Category: weather

Thursday’s Theme Music

Hey, all you sons and daughter, mothers and fathers out in cyberland, how is your world?

Today is Thursday, October 14, 2021. It’s the third Thursday of the month, out of five. Likewise, we have five Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October. Must make Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday feel lame, to have less than the others.

Sunrise is at 7:22 AM. It’s a good one, exuding a strong sun presence – you know, light and heat. Really brings out the reds, gods, greens, yellows, and oranges in our valley, a large change from yesterday morning, which looked like a set for Wuthering Heights. Our temperature ranges from 39 to 56F today with a stop at 44, where we now sit. Sunset will come at 6:30 PM.

I have a PC computer, and use Microsoft Windows. Which means it was time for another security update yesterday. Which makes things different. It’s humorous and odd. On WordPress, for example, I have a different default font this morning. I made no changes; the computer powers did this for me. The spacing and size are different, too. I’ll just go with the flow on this because it’s workable. Nonetheless, it’s a shade annoying when these things are changed for me.

Which brings me to the music. “Heartless” by Heart — ironic? — is playing in the morning mental music stream. The clue for why is in the lyrics. “Never never out of control.” Because I’m not in control. Not of my ‘puter. You see? The mind just played with those ideas and up bubbled the 1978 song by Heart. Well, it’s a good throwback sound, a little hard rock with some pop nuance.

Stay positive, test negative, wear thy mask as need be, get thee the vax when and if you can. I know it’s not all simple on the vax front. Underlying conditions and meds can be game changers in the vax world. My sympathies if you can’t get it for those reasons. The world must be a terrifying place, to have COVID-19 out there raging, a vax available, and you not able to get it because of your health.

Here’s the music. Listen while I go for coffee. I think there is also one last pumpkin spice muffin in there. I call dibs!

Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Good morning, peeps. Today is Wednesday, October 13, 2021 in our slice of the valley. Rain is descending. Began last night and just was having so much fun, it kept going. Not heavy rain. Sporadic. Sprinkles to light, you know?

Temperatures are hovering in the mid-forties right now. Expect to flutter toward the mid-fifties before winding down to a cold 34 F for the night. With those brooding, swollen clouds out there, don’t expect much sun relief. Sunrise petered in at 7:21 AM. Sunset comes at 6:32 PM.

Heavy dream play for me last night. Vignettes that danced with memories, leaving me with fading thoughts about things that happened before and questions about what happened to different childhood friends. One of them was John. Haven’t seen him since I was sixteen. He and I hung out all the time between the ages of twelve and fifteen. Then just moved away from one another like a magnet’s polar opposites.

But he’s responsible for today’s morning mental music stream. He brought my attention to a song called “Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-Las. The song came out in 1964 but John and I were probably talking about it a few years after that. He didn’t care for the song. No; he said, “That sucked.” What John liked was the motorcycle sounds imbued in the music. Early signs were emerging that he was destined to be a motorhead. I later heard through friends and family that he’d moved to North Carolina and opened up a garage. Get the picture?

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Let’s be safe out there. Now. Need to see a machine about a cup of coffee. Here’s the music. Enjoy.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Today is Tuesday, October 12, 2021. The big local topic is trick or treating. It’s coming up, you know. Large bags of fun-size candies leaped into local stores back in September. Right on their heels came the early Christmas offerings of decorations and lawn ornaments.

The T or T question came up because everyone wanted to know, what’s the plan? Should offerings be purchased to give out to children? Well, we usually don’t. They don’t come up our street. It’s steep. Not many street lights, making it dark. Houses are spaced apart. I don’t know. These are my guesses. But we’ve purchased in the past and then ended up eating that stuff. So, no more. Sorry, kids, but our light will be off.

Sunrise struck bold and beautiful at 7:20 AM. Steam rose off the ground as the icy and frosty grounds warmed up. Pretty in its own way. We were supposed to drop to 27, 28 F last night. When I went to bed at 1:30 AM, we were still at 36 F and it was that temperature when I got up just after sunrise. Sunset will occur at 6:34 PM. We’ll hit a high of about sixty-five between those hours, a bit warmer than yesterday.

