Gratitude | The Direction of Intention

The Sound of Peace [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 22, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

There’s a mourning dove serenading us as we write. I love their song. They make me think of Bali. Each morning I took early meditation walks to the song of mourning doves. For me, they are the sound of peace.

Our Airbnb was on the grounds of a Catholic retreat center. After a long day of freeway driving it was a special treat to leave the known world and enter a patch of earth dedicated to quiet and reflection. Our host told us that we were welcome to walk the grounds so, after unloading our bags, we wandered the woods and slow-walked the roads. I was once again reminded how profound – and immediate – is the impact of our environment on us. Aggression evokes aggression. We meet the violence of the news-of-the-day with anger and fear. We are not as independent, not nearly as separate, as we like to believe. Environment shapes behavior. David Abram wrote that presence (a quiet mind) is nearly impossible in the incessant goal-driven noise of the USofA.

And, so, we stepped into the woods. The harried drive dropped from our shoulders, the frenetic game of freeway leap-frog dissipated. I imagined the trees breathed in our weariness and exhaled ease into our bones. We relished the vibrant colors elicited by the setting sun. We stood still and absorbed the bird song. We strolled by the nun’s residence and I wondered what a life lived in retreat might awaken.

I wondered what this nation might become if it honored quiet truth as much a noisy distraction…and then I let that thought go. It was a remnant of the freeway, a disturbance from another world. It called my attention away from the song of the mourning dove.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CENTER

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Filed under: Awakening, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Gratitude, Identity | Tagged: artistry, david abram, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, inner peace, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, meditation, peace, presence, quiet, story, studio melange, the melange, truth | 1 Comment »

Squirrel Lore [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on April 17, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

My dad had a special relationship with squirrels though I doubt he thought of his squirrel-connection as special. He kept a BB gun at the ready to keep the little varmints from eating the peaches from his tree. He never aimed to hit them. He’d shoot the leaves close by to scare them. Once, when his eyesight was failing, he accidentally hit a squirrel. “Did I hit him?” he asked me, horrified. The squirrel was stung but otherwise uninjured. My dad was wounded to his core. “I didn’t mean to hit him,” he repeated, misty eyed throughout the evening. I am not certain but I think that was the last time he touched his BB gun.

Our yard is alive with squirrels. Dogga chases them. He gives them a quick bark as he skids to a stop while they scurry to the safety of the pine tree. And then he prances, triumphant in his mission of yard patrol. Later, we laugh as he lounges on the deck, uninterested in the yard-antics of the squirrels.

The squirrels have easily cracked the code of every bird-feeder-squirrel-protection-mechanism on the market. They are furry little ninjas stealing birdseed like their human counterparts heist diamonds. After years of gadgets and guards and placements – and serious thoughts about finding my dad’s leaf-ready BB gun – we’re in full surrender. We now scatter birdseed on the potting bench and on the top of Barney-the-piano. We invite the furry masses. The birds and squirrels dine peacefully together. They take turns. They are well fed.

When I refresh the scatter of seed I think of my dad. His squirrel campaign gave him a sense of purpose. Protecting the peach tree from the squirrels was a worthy-and-fun retirement mission. Without their constant assault on the peaches he would have been left with nothing more meaningful than cutting the grass (note: he edged the yard on his hands and knees with handheld clippers. My brother threatened to buy him an edger but he adamantly resisted. In analogy, my brother assumed the role of a squirrel, threatening my dad’s yard aesthetic routine).

I sometimes wonder if the squirrels watch us in utter fascination. We humans need challenges to feel useful. If we don’t have challenges we invent them; we call them hobbies. It’s the reason that “conflict” is the driver of every human story. A yearning meets an obstacle (Robert Olen Butler’s definition of “story”). Yearning needs obstacle like my dad needed squirrels. And now I have a special relationship with the squirrels: I do not try to deter them. I love watching them. I love Dogga’s daily game with them. They give him purpose. I love scattering seed for them. I love that they make me smile and remember the gentle man who was my father.

