It seemed like it would be our ordinary 30 minute walk around our neighborhood, the same route, like every other day – but far from it this day.

First, as we approached a corner, we suddenly noticed a huge turkey vulture sitting on top of a telephone pole with its back away from us.

It was completely unfazed as we stood there for a few minutes admiring this unusual, beautiful sight.

But nothing prepared us for what we were about to come upon in the next few minutes.

I hold open a space for good things to come to me today,

Things that make me smile and remember being a young child,

Where everything was enchanted and unknown,

Like a forest unexplored,

Yet with paths here and there, and beyond.

I invite good surprise into this day today.

I declare I am awake to the hidden world that’s woven into the world we see,

Where my intuition is strong, alert, and deep,

Where I sense the meaning in the smallest of things – a feather on the ground,

And every sign you leave for me.

Introduction

This is my story about my parents’ divorce.
Then I thought about other people going through difficult times when things don’t look the same anymore.
And what do you do to get yourself back to normalcy?

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

Introduction by Phil

Many years ago, a co-worker of mine said that his mission in life was to great as rich as possible, and would often tell us what big deal he was working on at the time. This song is dedicated to him, and “no”, I don’t know if he ever got rich.

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

Travel for the masses is one of the benefits of living in the 21st century. While it has a few drawbacks, travel brings so many benefits that they easily outweigh the negatives.

For some, travel means just having a good time but there are so many other things to be gained beyond rest and recreation. And of course, it's not an either/or situation: one can easily combine all of the advantages of travel into one trip.

Hi, my name is Reet, and this is my story called “The Value of Money.”

Hello, everyone. I have a story to share with you today. It is a personal story about my very early years, around actually 4 years old.

Growing up in a small town named Stratford, one of my earliest memories was being allowed to walk, myself, to a nearby grocery store, about 400 feet from our doorstep.

I had all my pennies and a couple nickels saved in my piggy bank.

Although it's not fashionable to say so right now, I admire and respect immigrants. How can I not? I am one myself. I grew up in Europe and came to live in the United States during my twenties. I have spent the greater part of my life as an immigrant. So I know more than the average person about immigration.

It is commonplace in the United States to hear people complain about drugs, medications, and vaccines. Many people I know do not want to use them, particularly vaccines. This point of view has various rationales: drugs are ineffective, drugs have side effects, natural remedies are better, the drug companies are out to rip us off, etc. While all of these assertions have some truth in them, these people are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Out of the blue came the hoot of an owl.

Sometimes this happens in my back yard. Sometimes in my neighborhood. Sometimes I think it follows me.

It was a very pleasant surprise - three long, slow, low hoots. A pause, then it repeated. A pause again, then it repeated again.

It calls up in me the feeling of the deep woods. Where there are wise animals, knowing old, huge oaks, and the feel of soft, moist dirt underfoot.

The woods are alive with mystery and quiet surprise. At any moment there could appear a deer, a chipmunk, or a giant, black crow.

I remember going into a garden shop and being happily surprised to see a huge parrot in a great cage. It was so unexpected. To see a parrot by itself would be a surprise, but to see it in a place where it usually wasn’t, made it shine even the better.

A similar thing happened when we visited a paper store that sells gift boxes, tissue paper, cake boxes, and so on. In the back, in a fenced in area, was an emu, you know, an ostrich – actually a pair of them. It’s like seeing a dandelion growing in a sidewalk crack.