We have a gas fireplace in the living room. We turn it off during the summer. With temperatures often sniffing around one hundred degrees, we feel having the fireplace pilot light going is just adding to the heat and we don’t want that. We’re trying to chill out. But now, we’re down into the range where having the fireplace available to turn on is beneficial.

I got down and went through the steps to light the fireplace pilot. Songs and cats accompanied me. The cats were helpful as I looked into the workings, asking, “What are you doing? What’s in there? Can I go in there?” After I told them, “No, move back,” they started giving me big eyes and telling me how mean I am.

The songs included The Doors with “Light My Fire” and then Jose Feliciano’s cover of the same song. Then, as the pilot wouldn’t lit, my mental Alexa fired up Billy Joel with “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. But the pilot came on, the fireplace was lit, and all was well. After that, as I gazed at the fire, The Bangles played “Eternal Flame” from 1989. That’s the song which started squatting in the morning mental music stream. I offer it to thee to displace it.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Now, where’s my coffee? I had it just a minute ago…

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Monday’s Theme Music

Hooray! Hurrah! Hoozah! It’s Monday, October 11, 2021. Indigenous People’s Day. Federal holiday in the U.S., for those keeping score at home. Was once upon a time called Columbus Day. But his truth caught up to his myth.

Drizzle and fog blanket the autumn colors outside. Winter’s sharp air is already cutting in on fall’s dance. 49 F right now. Just one short of the predicted high. Low will be 28 F. Freeze warnings are out there. We bedded down the garden for the season yesterday. Watched football, read books, ate soup, drank coffee and hot chocolate. Separately.

Sunrise pricked our gray world with feeble rays this AM at 7:19 AM. Sunset cometh at 6:39 PM. Our daylight period continues its shrinking ways.

Finished Ferrante’s “Lying Lives of Adults” yesterday. I enjoy her writing style. But I was dubious of some of the thinking and self-awareness assigned to a fourteen/fifteen year old female teenager. I guess I compared her to me and people I knew at that age, prompting my dubious reaction. The book invited cogitation about humans and relationships, though, and life in general. You could read much between scenes and characters, understand underlying extensions of what’s going on because so much of the situations are familiar to most of us: affairs. Confusion about sex. Crushes and love. Struggling to understand our bodies and relationships. A good read.

Have The Clash with “Train in Vain” (1980) in my morning mental music stream. Can’t ascribe a reason why. It’s just pulled into the head and took up residence.

You didn’t stand by me
No, not at all
You didn’t stand by me
No way

h/t to Genius.com

Well, stay positive and test negative. Wear a mask as needed by the situation. Get vaccinated. Sip some coffee, as Ima gonna do. Enjoy life, if you can. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Sun nuzzled us through thinning clouds at 7:17 AM, inviting us to ogle a deep blue sky. Temperatures were hovering in the low forties. Will get up to the mid sixties. But the air is clear and fresh. Leaves are turning colors more rapidly, dropping from trees with alacrity, affecting trees with empty branch syndrome. Sunset on this Saturday, October 9, 2021, will be at 6:39 PM.

I found myself with David Bowie’s song, “Sound and Vision” (1977) in the mental morning music stream. All because of the blinds. The blinds were closed, as we do every night. Renders the house tres dark. Seeing it, I thought, “Pale blinds drawn all day, nothing to read, nothing to say.” Which is a line from the song. Realizing that some song line had randomly dropped into my head, I had to drop a dime to the gods of recall. Success came as more song sputtered in, followed at last by the salient details of artist and year. Had to verify the year, though, via Wikipedia. Was tenuous to me.