Kerri’s music is available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about SQUIRRELS

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Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Love | Tagged: artistry, bird feeder, dad, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, father, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, purpose, relationship, Robert Olen Butller, squirrels, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Tender Of The Garden [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on April 15, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

A week ago they were nowhere to be found. This week the peonies are poppin’! Kerri is the guardian of the peonies, the tender-of-the-garden.

My job is to clean out and prepare the beds for new growth. I love it. It is a possible analogy for what my work in the world has always been. Working with student actors or business-folk sometimes felt like clearing the thought-debris that choked their belief. Once the debris was cleared there was no stopping them. Nothing but potential. Peonies-a-poppin’! I loved it.

I usually wait until May to clean out and reset the pond but last week I had an overwhelming desire to DO IT NOW. It was the single warm day in a week of miserable weather. Before I knew it I’d pumped out the old water, removed the leaves and sticks, scrubbed and checked the liner, completely cleaned and restored the filters and the pump, and was refilling the pond with clear water. The fountain gurgled to life. It sounds like a bubbling brook. It is a sound that soothes us.

“So, today’s the day,” she said.

“Today’s the day.” She spied me eyeing the grasses and flower beds. She knows me. Once an impulse takes over I can be, well, obsessive.

“Too soon.” She said. “It’s too soon.” She pulled chairs into the sun so we might sit and watch the pond refill. She knows that if she can get me to sit in the sun and break the momentum then the impulse will abate. My obsession makes her nervous so she’s become expert at tempering my mania.

It occurs to me that she is clearing my heart and mind of debris. It is true, I am easier in the world. She is, after all, the guardian of the peonies, the tender of the garden.

read Kerri’s blogpost about PEONIES

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, garden, guardian, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, obsession, peony, pond, potential, story, studio melange, the melange, thought debris | 1 Comment »

If I Look For Them [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on April 7, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

If I look for them, there are signs of normalcy in these abnormal times. This week the striped squill popped up in the front yard. They are always the first comers, the flower-harbingers of spring. I am grateful that the plant life does its best to maintain nature’s routines. As far as the squill and day lilies are concerned it’s business as usual.

It’s a surprisingly powerful phrase: If I look for them. The striped squill would run amok in the front yard whether or not I decided to see them. They bring their promise of warmer times with or without my appreciation. Most years I look for them. I watch the patch of grass where they always first show themselves. I like to witness the pioneer squill, the early risers that poke through the winter grass and unfurl their striped-hope-petals. “Spring’s-a-comin’!” I sigh.

This year they surprised me. Lost in the daily crazy, the national nightmare, I simply forgot to look. In fact, I didn’t see them until the full striped squill chorus had arrived. There were so many that I couldn’t miss them. “Hello, old friends”.

This year, instead of being the augury of spring, they served a different purpose, perhaps a far more important purpose: a reminder of an age old lesson: I have the power to focus on hope just as I have to capacity to focus on all that is amiss in this nation. Both are necessary and it is far too easy to miss the hope in the onslaught of abuse. The assault on our democracy may be immediate but hope is by far more powerful.

If I look for them, I see the bearers of hope everywhere. I see them in the No Kings protesters, I see them in the volunteers at the food pantries, I see them in Marc Elias and Heather Cox Richardson, I see them in my friends and neighbors. Everyday I see multiple acts of kindness – but only if I decide to look for them. They are easy to miss, especially in the multiple acts of violence that dominate the media, the ubiquitous language of violence that permeates our politics. And yet, if I paid attention, if I counted and compared, the hope and kindness far outnumbers the ugliness.

The striped squill put me on notice: it is far too easy to get lost in the horror show. It is, indeed, important to pay attention to the arsonist’s fire burning through our democracy but it is equally important to keep sight of the many hundreds of thousands fighting the fire, the legions of people supporting the firefighters, calling out the lies, lending helping hands, stepping up to help in any way they can. They are everywhere, bearers of hope, believers in goodness, guardians of decency, heralds of the coming spring.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SQUILL

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Filed under: Gratitude, Seeing, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, focus, Heather Cox Richardson, hope, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kindness, Marc Elias, No Kings, seeing, story, studio melange, support, the melange | 1 Comment »

Their Spell [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on April 2, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Had it been my job to name them they would have never been associated with mourning. Instead of sad or haunting, I find the song of mourning doves reassuring. It is soothing. Calming doves. Reassuring doves.

