Thanks to fellow Common Thread-ers Karen Sutherland, Shari McMahon and Mark Sustic, and to tour guide John Dale and his wife Csilla, our translator, the spring tour of Transylvania was a wonderful, memorable experience. Whether we were in small villages or big cities, so many folks along the way made us feel at home. We shared the language of music with old and young, with the hale and hearty and with those disadvantaged by health, age or circumstance. For more information about the kinds of tours that John Dale leads, visit: www.uupcc.org -- and to see photos and get the low down on the Transylvanian trip from all the Common Thread members, visit: mysite.verizon.net/vzeovztg/commonthread/

The lilacs are fading and the weeds are coming on strong. Since my return from Romania, life has been full with concerts, school programs, gardening and building a stone wall - in other words, great. Hope to see you at a concert soon.

Spring makes me babble
Like a brook, an idiot
Shedding thirty years

Seeds awakening
Forcythia excitement
Dirt keeps its secrets

Inhaling lilacs
White-throated sparrows sing high
Exhaling small notes