First time I ever heard the song, it made me impatient. Like, this is boring. When will he start singing? But I think, retrospectively, that’s what it’s all about. Waiting. Killing time. Especially, if, I imagine, you’ve just gone through some issues, as Bowie had before writing this song. Not my favorite Bowie song — like most music, it depends on my mood — but it still interests me. Plus I like his voice. Cool voice. Much better than the gruff sound that emanates from my coffee hole.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax, yeah? Here’s my coffee. Here’s the music. Enjoy. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Friday’s sunrise at 7:15 AM was like riding in a Yugo: a limp journey. The Yugo sun seemed gray on this Friday of October 10, 2021, gray as his thoughts. Alexa informed him that the area humidity was ninety-one percent but that no rain was expected. Cloudy gloominess was just the valley’s mood. It suited him. He was gloomy because the cats had indulged in intense floofgames. The games had disrupted his sleep. He didn’t feel rested. Maybe the sky was like that — unrested and tired.

Sunset is expected at 6:41 PM. With a temperature perking up from 39 to 48 on his way to a weak 60 degrees F, he wasn’t expecting much of the day. Maybe coffee would help. Couldn’t hurt.

An old Paul Simon song occupied his morning mental music stream. Using ‘old’ amused him. What is old to one because it’s very familiar is fresh and new to another. That’s how ‘old’ music kept acquiring new fans.

This song was called “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”. Came out in 1975. Yeah, he remembered that. First year in the military. Year his spouse graduated high school. She’d been in his dreams. So had the cats. They were a confused miasma. Also involved looking for clothes. Recurring tropes.

As he thought about the dreams, clumping about in a sullen manner, the cats sang for their food. Simon’s song morphed into “50 Ways to Feed Your Kitty”. Just open a can, Sam. Give ’em a treat, um…Meat. Pour out kibble, Sybil. Just give ’em some food.

Stay positive, he told himself, mentally snorting with mental derision. Test negative — yeah, fingers crossed, always. Wear a mask. Uh-huh. And get the vax. Well, he’d done that. Waiting on word for the booster.

The coffee had arrived. He sat back to listen to the music and stare at the cloud. Where is the sun, he wondered. Where is the sun?

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Thursday’s Theme Music

I often start the day with a scan of the news provided by the nattering nabobs of negativism. Agnew coined the phrase. Remember it well because I heard it on the news and then Mrs Rubenstein discussed it in current events the next day.

Today is Thursday, or Thor’s Day, as we call it — don’t want to offend any Gods — October 7, 2021. Just a month until we set our clocks back in most of the U.S. Speaking of that, today’s sunrise percolated in with bright sunshine but little warmth at 7:14 AM. The sun’s presence will be stolen away from our valley by the forces of nature at 6:42 PM. A heady 38 F last night, prompting the cats to declare that they’re coming inside and staying. Good sleep was enjoyed all around. Up to 48 F now. Today’s high is a mild 66 F. Surprising me yesterday, we didn’t even break 60. I’m thinking that it’s time to break out my long pants and put away my shorts.

And, yes, today’s theme music was cat inspired. The three floofketeers were clamoring for their AM wet food. I was asking them, “Are you hungry? Want canned cat food?” Teasing them, you know. And they were responding, “Yes, damn it, will you feed us already?”

I then responded, “Love is all you need.” To which they replied, “Enough with the bull. Open the can, capisce?” By then, Simple Minds had flooded the morning mental music stream with “Sanctify Yourself” from 1986.

Control yourself, love is all you need
Control yourself, in your eyes
Sanctify yourself, sanctify
Be apart of me, sanctify
Sanctify yourself, sanctify
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free

h/t to Genius.com

A fun video from a different era. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax, yeah? I’m having coffee, as well. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Hey, all you zombettes and zombois, we’re coming to you live from the overworld. Today is Wednesday, October 6, 2021. Rain is drying and fading after a night of water music. The drying process is slow. Fog and clouds break with reluctance, pulling apart and dissolving into white and gray blots as the sun musters heat and impacts the valley. Sun came up at 7:13 AM and will set at 6:44 PM. Its slant has shifted to the south, forcing it to climb over forested mountains before it can greet us. Where the eastern blinds blocked the summer sun, the autumn sun creeps in through the southern windows.

For temperatures, the thermometers are talking 48 F now. Forecasters are talking 60 later. I hazard it’ll be a few degrees higher. Say, mid-sixties. No more rain expected for today, though. It’s okay. The valley has reclaimed some of its emerald hues. Goes well with the fall leaves. Very becoming on the valley.

