Happy New Year! I remember thinking dark Orwellian thoughts as we approached 1984, but that year turned out better than expected. For me it meant fulfilling a life long dream working on my first recording project that would be released the following year as Adirondack Green.

Now we're involved in the odyssey that framed Stanley Kubrick's fantasy-the year of 2001. Hal probably wouldn't even recognize his laptop kin which allow us to send and receive words, pictures and sounds around the world in an instant.

So in an attempt to balance the increasing speed of computers and our lives (some can't separate them), here are a few words to feed your soul and slow you down so you can enjoy 2001 and beyond. From the Ute Indians of North America:

Earth teach me stillness as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me caring as parents who secure their young.
Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone.
Earth teach me limitation as the ant which crawls on the ground.

Earth teach me freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me to remember kindness as dry fields weep with rain.