I realize that when I designed the cover for this edition, I was perhaps somewhat optimistic of what March can offer up in St. Louis. As I sit here just a week from March, sulking in February’s frozen folly, I can only picture in my mind, butterflies and tulips. I have been taught over the years that visualization is so important to achieving one’s goals in life. So I am visualizing tulips and butterflies. I won’t look out my office window to see snow, ice and slush. I choose to visualize a big March thaw and flowers sprouting from Mother Earth’s sleeping soil. I am confident that by our 29th Natural Living Expo, March 29, Spring will have sprung in the Gateway City. It has been a tough winter. Maybe we have not had as much snow as in years past, but it has been a tough season for infirmities. I normally get one cold per winter. Usually around Christmas and New Year so I can’t taste all the great holiday grub. This year it has been a totally calamity as my immune system went south for the winter leaving me with viruses running rampant through my body. Yes, I take my vitamins and get plenty of sleep. I do just about everything anyone can do to support my defenses. And yet if someone drove by in a car with a cold I would catch it. I never got the dreaded flu. I got my flu shot. And I guess the part that was effective worked for me. But every other cold virus that came to St. Louis for a visit, camped out in my nose, throat, and ears. Yes, I even blew out an ear drum. I may be the oldest patient my doctor saw for an earache. And the ringing in my ears…. can anyone stop the ringing? I have gotten used to it by now. Sounds like high pitch cicada all year long. In fact, when the cicada start their songs in summer, my tinnitis creates an odd harmony — sort of like the Everly Brothers on a bad day. So Spring can’t come soon enough for me. This is one Leo who needs his time napping in the sunshine. It’s what we do best. That and eating plenty of chicken soup and sneezing. My record is 15 straight ha, ha, ha, choos! So the optimistic March cover is a “build it and they will come” visualization. Wait…what’s that. I actually heard a robin chirp. A sure sign of Spring in St. Louis. I just hope he is not the early bird, because he will have a hard time getting a worm out of this frozen tundra. Never fear, Spring is near!
I want to remind all of you again that our Natural Living Expo is coming up March 29 in Webster Groves. We expect a big crowd as everyone is ready for Spring. There will be plenty of professionals at the Expo who can help you get healthier, happier and greener. I guarantee you will find something at the expo that will help you improve the quality of your life. And it will be just plain fun, too! Live music, beer and wine samples, food samples, free health screenings and chair massages, drawings, giveaways, free tote bags, and so much more.
See you at the expo!
JB Lester; Publisher