Grand Funk Railroad is inhabiting the morning’s mental music stream with “Into the Sun”, playing from their 1970 live album. I enjoyed the album; Mom despised it. My older sister, who was trying to be cool, did not like it. But I liked it loud. When the house was mine alone, I’d crank my air guitar up to eleven and push out some power chords.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Follow me down memory lane. Hold up; must get my coffee first. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Hallooo. Today is Tuesday, October 5, 2021. High, marbled clouds, threadbare white in major stretches, strung out over pale blues, color the sky. Sunrise barely crept into it. Giving us light but we’ve yet to see the true sun behind all of that. Came in early. 7:12 AM. But the blinds were drawn so the house was dark. Already missing that early morning light lift. Sunrise will come 6:48 PM. Temps are now at 60 F, will hit 70 F. Boy, you should see the shimmering maples showing off their dark wine coats. So lovely, but the black walnut trees counter with majestic bright yellows. Easy to get drunk on these displays.

We had a surprise reveal this week. We’re going to a local Halloween concert at the month’s end. “Sleepy Hollow ” theme. Indoors. The organization behind it has set up the orchestra and audience to be socially distanced. Audience members will wear masks the entire time. They will also be seated in pods. You can buy tickets together and sit together. Six feet between pods. And show proof of vaccination before being admitted. All band members are vaccinated, too. We have friends in the band, so we want to see them perform and support them. Although we have some trepidation, we’re going to risk it. Asked a friend if she wants to go as part of our pod.

No. She does not want to go. She went and stayed with friends in San Diego for ten days. Just returned a week ago. Didn’t mask at all doing that time. Won’t wear a mask again. she declares. Disturbing on many levels. But she’s come back and seems okay. Yet. She may be carrying but asymptomatic. She’s 82. Husband is 89. Has all manner of respiratory and health problems. Both are vaccinated but her decision and attitude surprise me. Although…hate mentioning this, but she voted for DJT. Twice.

Ah, well. We’ll continue masking and will avoid contact with them. They’re still our friends. It’s a tough balance to maintain.

To the music! John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” (1980) is buzzing through the morning’s mental music stream. I like its do-wop aspect. Came to me because so many things we do, it’s like, here we go again. Almost feels like we’re starting over. Starting over with advantages gleaned through maturing and surviving, experiencing life, and having some financial security. But, starting over because of the energy requirements to do things. Take cleaning the house. Please. It gets dirty. Not significantly — no. Despite my wife’s declarations that, “This house is filthy,” because she views the world through polarized lenses that don’t allow for any gray, the house is never filthy. Mildly dusty, maybe. Some dirty dishes soaking in the sink sometimes. But all clothes put away. And everything tidy and orderly.

Yet, when I go in and clean the kitchen, it feels like starting over. Everything must be done again. Like starting over. It is, isn’t it? It all must be cleaned anew. The bed must be made again. Litter boxes cleaned. Car washed. Yard work done. Furniture dusted and polished. These are my things, in the main. We both load the dishwasher. Empty it. She does the hardwood floors and laundry. We both fold and put it away. We both vacuum.

Okay, now that I’ve explained our delineation of chores, are you ready for a pop quiz? No? Good, because I’m not ready to do one, either. Have none prepared.

Let’s get on with it. Stay positive as best that you can. Know it’s hard. Some days, it’s like starting over. Again. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vaxxes and boosters. Sing and dance. Here’s the music. Where’s my coffee? Cheers

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Welcome

A carillon chimes the hour. The sun gives it a warm shoulder. She always works her own hours. Two deer digest, still except for ear flicks against flies and shifts to identify sounds. Blue-eyed and black faced, a long-haired blond feline assesses the day and listens to a woodpecker beat out a love sonnet on a wooden utility pole. Acorn treasure in mouth, a squirrel flicks a bushy gray tail and trots along a red-brick wall as two black and blue scrub jays hop across the green grass below him. A warm zephyr dries off forehead sweat and whispers close to ear, “Welcome to autumn.”

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