Category: memories

Thursday’s Theme Music

And yea, verily, snow did come unto the valley, kissing all with fat white lips and leaving its imprint. But lo, clouds parted, and the sun did see the snow and said, let me shine on the scene, and thus most of the snow was melted away, although remnants remained as a mark of what hath transpired. Or something like that.

Today is Thursday, December 16, 2021. Yesterday was a snow battle arena here. Snowed and rained alternatively throughout the daylight hours with the temperature darting up to 35 and slinking down to 31 during the same period. Darkness would stretch hands over us and the lights would come on. Then the sun managed a mild breakthrough and sunlight dazzled us.

That’s down here. The story on the upper elevations, say over 3,000 feet, had a solid snow onslaught. A boon for the snowpack but a curse on the Interstate. Siskiyou Pass on I5 was closed, and the California side remains closed. Stopped cars and trucks snaked alongside the Interstate for miles. Online videos show harrowing scenes of sliding and spun-out vehicles. Onramps were blocked by emergency vehicles sending their blue, red, and amber marks into the night, signs, and orange pylons. Winter was here.

Now it’s 36 F. Sunny with bloated and uneasy clouds crowding in like shoppers on the last shopping day. A mix of rain and snow is expected with highs in the lows 40s. Daylight began at 7:33 AM and will cease at 4:40 PM.

A Peter Gabriel song featuring Kate Bush is hovering over the morning mental music stream. I’ve featured it before and am disinclined to dub it this day’s theme music. Fortunately, Simple Minds song was recalled. I told the cat — Papi, who keeps trying to believe that the weather is gonna improve at any second, but is then driven back in by the mean elements — “Come in, get out of the rain.” Also, come in, get out of the snow. And the cold. And the wind. Anyway, these exhortations triggered memory of the song, “Waterfront”.

Hope you enjoy it. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the booster and vaccine jabs when you can. There’s a new variant in town, you know. We’re all watching to see what they’ll do.

Hey, look at that. Time for coffee. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Wind chuckles and snarls. Snow rides gravity and wind in helter-skelter frenzy. I pet the cats and watch out a window. The cats turn happy faces up to me and purr.

Today is Wednesday, December 15, 2021. The sunrise fingered the valley at 7:32 AM and the world’s spin will take its influence away at 4:40 PM. It’s 31 degrees F. The snowman cometh. The city opens up the Grove as a no-frills shelter for the homeless. Churches cautiously invite the homeless in from the cold, too.

With the snow falling, I squandered time trying to remember snow-themed rock songs outside of holiday offerings. “Snowblind” and “Snow Blind Friend” answer the neurons. “Yellow Snow”. “Sand Castles in the Snow”. Oh, yeah, the Moody Blues one, “December Snow”, too sad and mellow for now. Of course, the first two songs are about drug addiction, so. Not really the spirit sought.

I started thinking about change, seasons, and the nature of 2021. Half-remembered lyrics engaged me.

One summer never ends
One summer never began
It keeps me standing still
It takes all my will

Ah. The Motels. “Suddenly Last Summer”. Not exactly fast paced nor uplifting, yet here it was in the morning mental music stream.

The wind has tired out but sings a higher, steady note. One cat remains in the window perch, weather gazing, while the others have surrendered to naps. Temperature has climbed to 34 F, close to today’s high. Snow still falls but it’s melted off the streets. Suddenly, you know?

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaccines and booster shots. Cause suddenly, things change. Not so suddenly, I need my morning cuppa. Here’s the tune. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

At the risk of repeating myself, welcome to Tuesday. This is December 14, 2021. The month is almost half over. We’re about to plunge into another season – winter, north of the equator and summer below that line – and into a new year.

A few white and gray clouds have been dropped into the blue-sky broth this AM. Sunshine lights their contours with yellow and gold influences. The temperature is 32 F but we expect it to reach 35. Sunrise came at 7:32 AM and night will take over after the sun sets at 4:39 PM.

“Kodachrome” by Paul Simon from 1973 is skating through the morning mental music stream. This came about because a friend suggested that whenever she hears Omicron, the thinks of “Kodachrome”. Probably only afflicts a certain population swath. The other parts are asking, “What’s Kodachrome?” or, “Who is Paul Simon?” Others will say, “Oh, I remember that movie,” to which some will say, “What movie?” I am repeating myself with “Kodachrome” – earlier in 2021, in fact – but the song holds a nostalgic niche for me. So, take it away.

And bring me some coffee. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaccines and boosters when you can. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Happy Lundi, you lunheads.

Yes, today is Lundi, December 13, 2021. It’s raining. The temperature sits at 37 with plans to go lower, bringing snow, our first of the year. Been a long time, been a long time, been a lonely, lonely, lonely time. Snow is part of our December festivities. It used to snow lightly, just enough to elicit oohs, kindling holiday spirits as the snow dusted the decorations. It was especially wonderful during the parade of lights, when Santa visited town. Don’t know if that’ll happen this year. COVID, you know.

Sunrise illuminated the gray wet scene at 7:31 AM and the sun will pass on at 4:39 PM. Today’s high temperature will be 45 and the low will be 25 F.

The morning mental music medley stream includes songs about rain and dreams, just like yesterday, but also Monday songs. Overpowering them all is a cat-inspired song, “I Smell Trouble” by Buddy Guy from 1994. Yes, we’re feeling the blues. The cats have been disliking this whole rain, wind, cold temperatures going on outside. Forced to stay inside, they’re inspecting new ways to annoy one another and new places to go. Some of those places include the verboten areas of the dining room table and the kitchen counters. Of course, once one goes up there, the others are like, “I didn’t know we could go up there,” even though the first was scolded and chased down.

So the cats are singing “I Smell Trouble”.

Lord, knows I’ve tried
To do what’s right
One whole year of stayin’ home
Both day and night

‘Cause I smell a mean trouble
Way over yonder
You know I heard a mean, yeah
Always in trouble people
Lord, they just won’t let me be

h/t to Songfacts.com

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the jabs when you can. I’m getting coffee when I can; I’ve got the jabs. Stay chill.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

“Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory.”

If today is Sunday, this must be December 12, 2021. The temperature is standing by 41 degrees F, right between the day’s respective highs and lows of 37 and 45. Sunshine grayed by heavy clouds slithered in at 7:30 AM. Sunset will be at 4:39 PM. Yes, it’s raining again, which we welcome. Snow is hopefully falling in the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas. We need that snow for the snowpack to build up so we can endure the summer. It’s our water source. One hundred inches of snow are projected in some higher mountain elevations, so there’s a chance we’ll get a respectable start on the snowpack.

It seems like a good library day. I have two books on hold — Harlem Shuffle and Fortune Favors the Dead — and I’m returning three — Find You First, Crossroads, and War of the Wolf. I admit that I didn’t finish Crossroads. Its style is just too busy and involved for me at this time, too contrary to what I’m writing. I’ve learned that a balance between what I’m writing and reading is best for progress.

I’ve had several resident songs in the morning mental music stream. Most were about rain or dreams. But one dream portion featured an old friend. He and I were stationed together at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa for four years. We were almost best friends while there, certainly constant companions, arriving and departing at the same time, and yet, we have never seen or spoken to one another since. He went to Omaha, Nebraska, and I went to South Carolina.

Music was one of the things that brought us together. We shared musical tastes. One song that was out at the time was “Come on, Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners (1982). It was an unusual song in many ways, but the song’s lyrics reminded my buddy of trying to pick up girls when he was in a local rock band in high school. Their band wasn’t very good and then he was drafted, and off to the war in southeast Asia.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the jabs when you can. Here’s the music but I can’t find my coffee. It seems it’s wandered away again. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Yea, verily, the sojourners did come to Saturday and proclaimed it to be December 11, 2021. And the wind did blow after the sun rose at 7:29 AM, gusting through the trees with a fierce bark, whereupon the people, seeing this, did declare that they were happy to be behind windows, doors, and walls, though the cats, being contrarians, did demand that they experience this weather for themselves. And so, the cats went out into the wind, and the day was not as bad as the house-dwellers feared, because it was 46 degrees F. Sunset is at 4:39 PM, the cats were told, whereupon, they replied, “We don’t care. We’re cats.”

“Feelin’ Alright” by Joe Cocker rides the morning mental music stream. A friend shared this Ed Sullivan Show Joe Cocker appearance from 1969 on her FB. I was 12 when this aired. The fashion, dancing, and colors all ignited memories of that era. Then came the thoughts, look how young Cocker looks. Appreciation for the song and its lyrics was rekindled. Interesting interaction between musicians and dancers can be observed, too. It’s a happening scene all around.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, bludgeon COVID-19 when you can, and get the jabs. I’m getting coffee. You read me? Here’s the music. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Hi, Friheads. It’s 31 degrees F on this sunny Friday morning. Today’s date is December 10, 2021. The high will be 36 F. The burst of gold we call sunrise struck at 7:28 AM and the sun parade will cease at 4:39 this afternoon.

We’re calling it sunny but a flotilla of long, sketchy clouds are cruising the altitudes, pulling a foggy net behind them. Then the sun fires beams at the fog and zips it away. Looks like the weather might be variable today.