In the spring and summer their song is often the first thing I hear in the morning. While the coffee brews I let Dogga out; I pause at the backdoor and appreciate the cool morning air and the mourning dove serenade. They are quiet heralds of appreciation for all-the-life approaching in the upcoming day.

This year we have a mourning dove couple in residence. I’ve not yet discovered their nest but they are regulars, pecking in the yard. They are daily visitors at the bird-bath-drink-n-spa. They perch on the wires or the roof of the neighbors garage and sing their siren song, spinning a spell of serenity over us as we sit and absorb the sun. Dogga chases them. They squawk and complain but always return when he settles on the deck for a snooze.

In these disconcerting times I am especially appreciative of their spell, their gift of equanimity. Serenity is slippery in the daily dose of malicious chaos but the mourning doves, our singers of tranquility, always bring me home to my heart, slow my breathing, quiet my troubled mind. Magic doves.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MOURNING DOVES

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, heart, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mourning doves, reassurance, serenity, story, studio melange, the melange, tranquility | 1 Comment »

Just Right [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on March 27, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Melange Wardrobe Fun Facts:

#1. We don’t consider our jeans broken-in until they have holes.

#2. On the day we met we both chose to wear non-holey jeans. We didn’t want to scare the other person away. Everything else, the boots, the blacks sweater…it was as if we called each other to coordinate.

#3. We were married in jeans that had holes. We were beyond the appearance phase of our relationship. The truth – our truth – has holes-in-the-knees. In fact, much of our wedding prep involved a world-wide search to find the perfect pair of new holey jeans. Holy jeans.

#4. For reasons I can’t explain, a hole always forms in the right knee of my brand new non-holey jeans. Always the right knee. Kerri, on the other hand, rarely achieves naturally holey jeans so she has to search for her truth. Mine always finds me.

#5. An anecdote: An elderly man in a maga hat stopped Kerri in the grocery store. “You must have a cat?” he sneered.

She was polite. “I used to have a cat,” she said, playing along. “How can you tell?”

“You need new pants,” he crowed his punchline. She acted like his joke was funny and the holes in her jeans were a complete surprise. The old man, feeling clever, repeated his joke to other shoppers. “Look at her pants! She must have a cat!”

#6. A common question in our house as we prepare to go out: “Do you think it’s okay to wear these?” A common answer to a common question: “Of course. Why not?” A common response to a common answer to a common question: “I guess I should wear what I want to wear.” I suppose there are holes in the fabric of acceptance that must always be considered.

We enact this ritual almost every day and always arrive at the same conclusion. The holes are in self-acceptance. Memories of Quinn always fill the holes for me. I hear his good laughter: “There are 6 billion people on the planet and you’re the only one who cares what you think.”

Now there are over 8 billion people on the planet and I am eternally grateful that there is one other person on this earth who cares what I feel and think and wear. This grand old universe knows how to coordinate.

And the shirt above the jeans with holes? A black thermal. Always. Oversized for her. Just right for me.

Just right for me.

***

Happy Birthday, my love!

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about HOLES IN JEANS

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Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Love | Tagged: acceptance, artistry, clothes, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, holey jeans, identity, jeans, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, ritual, story, studio melange, the melange, wardrobe | Leave a comment »

Time To Linger [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on March 26, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

These days Dogga rarely bursts out of the house to clear the yard of marauding squirrels and trespassing birds. Now he lopes out the backdoor, stands at the end of the deck, finds a good cool spot, lays down and surveys his vast territory. We tease that he is doing what my dad, Columbus, did in his final chapter. He sat in the shade and thought his thoughts.

The thimbleweed along the trail reminds me of cotton. The pods usually release their seeds in the fall but sometimes they hang on through the winter. I wonder if these seeds have missed their moment. They hung on too long. Is this puffy white cluster a failure to launch or are these the seeds of an older plant that no longer needs to toss wild dreams into the future? Perhaps it is time to linger.

