plantory.  We plan to celebrate a few birthdays during our potluck time.

I hope to see some smiling faces at these events.  Bright Blessings until we meet again (or for the first time!).

Feel better

Wanted to share a smile after a very long day.

http://www.cracked.com/article_20801_5-people-who-overcame-f234025-out-their-disabilities_p5.html