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Dear Cassie,

I am so sorry you are not feeling well. Blessing to you! Have you seen a doctor yet?

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Dear Theresa,

I am sorry it took me so long to reply. My computer has been having problems. After I first posted here, my husband installed a new hard drive and that put our computer out of service for a few days. Then a few days ago he reformatted windows and had some problems while doing that so it's just now up and running correctly. Your cats sound so interesting and beautiful! And very sweet! I might like to get a Bengal or other part wild type cat one day. I have heard they can be very playful! I thought Ginger might be part Bengal, simply because she has some really swirly patterns that remind me of Bengals and there were some at the pound when I got her, but maybe that is just the "blotched tabby" pattern, or maybe just the randomness of her tortoiseshell pattern. She jumps really high after fishing rod toys and is very hyper. Aww, that is so sweet that Puma stayed by your side after your foot surgery. What a loving cat! My Miko likes to stay by my side much of the day but he also tries to call me to come see him. He will cry and make funny noises from the other room to get me to see him because he knows I will always come. lol. That is neat that they fetch! I have never seen a cat do that, but I have heard of it. They sound almost dog like! Lila sounds sweet. Poor thing. She is lucky to have you to take care of her. That is really neat that you compose your own music! I love classical music, and all kinds of music. Maybe you will release an album one day (if you haven't already/if you want to). I have a brother in law who plays a lot of classical type guitar. We tell him he should try to put out an album but I don't know if he wants to. My grandpa plays bluegrass type music in a band and they put out their own album. Thanks for your concern, I am feeling much better lately. The wind has been blowing off shore for the past few days and that seems to help. My symptoms usually not too bad and only last a day or two at a time, so I'm just hoping it's nothing to really worry about. Thank you for your reply! It is very intersting to read. I will talk to you later.

Dear Cassie,

I'm happy to hear you are feeling better. Both Puma and Pharoah jump very high and do twist and turns in the air. They're natural acrobats. I had to laugh when I read about your Miko. Puma does the same thing when she wants attention. She will not let you alone! She cries and cries until you pay her attention. Bengals are such beautiful cats. Have you seen "Cats 101" on Animal planet? A few breeds are selected to discuss each week. There is also "House Cat House Call. " Both these shows are wonderful for cat lovers.

I'm technically challenged, and I am not a good music scribe. As a friend put it, my notes look like lollipops. My late beloved husband was starting to help me. He was technically brilliant. My wish is to get a Korg. It actually writes out the music as you play it. To get your music out today is impossible unless you have the right equipment and know the right people. My taste in music is very eclectic. The only music I don't like are heavy thrasher metal music and rap which has violence in it. I especially abhor rap which denigrates women.

My late father was from Paducah, Kentucky. They play a lot of bluegrass music in that State.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Puma and Pharoah sound so interesting. It must be fun to watch them play and jump! Puma sounds like a handful. Sounds just like Miko. I like Cats101 and I haven't seen House Cat House Call, but I'm sure I'd like it. We haven't had cable since our apartment stopped providing it, but I'm sure we'll get it again. We decided not to get it for now just to have a break, since we were watching probably a little too much tv. I miss some of the shows, but if we get cable again we'll probably watch much less than we used to. Animal Planet is one of my favorite channels. That Korg sounds interesting. If I was ever going to compose music, I would like something like that. My improvisational compositions leave my mind promptly and transposing seems very difficult to me. I have a very eclectic taste in music too, and am always trying to expand and find new genres and artists I really like. I agree with your sentiments about heavy thrasher music and rap that has violence or denigrates women. Oh, that's interesting that your father was from Kentucky. Kentucky is the bluegrass state right? I think that refers to the grass, but maybe the music refers to it. There are a lot of beautiful mountains in Kentucky. I'd like to go see them one day. Some of my family originally came from the Appalachians in North Carolina. Like in the 1800s. I've been to the Blue Ridge and North Georgia Mountains and the Smokies. They are stunning. The Smokies can be a bit crowded, but North Georgia is usually quite uncrowded. The bears are making a big comeback in the Appalachians.

