Family first.

I'm so grateful Becs and I were able to have my mom and aunt Judi in our home for lunch over the holiday season.  Becca, mom and aunt Judi did girlie stuff, aka, worked on Becca's wedding dress while I happily went grocery shopping so I could make lunch for everyone.  While we were eating, something aunt Judi said about the greek lentil sandwich she enjoyed, was, "I learned this from Paul."

This is my cousin Paul 

Paul  is her soon and is older than me by just a couple months.  That resonated within me and I've thought about that comment for the past several days.  "I learned this from......"  It's cool to think that we can learn from anyone and everything around us.  Older, younger, artistic, scientific, musical or a bit flat....(that was a music joke).....plants, animals and everything in between.

Reflecting on this idea, I watched my puppy Pele' take a poop (which is a rare sight, as he's a shy pooper), and laughed, because i've learned so much from him and now his little (but BIG) brother Buck. You might still be wondering why I was talking about Pele' pooping and its all about communication.  Pele' and Buck tell me when they are hungry, when they need to go out, when they want their belly rubbed, when they want to snuggle and when they're excited to go on a walk.  COMMUNICATION.  It takes intuition and attention from all parties to communicate.  Which leads me to...(drum roll please)....family dynamics!  Dogs are pack animals and have totally reinforced what my parents always told me growing up.  "Family first."

Our puppies have taught me how to be responsible for someone else, as they depend on me.  I'm very grateful I have Rebecca to help us all live lovingly together.  Teamwork!!  I'm certainly glad to have her on my team!  Between the four of us under one roof, I've finally learned why my parents always told me "family first."

We all have two families in life.  The family we were born into, and the family we create.

Without further adue, let me introduce you to the family I am creating.  My beautiful fiance' and our puppies.

Rebecca
(http://peacelovebagels.com/)

Our Puppy Pele'

 Our puppy Buck...short for Buckminster...long for Buuu!

 What have you learned from your puppies???

Peace and Blessings,

Brandon E. Kocher

Colors of Spring!

In light of a mild Cleveland winter, i've decided to document the colors of this early and beautiful spring.  I've been walking to work, so many (but not all) of the pics are from my daily commute.  Happy Spring!

Enjoy.

This is crazy beautiful weather for Cleveland in March.

 Magnolias are my favorite spring tree as the flowers are gorgeous!

Not sure what kind of tree this is.

This is our horseradish!  Year number 2 :~)

Spring flowers for my fiance' Rebecca. 

More pretty trees on my way to work.

Mom always said "when you see the first Robin of the year, spring is near."

Dandelion!  Did you know the leaves are extremely healthy for you?  Isn't it ironic that some people pay good money to eat leaves of a dandelion and others pay good money for chemicals to keep them out of their lawn.  I prefer food. 

More pretty flowers.

What's your favorite spring flower???

Peace and Blessings,

Brandon E. Kocher

"Keep your head up, Keep your heart strong!"

Changes in life happen ALL THE TIME!  The gears are always changing.  The wind is always blowing us from one season to the next.  We are always learning and breathing....and if not we're dead.  So as long as you're breathing, keep learning and moving and loving and BELIEVING!  Believing in what, is up to you to decide, but always be kind.  You might think this color is blue, but I see green.  It's still a color.  You will always be my brother, or sister, and it's ok to cry!  Smile when God gives you so much love you overflow just a little bit, or a lot-a-bit.  We're all pieces to the puzzle, we all fit.    

My brother shared a music video on FaceBook (the teller of all things) and it was just what the doctor ordered this morning.  Here is my mornings muse.  "keep your head up" I hope it's the spark that creates the fire under your ass to get ya moving, it certainly did for me.

What is your muse this morning?

Love and light,

B

A Walk this Morning

Hello family and friends!

I know it has been a very long time since i've posted a blog, but i'm gonna remedy that right now and hopefully get back into the blogg'n groove.

