RP is a blend of many styles and genres of music, carefully selected and mixed by two real human beings. You’ll hear modern and classic rock, world music, electronica, even a bit of classical and jazz. What you won’t hear are random computer-generated playlists or mind-numbing commercials.

Our specialty is taking a diverse assortment of songs and making them flow together in a way that makes sense harmonically, rhythmically, and lyrically — an art that, to us, is the very essence of radio. We hope that you’ll enjoy RP so much that you’ll want to share it with your friends, your family, your co-workers, your neighbors … well you get the idea.

Your grateful hosts, Bill & Rebecca Goldsmith

We shall not cease from our exploration
And at the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
–T.S. Eliot

Then on Sunday, some new friends came over to visit and help Claire make a fairy house! We met at a special event they had on their block a month ago, and a friendship sprouted. Emily and Maddie and their mom came over with lots of supplies, which they combined with ours, to construct a special home.

Here Emily and Claire discuss what color glitter glue to use on the little chairs, while Maddie enjoys the hammock.

Then of course Claire had to take a break after all the decision-making and join Maddie.

Now Maddie is digging a hole for the pool…

Here’s the home (the shoebox) along with a sidewalk leading to a pool, fire pit, and fairy tent.

A close-up of the tent:

And Claire, deciding where to put a hibiscus bloom. The fairy garden/home is a work in progress. More will be added later, I’m sure!

Claire spent the entire day outside, in the wading pool, the sandbox, the fairy garden! We spent this morning making Christmas gifts for family — Claire has lots of aunts, uncles, and of course her grandparents. We typically get an early start so they are done when the crazy season begins. I’ve got a photo but will not reveal what they are until after the holiday. But to satisfy curiosity, below are the gifts she made for family when she was two (ornaments) and three (bookmarks):

Last year we made streamers for our tree, and then got the idea to make another batch as bookmarks with pretty tassles. I forgot to take a photo of them!

What is so neat is watching how she works. This year she carefully chose the pieces to use and went with a theme and a pattern. And her attention span lasted long enough to do all 11 gifts!

You make me sneeze
because I’m allergic to you
the library’s a mess
I’m the best of the rest

Oh me-oh my-oh
You get the funnest job to do
Abe Lincoln brushed his teeth
But now he’s got ahold of you

You need a lot of things to do
You can do all the best things
But now you know what
Edwin knows the caden(?)

Now a ball a bust
Now it’s time to go read
Now you know what
I am not so sleepy
But now you gotta but

Now listen to me
Now the world be gone
Run run run run
Not so tired at all

We all ate the pizza
we wish we are ballerina
And now you got to be quiet
Because of the oldest day

You kept a lot of things
I wish I could do that
Now I really moan
Now I can’t really do that

I painted on the wall
Wubba wubba wub-ba
Now it’s time to take your bath
Now a time out floor
I was thinking of my dinner
Now it’s time for more

Now there’s only a few things
Just until your more
These are my books
These are my books

“When you practice every day, you come into resonance with cosmic cycles. After many days you can feel the diurnal cycle inside your work; after many moons, the lunar; after years and years the constellations come in. The whole spectrum of vibration, from the slow, lowest tones of turning galaxies to the highest speeds of inner light, becomes your musical realm.”

W. A. Mathieu, The Listening Book: Discovering Your Own Music

Music or meditation? Music as meditation? Meditation as cosmic music?

Now we’d best be ready to follow through!

‘Tis the season for daisies… At the park yesterday, Claire ran up to me with both hands overflowing. I love being a mother!

On Writing Poetry

Considering the ways in which so many of us waste our time, what would be wrong with a world in which everybody were writing poems? After all, there’s a significant service to humanity in spending time doing no harm. While you’re writing your poem, there’s one less scoundrel in the world. And I’d like a world, wouldn’t you, in which people actually took time to think about what they were saying? It would be, I’m certain, a more peaceful, more reasonable place. I don’t think there could ever be too many poets. By writing poetry, even those poems that fail and fail miserably, we honor and affirm life. We say “We loved the earth but could not stay.”

–Ted Kooser

I’m sharing this after reading Maezen’s post of today.

Also, more egg:

And here’s another craft Claire and I did (since life does go on even while parts of it are stalled):

I haven’t got more to share, although I do have another letter. Claire continues to practice cutting and was able to cut some of the triangles with assistance. I now present the letter t: tools and triangles!

She played the “drums” and “cymbals,” and had an audience:

And yesterday’s craft: