  Deep breath in.  Deep breath out.  Today was a bad day.  So. to help bring me back to my 'Happy Place',
 I went mulberry picking.  * SMILE*  I remember going to my Grandma Marlow's back yard when I was a little girl,  and picking berries off the tree in her yard.  I'd pick up enough for a pie,  but more often than not,  the skin around my mouth would be stained purple.  My feet would be so completely colored with the juice of fallen mulberries ( on the ground) nbsp; I'd crushed with my feet,  that it would take a good week of scrubbing to get rid of the stain.
 My parents have a mulberry tree near their house.  last year,  my Dad and I went down and picked berries together for a couple hours.
nbsp;
 This year,  I didn't get to that tree.
nbsp;
 Rather,  I went to my girlfriend's apartment and plucked them off her tree.
nbsp;
 They were * so*  incredibly ripe,  it was almost like an explosion of sugar on my tongue when eating them.
 * SMILE*
 The other thing I did. was get to something I'd been putting off.
nbsp;
 What was that?
nbsp;
 Well,  I've started to transfer my CD's to the computer.
nbsp;
 I don't see a reason to keep individual CD's when I can transfer everything to the computer,  and convert the music to mp3's.
nbsp;
 I can burn about 130 mp3's to a CD- R and carry that with me. rather than five or six CD's.
nbsp;
 I did this when I went to Australia,  actually.
nbsp;
 I carried four CD- R's with me.
nbsp;
as the CD player carrier had four slots for CD's. which means I had at least 520 songs to choose from during the month I was overseas.
nbsp;
 Perhaps that was a little bit overkill. but it was nice to have the variety of choice at my fingertips.
nbsp;  * SMILE*
 That is something that makes me happy. helps me find and keep my 'Zen'. music.
nbsp;
 I love music.
nbsp;
 I've loved it ever since I can remember.
nbsp;
 My earliest memories.
nbsp;
 Dad taking me to a radio station with him that had records all over the floor ( he was running for office,  had to cut a commercial,  and the radio station,  if I remember correctly,
 was in a single- wide mobile home.
nbsp;
 This goes back,  to the * early*  70's,  perhaps 1975. when I was four years old)
nbsp;
 I remember watching old movies with Gene Kelly,  Judy Garland,  Julie Andrews,  and other musicals.
nbsp;
 I had my radio tuned into a classical radio station. and refused to listen to that 'rock' stuff I'd heard about. but eventually worked my way in that direction after listening to Country,  and then Pop/ Soft Rock.  I could go on and on. but I won't.
nbsp;
 I will say this.
nbsp;
 Some people need expensive toys,
nbsp;
 I * need*
 music.
nbsp;
 I could live without my television,
 (
GASP!  high- speed internet,  and even my computer.
nbsp;
 I would never want there to be a day in my life without music.
nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;
 I simply do not know how to describe just how much I love music,  be it listening to it. or singing ( though I do not often sing for others. as I have stage- fright issues.  When I listen to music,  my soul silently sings along.
nbsp;
 I feel more free.
nbsp; nbsp;
 I can truly say that listening to the music I love makes&
nbsp;
me feel happier than I might be&
nbsp;
without having listened at all.  &
nbsp;
 Michelle&
nbsp;
 " It's the simple things of life that make living worthwhile.  - Laura Ingalls Wilder 