A couple weeks ago, I was outside in the morning walking my fiance' to her car for a kiss goodbye, before she left for work.  After she pulled out of the driveway I saw my neighbor, a young high school boy, leave his house to walk to school.  I said hello to him and asked him how long it takes him to walk to school.  He said, "about 45 minutes."  I was rather astonished, in the best way possible of course!

(This is our street on a cold snowy morning)

In elementary school, I used to walk to school every single day.  Minus the cold rainy days, then mom would drive me and my sister, a half mile, so we could sit at our desks in dry cloths ready to learn.  When I graduated elementary school, the days of walking to school came to an end.  Junior high school was much further away from home and there was a bus that would swoop up all the kids in the neighborhood.  My friends and I mostly took the bus, but there was a spring semester where we mostly biked to school together.  Biking to school with my friends always felt like such an adventure!

Fast forwarding through high school and having a car, and college with a campus the size of the biggest bubble gum bubble you can blow, I want to come into the now.  I'm 28 years old, I'm engaged to a beautiful and intelligent woman (PeaceLove&Bagels), a business owner (that also has a full time job) a happy homeowner and a proud father of two puppies!

This past week as I was, again, saying farewell to my fiance' Becca, before she drove off to work and saw my neighbor again, leaving his house to walk 45 minutes to school.  It was a cold blustery day, but he was walking anyway. Here in Cleveland we have what I like to call the Cleveland Hybrid.  Ya know...it's rain/slush/sleet/snow all mixed together.  Sounds great, right?  Well, it was definitely one of those days.


As I sat, warm and cozy, on my couch inside, I began to think of my young neighbor walking to school.  I live closer to my work (I manage a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop) than he does to his high school and he walks to school and I drive to work.  I've also been known to ride my bike to work as often as possible, but that's not exactly safe in cold wet and icy conditions.....I learned my lesson the hard way....errr the concrete way!

Yup, I had a pretty gnarly wipe-out on my bike a few weeks ago.  I was making an aggressive turn on moist pavement and the temperature was just above freezing.  Cue, back tire sliding out from underneath me and me bailing from my bike, stage right!  Needless to say I put my bike away (for the time being) and started to drive to work, until I saw my neighbor on that cold, wet and dark morning walking to school.

I thought to myself, I walked to my elementary school as a boy.  Why don't I walk to work as an adult? (I use that term loosely).  On that morning I made the commitment to walk to and from work.  Even in dismal weather.  

 Me with my walking stick "Olu" in hand, bundled in my warmest and most weather proof gear I own. 

"My life bag is filled with food for the day"

It has only been about a week since I've started walking to work, but it feels great.  I have a fresh attitude walking through the door and have been way more productive as a result.  I've also begun to distinguish different tracks.

 At first I thought this was a bunny, as the four paws are close together and the tracks showed a hopping pattern.  After further investigation, it is definitely a squirrel's tracks.  The tracks led to the squirrels breakfast!  

Above is a closeup pic of a squirrels paw

Aaaaanndd these are human tracks.  ;~)

Last year my father had to have surgery on his spine.  It was very scary to see my father in a bed and unable to walk.  Thank God the surgery went well and my Dad has made a wonderful recovery.  He is once again able to bend and move and swim and WALK!  In light of the experience, I wrote a song called "A Walk this Morning."  

I've completed my first EP (5 songs) with recording engineer Lino Sistu and "A Walk this Morning" was the first song we recorded.  I'd like to share it with you all today.  Be sure to keep your eyes and ears on FireSide Symphony for the release of all 5 tunes.  Follow this link for the music "A Walk this Morning" and scroll to the bottom of the page and hit play!  Enjoy!

Let me know what your favorite way to get to work is!

family and friends by the FireSide!

Hello family and friends!