Dear Cassie,

I am so sorry it has taken me this long to reply. Ah, transposing. There was a time I was quite good at that. Now I compose for either the harp or the piano so transposing is not an issue. It will be, though, as I just improvised a couple of pieces one of which is for harp and strings while the other one is for pan flute and strings. Yes, Kentucky is the Blue grass state. Some of your family came from the Appalachians in North Carolina. How interesting! It must be so beautiful there. My late beloved husband and I wanted to move to Asheville, North Carolina. We did quite a bit of research about it. We were going to rent our home and move there. I fell in love with Asheville when I saw a segment about it on HGTV. Further study led my late beloved husband to become excited about it, too. It's a place in which a lot of artistic people like us live, and it's spiritually open. It's changed radically since the days the KKK was founded there. Those founders would be appalled and horrified to see Asheville now and to see it has or had an African American lady mayor. I'm not sure whether or not she is still the mayor. What a superbly fantastic change Asheville has made. I would be looking at those founders with a big wide grin and saying "Welcome to our world."

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Dear Theresa,

It's no problem. Take as long as needed to reply. Oh, I think I had the wrong word there, I didn't actually mean transposing. Duh. I just meant writing the music down in note form. I don't know the correct technical term. But I definitely don't know how to transpose. lol We've been to Asheville a few times. It's very nice and interesting. I love the cooler summers and all the nearby mountains. I didn't know the KKK was founded there. Yes, it has changed a lot for the better. I have recently been tracing the genealogy online of my maternal grandmother's side. It seems that many of her ancestors were from North Carolina and South Carolina, and it seems that they were among a large group of families that intermarried with many of the Native American tribes of the area in the 1700s and 1800s. That was actually a part of my ancestry that I didn't know about, but I feel a mixture of interest and sadness learning about it. It seems that many if not most of the Native Americans in that area and at that time hid their ancestry or fled for fear of mistreatment and abuse (sometimes leaving children in the homes of Quaker towns, which may account for one of my mysterious orphan ancestors adopted by Quakers). It seems that my ancestors may have been Tories because they were hoping the British would keep the American whites more under control, according to one website, and two brothers of an ancestor of mine may have been killed for being loyalist, but probably were treated more harshly because of being Native American. It is very sad reading about all of this but I like to know the history of how things really were. I guess now I have no real connection with that ancestry, unless some genetic remainder affects my personality, but I guess I will never know. Still, I find it interesting to learn about. Hope that you have lots of fun in your trip to the Bahamas and hope that your foot continues to heal well! I will talk to you later.

Cassie

Dear Cassie,

I'm no good at putting the notes to paper so that's why I need a Korg. As a friend told me, my notes look like lollipops.

I see you and I have something else in common. Some of my mother's family were also Quakers. She came from Maryland. I think that region had a lot of problems with families admitting their Native American heritage. It was something to be hushed up, and that's the way it is with most of my family today. I forget the name, but there was an official in either the Virginian or West Virginian government who listed a lot of Native Americans entering the military as being white if they looked white. He eradicated thousands of records of these people as being Native Americans so the result is there are lots of people who will never know about their Native American ancestry.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Dear Theresa,

Lollipop notes sound like fun. lol. I don't have a good enough musical ear to identify the notes by sound. Oh, that is interesting that you have Quaker ancestry. They have some interesting history, and they also helped with the underground railroad quite a bit. My Quaker ancestors were actually from Virginia, in the early 1700s. That is sad that people felt the need or desire to hide their heritage. I think it was that way in much of the south, due to being mistreated. All branches of my family have always said we have Native American heritage, with some pride, but with little real knowledge about the culture. I guess that over time gradually after "passing" as white in order to maintain their rights, experiencing oppression and separation as many of the people in the tribes in these areas were driven away or enslaved and became increasingly oppressed, it would be hard to maintain a real sense of the culture. It is so sad that the cultural identity was shamed out of so many people, or in some cases intimidated out of them, or removed through placement in boarding schools. Maybe it was just losing touch with an active culture, and the active culture was the only place in which the cultural identity could survive? Maybe it was marrying into white families, and the white side of the family may have been oppressive or judgmental? Intermarrying and then trying to integrate into the white family may have been another effort to "pass" as white and survive. Talk to you later.

Carrie

Dear Cassie,

Our family came from the general region of Maryland and Virginia as well as some other States back East.
We were out in the heat just now so I want to relax.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Dear Theresa,

Hope you are having a wonderful vacation! You can just write back whenever you get back, and you don't have to reply to all my comments/questions, that is, unless you really feel like it and want to. lol I know I can chatter a bit much sometimes. lol Sorry about that. I don't want to interrupt your vacation. Anyway, hope that you have a very fun and relaxing time!

Carrie

Dear Carrie,

Thank you very much for your kind wishes for our journey. You can read more about it under the thread "The Bahamas" in this section. It was quite hard to return.

Walk In Balance,
Deer