Yesterday was a particularly nasty day outside. We binge-watched an entire season of Virgin River. One of the characters, in a moment of crisis, realized that she was trying very hard to hang onto an identity – a version of herself – that was no longer relevant. Life had stripped away a layer of her mask. She needed to let go. I completely understood her revelation. Old dreams need not fly from the pod in search of fertile ground. Sometimes old dreams are just that: old. Letting go makes space for new dreams and new questions. It clears space for Now. There is certainly no end to life’s questions.

We had a rare day of sun. We bagged all of our plans, pulled out our chairs and basked. In truth, our decision to sit in the sun was about Dogga. Rather than leave and explore the world, we chose to sit in the sun with him. His favorite thing to do is hang out with us. There is no end to our questions but there is absolute clarity in our priorities. How long will we have him with us? We don’t really know. What we do know is that there is nothing more important than surveying vast territory with him. We would regret forever if we lost ourselves in the pursuit of old dreams and missed this moment, this time to linger with him.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THIMBLEWEED

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude, Love | Tagged: aging, aging pets, artistry, clarity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dreams, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, pets, priorities, questions, seeds, story, studio melange, the melange, thistleweed, Virgin River | 1 Comment »

Time Travel [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on March 18, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

During the recent power-outage we learned the obvious: most of the activities of our life require a plug and reliable power. We learned that our access to information and connection-to-others is also plug-dependent. We learned that the car is a great-and-necessary place to warm up while also recharging devices.

We also learned how the absence of plug-driven-life greatly impacts the pace of our day. Time is a slow-moving river when the power goes out. What do you do when a screen is not available to demand your full attention? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate my technology as much as the next person. I would not be capable of writing if I had to type my fast-thoughts on a slow typewriter. I remember with horror the days of white-out and endless retyped revisions. Also, technology makes my vocabulary seem much more expansive than it really is. Do you remember flipping through a heavy Thesaurus to find a synonym? Do you remember how long it took to research a topic when the beginning point was a card catalogue or microfiche?

The power outage tossed us back in time.

We paced so I picked up my pencils and drew pictures in my sketchbook, much as I had done as a child. We lit candles when the sun set and spoke in candlelight tones. More than once we went outside and talked with our neighbors. They were out so we went out. We made sure the elderly neighbor across the street was safe. She made sure that we were safe. We returned to a time when conversation was face-to-face. The most important news was local and immediate. We entered a era when sunset was the cue to crawl into bed, when sunset meant a drop in already cold temperatures and the only warmth in the house was beneath a pile of quilts. Time seemed more expansive and not in short supply.

We relearned the feeling of wiling away the day. We reveled in the expansion of our attention span.

In the end, we enlivened our gratitude. When the power popped on moments before the blizzard, we cheered. The furnace kicked in. The lights extended day into night. We made dinner on the stove and it was hot! Simple things that go mostly unnoticed became opportunities for thanksgiving. For a few days until trust in the plug was restored we knew that we would take nothing for granted.

And with the restoration of the power time sped up. Our screens were alight, the information inundation and rapid media stream returned. We re-inhabited the era when the question at the end of each day is inevitably. “Where did this day go?”

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CANDLE

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Navel Gazing | Tagged: artistry, connection, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Gratitude, information, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, power, power outage, story, studio melange, technology, the melange, time | Leave a comment »

Put It Into Practice [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on March 16, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

If you follow the lyric of Van Morrison’s song, Comfort You, all the way through, it works a perfect circle: when the weight on your shoulders is too much, I’ll be there. When the weight on my shoulders is too much, you’ll be there.

When the power went out on Friday morning, with temperatures falling, a blizzard on the way, and the power company nowhere in sight, we did something that reminded me (again and again) how extraordinarily lucky we are. We texted friends to tell them that we were in a possible untenable situation. Their responses? Come stay with us. Do you need anything? What can we do? Questions of comfort and offers of support. Throughout the dark night and into the next day they regularly checked-in with us. We never felt alone or without a safety net.

