Visionaries Visiting

In Freya's mailbox this morning . . . I keep falling behind the mail, distracted by the flostsam and jetsam . . .

Yesterday was the 338th anniversary of George Frideric Handel. The Baroque composer born in 1685 Halle, Germany. What's he doing here among all the possible composers? Well, in addition to The Messiah, he also wrote the famous Water Music for King George I, performed by 50 musicians on an accompanying barge on the Thames … three times.

Also, yesterday, Woody Guthrie, one of my homies, wrote This Land Is Your Land on the back of an envelope while resting in NYC after his cross country travels. He was tired of listening to Kate Smith sing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on the radio. He thought there were a whole lot of people he'd been meeting who weren't being blessed by either God nor America. Here in Tulsa we've actually installed a museum dedicated to Woody. It's right next door to one that houses the memorability of Bob Dylan, who may thank God for Woody . . . and, no doubt, whisky.

Today is the 70th anniversary of Jane Hirshfield's birth in 1953 New York City. She now lives and writes in San Francisco (last I heard). A Princeton grad, and certified in Soto Zen, her poetry has been described as sensuously philosophical. If you've not read her, you are missing a gift for your spirit.

And it's the 237th anniversary of the birth of one of the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm Karl Grimm. He was born on this date in 1786 Hanau, Germany

Today, I'm looking forward to reading my just arrived copy of Mark Hyman's new book Young Forever. Dr. Hyman is a functional medicine M.D. who is a leading advocate of the philosphy and practice of “food is medicine.”

We have a new image of society … and out of this we have . . . the basis for a new universalism … – Abraham Maslow