Down in the valley of caring for my husband with Alzheimer's, the Lord comforted and encouraged me with thoughts that He helped me put into poems. God used poetry as my therapy. Each rhyme was such a blessing to me at the time that I want to share them in hopes they will be a blessing to others. We all have valleys of one kind or another, but God has a song for us in every one. This book contains some of the songs God gave me. Pat Lennon is the widow of Horace Lennon, a highly decorated World War II veteran. Upon moving to Taylors, SC, near their six children, she opened Grandmama's Day Care and cared for seven of their fourteen grandchildren. She has written poetry all her life, but two seemingly unrelated events lie behind the books she has authored. Those events were her husband's diagnosis with Alzheimer's and her learning how to use the computer. The poems are an extension of her worship of God and a God-given release from despondency. Physically active most of her life, she is now in a new season--advanced Osteoarthritis. Her books are a reminder that God often uses His people in different ways at different times of their lives. Her favorite hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm and William Runyan, is her testimony.

In this new addition to Mel Bay's popular School Of series, MacNeil explains how to sing and accompany on the dulcimer. The book explains different chord types and how to apply them to a variety of songs. Learning backup will also help you hear chord changes and melodic movement, which will help you contribute to the song's narrative. The book includes accompanying audio

traditional Anglo/American and African American singing games for children.

Ann Bridge takes the little-known country of Albania for her background recreating the primitive grandeur of the country. The Albanian way of life demonstrates a noble standard of values that is rapidly disappearing under the pressure of modern materialism. Our protagonist is an unhappy and disillusioned young widow who travels to Albania as the result of a chance encounter on the Istanbul express. A fellow passenger tells her that there she will find a life that contains something far more satisfying than the restless gaiety of her cosmopolitan clique. Later, living in the feudal household of an Albanian prince, absorbing an atmosphere of immemorial dignity, and enjoying the friendship of two remarkable women – one a mature and cultured English writer, the other a wise old American doctor – she comes to understand what he had meant. And when, for the second time, she is faced with a tragic outcome to hopes of happiness in love, she is able to find solace among the granite heights and singing waters of Albania.

Dāphā, or dāphā bhajan, is a genre of Hindu-Buddhist devotional singing, performed by male, non-professional musicians of the farmer and other castes belonging to the Newar ethnic group, in the towns and villages of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The songs, their texts, and their characteristic responsorial performance-style represent an extension of pan-South Asian traditions of rāga- and tāla-based devotional song, but at the same time embody distinctive characteristics of Newar culture. This culture is of unique importance as an urban South Asian society in which many traditional models survive into the modern age. There are few book-length studies of non-classical vocal music in South Asia, and none of dāphā. Richard Widdess describes the music and musical practices of dāphā, accounts for their historical origins and later transformations, investigates links with other South Asian traditions, and describes a cultural world in which music is an integral part of everyday social and religious life. The book focusses particularly on the musical system and structures of dāphā, but aims to integrate their analysis with that of the cultural and historical context of the music, in order to address the question of what music means in a traditional South Asian society.

The Singing Shepherd has a familiar theme - an ancient people, happy and self-satisfied but threatened by a ruthless foe. They had made the common mistake of blindly trusting an unworthy, ambitious leader, only to find disaster staring them in the face. The tale reacts angrily to the spirit of our age whose monumental conceit has never been equaled in history; an age dangerously reliant on its overrated ''inner resources'' and blind to its desperate need have help from outside its closed little systems. The tale chafes at these systems of terrifying subtlety and effectiveness - like the media - as they place twisted concepts directly into vulnerable minds. There is little in this story for those who believe that life can be lived without battles. Politically correct sensibilities may be offended and outraged by the characters in conflict in The Singing Shepherd. But folks who know that there can be no peace without war against the evil inside and outside will find the story encouraging, maybe even inspiring. The tale does not situate itself exactly in time. That it happened long ago is obvious, and this will have to suffice. It cannot be called fiction, for the stories are taken from history and headlines. Though you won''t find Shal-Aman mentioned by name in the textbooks, though Moshalim the Seer, Baladan the boy king and Adriella, his fiery fiancée are not in Who''s Who, they did exist; they are real. You will recognize them; you may well find them inside your own head and in today’s world. The heroes in this tale are seriously flawed, but this will only endear them to you because this story holds out to the world a hope that goes beyond the resources of human nature. It reaches up to The One who, in the end, is our only real hope. Wherever it takes you, enjoy the journey!