BLOG
Welcome to our blog!
We had been dreaming of creating a space where we can share our advocacy and passions. Throughout the years, Al and I have been involved in numerous projects including our library-building efforts, book drives and countless fundraisers to benefit our communities here and abroad. We want to do more and we will keep doing so. This year, we are focusing on our projects for the Tboli community of Lake Sebu in Southern Philippines, where Al and I worked for two years. Our blog will keep all of you updated as it all unfolds.
Al and I will also give you a sneak peek into our hobbies and leisurely activities. We enjoy gardening, kayaking, clamming, snorkeling, raising kids and grandkids, crafting, traveling, and more! As you know, Al is an avid photographer so there will be lots of photos.
We can’t wait for all of us to get properly acquainted. Come Hang Out With The Howers!
Lots of love,
Al and Prima
THANKS TO THE CHEFS...Lee Hower, BJ Bates, and Al for putting together what my boss described as "The Best Mother's Day Ever!" at Juniper Farm. Grilled Sirloin tips and shrimps, scallops wrapped in bacon, quiche, mimosa, and topped with mouth-watering Chelsea chocolate vanilla Ice Cream! Happy Mother's Day Mimi Ellen Murphy Bates we missed you and Bruce Bates.
ANOTHER POEM for mothers out there especially my daughter Linda Hower Bates and my MOD (my other daughter) Heather Hower.
Of Daughters and Tulips
My daughter is a mother of two
Raising her is like planting
A tulip in the garden.
You start with a good seed.
Then find an ideal and the best environment
Where it can flourish
First under some controlled space,
Ultimately leaving it room
To spread with luxurious abandon.
Prepare a bed,
Gently blanket it with rich organic matter,
Sprinkle magic dust of bone meal,
Give it plenty of nourishment and water.
Keep it from harm.
Fence it if you must.
Protect them from marauding midnight deer.
But always,
With care, patience, attention, and love
Nurture, nurture, nurture.
Provide it with everything within your power
The things it needs to be self-sufficient.
But once it matures
Be discerning.
Know that it will do its own thing
It will know when to unfold
Its gorgeous petals
To spread joy.
And all you have to do at that point,
Is to watch it grow.
To enjoy it
Bloom, bloom, b
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY...reposting a poem from 2018.
THE PICKET FENCE
Come
Sit a while and visit with me
By my white picket fence.
Let's talk about Kate Spade
Anthony Bourdain
And friends or family
We knew intimately
Who for reasons
Beyond our comprehension
Nipped their own lives.
Like the roses and the peonies
They brought joy to this world
Our world that is
So in need of upliftment.
Come
Sit awhile
Find a spot to meditate
What it is that gives you
Reason to wake up in the morning
Makes you smile,
Makes you alive
Makes you want to
Plant more roses and peony.
Come
Before the rains of life
Bend us to the ground.
~prima hower, 6.9.2018