Kara Kurbaga

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“Kara Kurbaga” is the Turkish name for common toad, and this played a role, or better yet, its role in the naming of the piece. She appeared not only once in the creation of the song and the melody, after she appeared at one's feet while composing on the terrace one summer evening, she was gently lifted up, carried back towards the plant bed, just to

A short time later, sitting at my feet again, you would have had the impression that you were listening to the sounds that were forming into something new.

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Catherine & Ruddock

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Not many people personally know the story of Catherine and Ruddock, it may sound sad and yet there is a deep familiarity and something comforting in it, in the end the following is told:

She saw the little bird and picked it up. “Don’t be afraid,” she said to him, and their souls touched and they went together to a faraway land.

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“This is what it feels like” (Element Fire) - Lyrics by Philip James

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“Awakening,” the first rays of the sun and the start of the ice melting, with water running over the patches of earth and stone now exposed once more.

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Almost spring, but not quite, as snowdrops struggle to push up through the snow to declare the return of vibrant life, then bow their heads to the slowly strengthening sun and start to relax as other life forms recognize their efforts and start to do the same thing.

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The first shall be the last and the last shall be first, and there is no winner or loser, just a flow of “Awakening,” taking place in the eternal circle of each individual who can experience its movements within them as he or she struggles to live.

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There may be a return of the cold and snow in the next days, weeks or even months, but once begun, the cycle of awakening, so delicate, brave and vulnerable, cannot be stopped as it transforms into the juggernaut of summer and onto the storage days of autumn that will provide for the awakening once more when winter closes in again in its turn.

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Fears hold us back, turn our blood to a fantasy of icy worries and concerns, and yet within us, the “Quickening” of life is always there awaiting its chance to “Awaken” the sleeping giant of our very human endeavors as our spirits rush to lift their heads once again and to proclaim their beauty and their place in the world.

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For each of us, timing is the thing, not the time we can see as the year goes by, but the rhythms that push up from each soul to stir the vulnerability of our life into motion once more.

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Courage is the thing, always, even in our darkest moments, and without this beating heart, all of life is lost.