And the Healing has Begun

Van the Man Turns 70 Soon

Van Morrison will turn 70 on August 31st.  Ireland radio is going nuts with a week's worth of special programming and there is also a plan to air a "live" concert on his birthday.  What a remarkable career. Blues, jazz, pop, Irish music, country... this list goes on.  I've been listening to Van since 1992.  How do I know this? Because I met a guy, and you know how it is, you start talking and getting to know one another. You ask simple questions. Where did you go to school?  What kind of music do you listen to? And there it was. Van Morrison.  Okay, I said, who else do you listen to really?  Just Van Morrison.

I remember thinking the guy was strange. All I could  name was Brown Eyed Girl  and Domino.  

And then he made me a cassette tape. You know the kind. If you are a certain age, you remember.  A cassette tape of your favorite songs all put together. He put some songs from one album, some music off another. I was hooked.  A lot of stuff from Hymns to the Silence. 

Here I am so many years later, and I'm still hooked.  I have drawers full of CD's with bootlegged concerts that were traded back and forth.  Then there are VCR tapes I'll never watch again that were second and third generation recordings of bits of Van on various shows. Now they are all on YouTube.

I even have a CD of  Fans playing the music of Van Morrison from all over the world.  ( I'm on there, too singing with my guitar.  At this point I don't even remember what song, because I recorded so many in my little studio in my old apartment.)  It gave me joy to work out the chords and play some of my favorites. 

Happy Birthday Van. Thanks for all the music.  

The Spirit is Willing but the Body is Weak

There is something so poignant about caring for Coco, my aging cat whose body is wearing out, her life becoming smaller and fragile. She can hear the birds, but I don't know if she sees them. The Bluejays swoop from the rain gutter onto the driveway and pick up peanuts, while I sit, Coco on lap, in a chair in front of the garage. Each night now she endures "sub-q" fluids. A B-12 shot on Fridays. One meow as the needle goes in, and then she is patient. We are on borrowed time now together. Spending it with the birds.

The Sunday Morning Muse, March 30, 2014

 A snowy morning. Started the day "off the grid" with a power outtage in the township. Luckily it didn't last more than an hour. Got the internet up and running to check on the eaglet  by way of the webcam. Mother Bird was feeding the baby at 7:18 this morning and it was a joy to tune in just at that time. She then carefully returned to her job of keeping the baby and the other eggs warm.

Speaking of warm. Though it is is 32 out right now, it sure was nice to feel 60 degrees late Friday. I went out and trimmed the blueberry bushes.   Maybe spring isn't too far off after all.

Green...it's the color of Spring.

Vanlose Stairway

It's just nice to kick back and listen to Van and Georgie. A rainy cold Saturday night sipping tea and listening to Vanlose Stairway. Gives ya nothin but the blues. Send me some lovin......hold it right there! Don't Move.

The Sunday Morning Muse, March 2, 2014

“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping
When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.”
― Dr. Seuss

The above makes more sense than the weather forecasting these days.  We went from preparing
for Snowmegeddon II.... to a  winter weather advisory.  But it is snowing NOW and it will snow till
it stops. That is all we really know.

Weekend Mantra

Today's Thought

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland

Snow, (again) in San Anselmo....

 I re post this every winter. Can't help myself.