It matters. When you’re sitting in the dark wearing layers of clothes beneath your coat, a single candle lighting the room, the circumstance is not dire when there are friends offering a warm bed or making sure you have what you need to get through the cold night.

It matters. When the power company arrived just before the storm, when they told us that they couldn’t reconnect our house because the downed tree that snapped the power pole that yanked the power-mast on our house, bending it beyond repair – and we had only a few minutes to find an electrician who would come-right-now on a late Saturday afternoon in the snow and replace a power-mast before the power company left…an urgent call to friends produced three possibilities. The new mast was installed not a moment too soon.

We are lucky. We have extraordinary neighbors. We have extraordinary friends. We share the weight.

And it left me wondering what is so hard to grok. A storm that takes out the power reduces all complexities into obvious simplicities. We all do better when we share the weight. We can get through any adversity when we show up for each other. We recently witnessed it on a grand scale in Minneapolis. A nation is no different than a neighborhood, when we share the weight, when we show up for each other – rather than exploit each other – there is no hardship that we cannot endure. In fact, we thrive in difficult circumstances when we have helping hands at the ready, when we know that we can count on each other to show up for each other.

The challenge facing our nation is not red or blue, it is a manufactured divide. It is the powerful elite, The Epstein Class, exploiting the people for personal gain. They get a massive tax break and we lose our rights and our social safety net. They need us to believe that we exploit each other, rather than support each other, so we do not see how they exploit us. The guys who showed up in the snow to set a new pole and bring power back to the neighborhood were not concerned about who we voted for or where we worship or the color of our skin; they were concerned about whether or not we would freeze through another night. They made sure that we were taken care of. With our neighbors, we stood on our porch and applauded them when the lights came back on.

My thought on healing this sadly distracted and falsely divided nation? Listen to Van Morrison’s song. And then put it into practice.

read Kerri’s blogpost about COMFORT

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Filed under: Gratitude, Merely A Thought Monday | Tagged: artistry, comfort, Comfort You, complexity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, divide, friends, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, neighbors, simplicity, story, studio melange, support, the melange, Van Morrison | Leave a comment »

Milestones and Munchos [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on March 2, 2026 by davidrobinsoncreative

Just in case you thought we were a classy couple, this image ought to dispel you of any illusion and knock us off the swanky-pedestal. Munchos and red wine. A classic combination.

This is actually an image of a celebration. The purpose of the celebration must remain undisclosed for national security reasons but in case you scrutinized the photo and are alarmed at the obvious daylight – and are worried that we began our celebration before noon or even before breakfast, rest assured that spring is approaching, the days are getting longer: we tipped our glasses at a reasonably late hour. By any sensible measure we were solidly in the happy hour zone when the vino met the Munchos. Dogga will attest to our appropriate start time. He is also a fan of Munchos though remains a teetotaler.

Some of my favorite celebrations in life did not happen in upscale restaurants or with linen napkins. They did not cost an arm and a leg. I will forever cherish tater-tots for the memories they invoke. Remembrance of biscuits and gravy at 3am, the clinking of coffee cups is a treasure. A baguette and white wine by the fountain. The extraordinary in the ordinary. Celebration of life with what’s at hand.

We constantly remind ourselves in this time of the world-gone-mad, not to miss the moments of celebration, not to let the horror-of-the-moment blot out the warmth of the sun. Did you know that the name Chickadee is onomatopoetic? I did not. Chick-a-dee-dee-dee! We opened the door so we could better hear the Black-capped Chickadee serenade our celebration.

We achieved a milestone. It could not have been better commemorated than with birdsong, Dogga at our feet, while we crunched a salty snack (the entire bag weighing less than 4 ounces!) and toasted life with a glass of red wine.

***

Once again, a post written prior to the latest outrage and act of titanic corruption. A war of distraction. Or, follow the money. Either way it is indefensible and unconstitutional though, we (I) might as well admit that the republicans and maga-minded have no use for the constitution (or critical thinking) as they daily throw it away.

Still, our blog post sentiment remains true: do not miss the opportunities to celebrate what is good and right amidst our national suicide-by-stupidity.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CELEBRATION