Today's post is gonna be a quickie, but a goodie!  As a musician and artist, I love to create!  People have asked me, "what inspires me and where does inspiration come from?"  The first thing i've learned about inspiration, is that it does not come to you, it moves through you!  What good is it to be inspired and do nothing with it?  Letting that inspiration move through you, is when an artist puts brush to canvas and begins to paint.

Where does inspiration come from?  EVERYWHERE!  From the smallest seed, to the biggest catastrophe, inspiration is more about the approach to everyday living, than a magical moment.

Today I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me, and all my crazy endeavors and aspirations, in becoming a professional musician and artist.  Without their support, I certainly would not be here today.  THANK YOU!

I'd like to share with everyone two of my closest muses, who both happen to have an online presence.  Dig on this gloriousness!

My brother Alex.  An extremely talented and motivated young entrepreneur.  A graphic design artist, business owner (almost college grad....HURRY UP!) and the best little brother i've ever had ;~)

http://akocher.com/
coalesceclothing.com
coalesceclothing.tumblr.com

The woman I love and want to spend the rest of my life with, Rebecca.  She has an amazing and healthy approach to life!  I love her desire to learn more about where the food we eat comes from, how we can live more sustainably and how to cook delicious recipes!  She is a dedicated athlete and i'm incredibly lucky to have her as, not just a running partner, but a life partner!

http://peacelovebagels.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/peacelovebagels

Thanks again to ALL my family and friends for your love, support and INSPIRATION!

Feeling inspired?  Who and what are your greatest inspirations?


Love, Peace & happiness!

Brandon

Our Family Farm!

Ok, so it's not quite a farm yet, but we (Becca and I) are expanding our garden!  Lawn, in my opinion is a HUGE waste of space, so In the autumn of 2009, I planned to clear 10.5 by 36.5 feet of lawn in our backyard, by cutting open black trash bags, laying them out on the lawn and covering them with soil, to keep the bags from flying away. I didn’t want to use any chemicals to kill the grass, as I was afraid the chemicals would linger and have a negative affect on my garden.  Using the black trash bags was the best I could come up with at the time and though it worked, I did create a lot of garbage from all the trash bags….dang.

Come the spring of 2010, I removed the bags, leaving the soil on top of the dead grass, rented a Rota tiller, tilled the dead grass and soil together, and vuala!  Healthy land ready to sow seeds!

I planted many of my favorites, starting with sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes!  All together, I had 4 types of tomatoes, banana peppers, jalapeños, two types of carrots, lettuce, spinach, red and green bell peppers, onions and a few things I hadn’t attempted growing before, asparagus, potatoes, and broccoli.  I also grew herbs, such as basil, oregano, cilantro, thyme and lemon thyme.  Some veggies did better than others, but all together it was a very good harvest!   I couldn't find my pictures from last years harvest, so here's a picture of Pele' loungin' in the 2010 spring flowers!

This year Becca and I, instead of clearing more lawn, will be building two raised bed gardens (pictures to come upon us actually building them).  They will be located in the center of our backyard, behind the deck, where our plants will receive the most sunlight! 

As it is still March and we live in Cleveland Ohio (and we got 2 inches of snow today), it is still far too early to plant our early season veggies outside.  Leafy green veggies, (lettuce and spinach) and onions can be planted in April, as they can withstand frost.  For the time being, Becca and I have started our own indoor garden!  Here’s what we’ve sowed thus far: broccoli, lavender, oregano, sweet basil, cilantro, fernleaf dill, thyme, spearmint, mesclun (lettuce), baby’s leaf hybrid spinach, bloomsdale spinach and swiss chard.  

Our seed starter/mini greenhouse was worth every penny!  It only cost us $20(ish) and is reusable for years to come!  Here are some photo’s our beautiful seedlings!  

(week one, the first to sprout!)

(our mini indoor greenhouse) 

Are you gardening this season?  What are you doing to ensure a healthy harvest?  Please share your ideas and suggestions!

Peace and Love,

Brandon