I don’t know why, but REO Speedwagon’s 1980 song, “Keep On Loving You”, inhabits the morning mental music stream. Bit mellow for this Friday AM. I was thinking that I needed something with a hard beat to stir my feet. I reflected on the lyrics for a while, looking for a connection. It came out just before our move to Okinawa on military assignment. I listened to the song quite a bit on the rock but I can’t connect dots between now and then. Something with the dreams? Can’t address that. Only remember two and half dreams from last night. Nothing in them relates to the song. Cats? Doesn’t seem to be. They’ve headed outside, into the sunshine, despite the cold air temp. Wife? Perhaps something on the subconscious level is there. Or maybe it’s a response to life. Feeling a little down and weary this AM. It’s a monthly thing, where the effort and tedium just sucks the joy out down to the dregs. Life dregs are like coffee dregs: cold, black, and bitter.

Well, stay positive! (Ha, ha.) Test negative, wear a mask as needed — have you been following the Omicron developments? — and get the jabs when you can. Reading this morning that Omicron might cause the pandemic of the vaxxed, and they’re suggesting that everyone needs a boost. Got boost? I do. Hope you do as well.

Here’s my coffee. Oh, sorry, you’re looking for the music. Here’s the music. Have a better one. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

“Sunshine,” my heart shouted. “Blue skies! Woo hoo!”

“I see some fog rolling in over the mountains,” my brain replied.

“Shut up,” my heart snapped. “You’re always trying to bring me down with your facts. Just let me enjoy the sunshine.”

“They say snow is on the way,” my brain observed.

So began Thursday, December 9, 2021, with a little heart and brain give and take. At 7:28 AM, the sun cracked the sky and sunshine spilled through the valley. The sun fest will continue until 4:39 PM. It’s 31 degrees F outside right now, and sunny, as my heart noted. My brain is right, though, snow levels are forecast to drop to 2000 feet and flurries are expected throughout the day. Clouds are marshalling over the ranges outside my western windows as I type.

I have “Crumblin’ Down” by John Cougar Mellencamp (1983) playing in the morning mental music stream. A general sense of change inspired the song’s entry into the brain’s holding pattern. Shifts are going on; walls are tumbling down, which led to crumbling down, which beget — well, you get it.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the jabs when you can. Here’s the music. Where’s my coffee? I must’ve been perambulating about with the cup in hand. Now I’m on a search and drink mission. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Fozzley and mute, sliverly gray, the weather’s not much different this day. Temp stuck on 41 F, going neither up nor down with any interest. Sun is shining, it’s that paste up there, but its intent and impact is nada to fear.

Today is Wednesday, December 8, 2021, a sign that the year is less than four weeks from done. Sunglow came with a thin shiver this morn, 7:27 AM, to cite the time, but the difference in weather could be paid with one thin dime. Sunset will be at 4:39, ending the daytime, floating us to night.

“Bust A Move” by Young MC from 1989 is the morning mental music stream squatter. That song was a constant in clubs and radio play back 89/90. It’s catchy with a sweet beat that makes it an inviting dance song. Bust a move as an expression has more meanings than the love and sex alluded to in the song. To bust a move now means to do something other than standing by, holding on, or waiting. That’s why it’s fell into the morning stream. I was chatting with myself about where I was on a project and then announced, “Time to bust a move.”

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the jabs. Besides that, when you feel like you may COVID-19 because of your symptoms, isolate and get yourself tested. Stop the spread and treat yourself. You deserve it.

Speaking of deserving it, I think I deserve a cuppa coffee now. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Tuesday is knocking on the door again, announcing, December 7, 2021. After reading about storms and bad weather around the world and what it’s doing to places, I’m just going to note that fog reduces the sun to a weak white porch light this morning. I’ll accept that over what others are doing. Our temperatures remain mild, with lows in the upper thirties and highs in the upper forties. We did hit 51 yesterday. The sun’s official break was at 7:26 AM and sunset will take place at 4:39 PM here in the valley.

Got the 1993 song “Low” by Cracker swimming around the morning mental music stream. It’s an association thing. Yesterday’s song by the Gin Blossoms was “Follow You Down” which features lines that go, “Anywhere you go, I’ll follow you down, I’ll follow you down, but not that far.” Following that took me to down, and so began the song. Funny to me, as the two songs aren’t remotely similar to my hearing.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed to keep safe and reduce COVID’s spread, and get the jabs to mitigate COVID’s impact, should it strike you. Now, it’s coffee time. Here’s the music. Cheers

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