February is here!! Yes, extra minutes of daylight are adding up and brilliant sunshine fills our afternoons despite the winter tunnel still ahead. Today there is larger glimpse of blue skies, and the promise of Spring is within sight! Naturally, my mind turns to skin care. Not one to profess a rigid regime, I will suggest a few products to bring comfort to your senses, from their smell to their feel… pure comfort! In reviewing most of the products in my bathroom cabinet I find there are three companies that have seen me through the decades. No matter your skin type, your aversion to animal testing or the controversial usage of propylene glycol, I guarantee you will love these products and they will make you feel beautiful! Curious? Read on…
Comfort: Part 1
Comfort: aren’t we all looking for it this time of year? At least those of us on the east coast in the northern hemisphere: comfort food, comfort wear, just complete comfort care. For me, on this last day of January, here in Vermont, comfort would be a day spent in my pajamas. Yet, despite the fact that comfort is what we all seek, our at-home comfort-wear almost always is on the shabby side. I became painfully aware of this after a nasty-cold then achy-cough kept me bed-couch bound for a few days. Searching for something comfortable I rummaged through my bottom dresser drawer and pulled out a trusty over-size cotton tee and equally time-tested flannel bottoms; I can’t say I looked stylish, nor did it do my ego very good to pad around wearing what the Salvation Army would toss, so I started an online search to find lounge wear… I quickly discovered there is a world to choose from, so I narrowed my focus on what styles I like to wear, what fabrics I want on my body, ultimately, what comfort means to me. Here are my favorite finds, so next time, when I’m feeling not quite up to par, these lovelies can lend their own particular ease to my disease and hopefully yours too!
An Entire Nation Listened
An entire nation listened as our 44th President, Barack Obama, swore the oath signifying his position for four more years as commander and chief of 
the United States of America. Along with the historic pageantry, we were treated to a superb choir, the marine band, three celebrity singers and a young poet. This last position, that of Inaugural Poet, was first created for Robert Frost by President Kennedy. More than three decades later Bill Clinton too called on a poet to recite, that poet being Maya Angelou. Both Frost and Angelou were already acclaimed poets with followers that branched far beyond the modest recognition most literary writers attain, yet Obama sought out the relatively obscure Richard Blanco.
As Blanco came to the podium I could not help but think how unused to poetry we Americans have become. How rarely we listen as images and ideas filtered through emotions are recited to us. What a challenge this presents poets who face our world and try to reach all of us…
Nine Cent Girl 