Spring has arrived and relief from the burdens of winter is in sight. As the snow receeds evidence of activities that I couldn't quite see are being revealed. Looking back I can see the tracks in the snow. Abi, my faithful companion, has been there even though it wasn't immediately evident at the time.

Spring is a time of renewal. The leaves will soon be out and life will again spring from the earth. One thing that impresses me about the spring is its evidence of the resilience of earth. As the beauty of winter fades into memory spring brings forth the beauty of the earth - plants and animals can once again bear themselves to the elements and enjoy another mode of existence.

For a time...

For some people it does not matter what you do or how noble your intentions are -- nothing is good enough. They require constant explanation and expect you to defend your actions when there is nothing to defend against. I am a WYSIWYG kind of guy. I don't beat around the bush and am not evasive. However, others often seem to want to read more into what is said or done than is there. Perhaps it is their insecurity. Or it maybe its because they always mean something more than they actually say or do. I'm not sure... and mostly... I don't care.

Well, I really blew it. I was messing with my blog and somehow, somewhere I changed something that caused just a blank screen to display. No header, no body, no footer, no sidebar, no nothing! Actually, I know what I did but pride prevents me from committing it to blog. But last night I spent 2 hours recreating this blog. Fortunately it isn't too long right now so I could easily rebuild it manually. And of course, I had no backup! My bad.

It is March 1st and there is no end in sight to the snow. I love the snow and living in Syracuse there seems to be no shortage of it. We always get over 100 inches of snow a year.

Sometimes I feel burried under the burdens of life just like these 2 chairs are burried under the snow. Just when things seems to lighen up, old man winter delivers a sucker punch and the weight of life seems heavier that ever. But you just have to maintain because eventually the snow will receed and sun will once again shin upon you. I always try to remember the beyond that burdens that I carry there is sunshine ... even if I can't always see it I know it is there. These chairs know and wait patiently for the sun, carrying the burden as long as they have to.

I have occasionally observed these chairs as the season is passing. Sometimes I wish I had the patience of these chairs represent for me. There they wait. They seem to be waiting patiently, without complaining for this season to pass. Too often I want things to move on quickly. Particularly when things are uncomfortable or not exactly as I would like them to be. The pressures of life sometimes seem too difficult for me to bear. Learning to live with any circumstance takes time and patience. A primary goal of ninjutsu is to prevail under any circumstance. That takes much more that physical effort; in fact it is greatly dependent on your mental strength. Spring is coming. It always does. It is an inevitability that sometimes I lose sight of and lose patience for. But these chairs, somehow remind of the patience I need and the mental discipline that is required.

This picture was taken in late fall of 2004 when these 2 chairs retired for the season. They are patiently waiting for the return of nice weather when they will resume their places in the yard and be returned to service for our use and enjoyment.

I am looking forward to Spring. We have had a fair amount of snow this year although it hasn't been anything like we've had in the past. I do like the snow. Part of the adventure of living in central New York is enduring the snow and cold and the ever changing weather.

patience...

That would be me. I am an African-American who has been searching for his roots a long time. My search hasn't been exhaustive by any means. More like a wish, or a desire to know more about my ancestors.

My name is Ronald Denby. I have been involved in missionary work for a number of years now. Just last summer (2004) I had an opportunity to go to Kenya as a missionary with members of my church. That was quite an experience. A highlight for me was that I received a name while I was there. I was assisting with pastoral training one day. I can't remember exactly the context in which it came up but I was telling the Kenyan pastors how much it meant to be to be in Africa. I explained to them that even though I don't know what part of Africa my ancestors came from I am certain with a high degree of confidence that they were from Africa. It had always been a dream of mine to come to Africa and I felt as if I had finally come home. One of the Pastors said to me "we will call you Musyoka". I asked why and he said it was KiKamba for the one had gone away and has now returned. It was a moving experience for me. I have a KiKamba name that puts me more in touch with my roots. So, Musyoka is me. I thought too it was and appropriate name for a blog. - visitors will leave and (hopefully) return to the site.

I don't like blogging. Or more specifically I don't have enough to say that I think would be interesting enough to others to want to read. Personal journaling is one thing but putting it on-line for all to read is another. Topic specific blogs are interesting enough. But, I find it very difficult to think of something to say frequently enough to make blogging worthwhile for me and useful to others. So, I'm going to try my hand at this and see if I can make something worthwhile out of it. To do this I need to make some committments.

1. Blog daily (is blog a word yet? and what part of speach is it? noun, verb?)
2. Keep away from the self-aggrandizing entrys.
3. Be honest.
4. Post about stuff that interests me.

There may be more later on.

More to come…