Vernal equinox + full moon + maundy thursday

We have achieved springiness. Perfect early spring weather in Texas. We won't get many bluebonnets, due to the winter drought, but I do love me a cool, sunny, blustery day after a good rain kind of Texas spring. I'm also singing with the music director whom I worked with to promote the Texas Bach Festival a few years ago. The festival, also in March, prompted me to write an article which nobody was interested in, but it did paint a picture of exquisite Baroque music resounding in the turbulent, central Texas spring.

We adore the bluebonnets. They represent the most maternal aspect of the Hill Country. A velvety, electric blue blanket flowing over the land. We watch that endless ocean of transform through purple to red through orange to yellow by the time summer heat parches the land.

Some folks from Texas A & M University have an excellent bluebonnet site. Those Aggies are experts in plants, among other things. A children's book, can't remember the name, tells the bluebonnet story of a little girl's sacrifice to save her people. I like both stories.

At the risk of sounding trite, the music I associate with this time of year is Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." The rawness and frenzy of musical lightning and wind (sturm und drang) is a perfect soundtrack for Texas in the spring. There's the more refined version of the vernal equinox as inspiration--"C'est moi de mai," is one of my favorites from the French Renaissance.

The full moon serves to intensify the forces at work. I'm drenched in psychic energy. My friend Bruce from the Sangha Cafe in Wimberley says this is the second of the "four Maiden Moons of the Triple Goddess cycle. It means whatever you want--except undeniably the lunar energy overflows & you can ride the crest of the wave only if you observe it consciously." Actually he wrote it last month for the first of the MMs, but the overflowing lunar energy is what drenched me today.

Then there was the washing of the feet and the stripping of the altar, accompanied by Schutz, Tallis, and Palestrina, representing the German, English, and Italian Renaissance. A magical day celebrating the renewal of the body and spirit.

SXSWi images

Some of the intriguing glass sculptures in the SE stairwell of the Austin Convention Center. Quite a bit more appealing than the institutional drab of the meeting rooms.

Met some great people, including Rhea of The Boomer Chronicles, and Virginia of First 50 Words. Plus a lot of cool, nice, smart techies.

Yes, I was at the PostSecret session with Mr. Warren, and witnessed the young man sharing his secret with the audience--he proposed to his girlfriend on stage, and to his relief, she accepted. A young woman shared her fear about her sister's illness. This was not your typical SXSWi session. "PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." The art and the revelations compel you to dig deeper.

The only two sessions I could find on elders and technology were "Over Fifty and Not Dead Yet," targeting enterpreneurs who want to know how to market to us geezers and geezettes. I made a little comment at the end of the session, which resulted in an invitation to one of the "Conversations," a new feature this year. "Your Mom 2.0" slanted toward the usability and design techies. Some interesting discussion there.

I was disappointed that these were the only two this year. I suppose we're not that interesting--either that, or the generational gap is deeper than I thought. The obvious answer to that is to propose more sessions on aging and technology. Anyone game to work on such a presentation?