Category: weather

Thursday’s Theme Music

If this is Thursday, then this must be Ashland.

I chuckled at lines like that. During several times in life, I traveled a lot. First in a military life, then in a marketing life. When I traveled like that, my focus narrowed. What country-city-base-trade show am I at? What’s the agenda? Who am I meeting? Where do I go next? The actual dates little mattered, except for the travel portion. But I didn’t think of that in terms of days or dates. It was more, “I leave tomorrow” or the day after, etc, and “I go home next week.”

Anyway, this is Thursday, July 29, 2021. My wife had her teeth cleaned yesterday. She made her next cleaning appointment: 2/2/2022, at 2 PM. Yeah, it’s not a Fibonacci sequence, but it is interesting. To us, at least. Hey, it’s been slow.

Sun shine invaded at 6:01 AM. A retreat is in order commencing at 5:33 AM. Another heat dome has arrived. Although heat advisories are in effect, I thought we might be spared the heat. Clouds covered most of the AM sky. But they’ve slowly slip-slided away, leaving a hazy blue dome overhead. Like yesterday, temperatures close to 100 are anticipated. Yesterday, we clipped 98 F at our house.

“Ventura Highway” by America (1972) invaded my morning head space. Two parts of the song were speaking to me: “alligator lizards in the air” and “Come on, Joe, you can always change your name. Thanks a lot, son, just the same.”

The alligator lizards part was easy. I was looking at the morning clouds. We had scanty popcorn pieces. No alligator lizards. But it still triggered the music. The other aspect was about character names in the novel in progress. I thought that perhaps I should change two characters names. They’re not exactly the same names as friends, but close enough. They are parodies of these friends. But the name is an integral part to them. Changing their names changes my impression of them. The names stay as they are for now.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Monday already! Again! Seems like it was just Monday last week. As Steve Miller sang, “Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, into the future.” Which, isn’t really what happens, but close enough. Speaking of, do the young understand what the elderly (ahem, like me, which we called established) know what is meant by a ticking clock?

Today is July 26, 2021, July’s final Monday. Not much significant for it in my life. Garbage day. Put the can out so it can be emptied tomorrow. Going to the library to pick up some books on hold. To the credit union for money. Store, for groceries. Coffee shop, for coffee. Sunrise was at just before 6 AM, 5:58 AM. Sunset will happen at 8:37 PM, whether it’s witnessed or not. Today’s weather calls for smoky air but clear skies, with a high of about 100.

Dreams are driving my theme music today. I dreamed of Dad for two nights in a row. The second prompted the Everclear song, “Father of Mine” (1998) to loop through me head. My father wasn’t a Deadbeat Dad. Mom had a lot of issues with him. He was in the military and overseas or in other states most of my young life. I was born in 1956; Mom and Dad divorced in 1961. His role was then reduced. He returned to my life in 1971, after returning from his assignment in Germany. Things were rough at home for me. Dad let me come live with him, which I did until graduating high school in 1974. Then I was gone. Dad remarried twice, and had one other long relationship. He has been a good father to all of those children. But, to me and my sisters, he was MIA. Now he’s trying to make up for it by calling. But it’s hard to rewire the past after sixty-five years.

There were good times. He taught me to play baseball. Gave me my first glove and bat. Bought me fishing gear and took me fishing. Gave me my first car, a forest green 1965 Mercury Comet sedan with a 289 V8. Helped me buy a car, a Porsche, a few years later. Introduced me to my wife through his best friend.

Here’s the music. Stay positive. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vax. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Sunset. 8:37 PM. Darkness rolls in. Stars. Full moon. Breezes cool. Temperature drops. Meanwhile, the world turns. Sunrise. 5:57 AM. And we begin again, something that was started a long time ago and go for far longer time than most of us will know. Chuckle.

Today is July 25, 2021. It’s July’s last Sunday. Makes me want to write something called “Last Sunday”. Good prompt for multiple story vehicles.

High heat is on for today. And wildfire smoke. Yeah, it’s a dry heat.

I’m inclined toward “Uh huh” by Jade Bird (2018) today. Hadn’t heard it for a few years, then heard it yesterday. Reminded me of how much I enjoy the song. Good background music for my head as I’m going about my activities. Song is humorous commentary to me and I like the beat and song style.

So, here we go. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask when needed, get that vax. Almost started singing “Come Together” in my head, thinking, if we come together, we can beat this thing. Anyway, music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Ah, sunsets have been lovely. Saturday’s came just after 8:30 PM, and Sunday’s will do the same. This Sunday sunrise was a few minutes before 6 AM arrived. Our weather pattern holds of cool nights and hot days. 100 today. No rain out here while storms strike the midwest and Arizona floods. That’s weather for you.

Went sailing last night. I was just along for the ride on a 85 foot schooner. Tail sails. I’ll write more about it another time. As required, though, Christopher Cross was brought to mind with “Sailing” from 1980. I mean, out there on deep water, away from traffic but still within sight of line, it’s a calming scene. During sunset. Ten knots. Strong, chilly winds. Full sails, heeling. Splashes once in a while. But sounds only from people chatting and laughing. There were twenty-two of us, including the crew of four. A mellow experience.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask when and as needed, get the vax. Here is the music. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Congratulations. Another Friday has arrived. Might mean something to you. The weekend is starting. A television show is coming on that you wanted to see. Friends arriving. And the date, July 23, 2021, might also mean something. An anniversary or birthday. For me, it’s but another day and date, another in the string.

Temperatures continue to be on the cool side of summer. Maybe those shorter days are getting reflected in the temp. Sunrise wasn’t until 5:55 AM today. Sunset will be at 8:39 PM. Could be that the wildfires are affecting our weather and cooling us. The Bootleg still roars away to the east. Winds have been favorable for us, keeping our skies clear. Hooray for us, sucks for others. Sigh.

My brain is entertaining me with a 1971 song. Mouth and MacNeal came out with “How Do You Do”, a Dutch duo, saw their simple song become an international hit. It’s easy to remember and sing. So feel free to do it.

Meanwhile, try to stay positive. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vax. Please, if you haven’t. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

With sunrise blinking in at 5:53 AM, today’s weather is a relaxed, mellow blend, clouds and sky, high against the upper eighties. Sunset is coming on at 8:41 PM in the valley, when darkness crawls in, dragging stars, moon, and cooler temps with it.

A cat inspired today’s music. I was still abed, struggling between alive and dead, lingering in that limbo state between being asleep and being awake. WHEN —

A sudden gallop on a hardwood floor, with a sliding sound that ended with a bang against the door, a cat did appear in the room, pausing for a moment to give himself a groom. THEN —

With a new battle cry (“Freedom!”) he was off again, racing around bed and then, galloping back down the hall, plowing again into a wall.

The time was 5:40 AM.

As I tried to sink back to sleep, I thought about the beast’s antics. And thought, maybe it was a jailbreak. Which, then, sometime later, kicked in Thin Lizzy with “Jailbreak” from 1976. Lovely song. Perfect for a big cat with an overactive imagination.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and, you know, get the vax. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

The sun also ‘rises’ and then it ‘sets’. That’s our perspective. From this perspective on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, that happens at 5:52 AM and 8:41 PM.

Wildfires continue. Heat continues. Drought. COVID-19. Politics. Climate change. Battles for social justice. Equality. Equal opportunity. Efforts to deny those continue unabated, too, usually under the flimsiest of logic.

I was up after midnight last night — not unusual. With the wife in bed and the cats usually hanging on the front porch or back patio, after midnight is when I get my alone time. Midnight is featured in many songs. Bunch traveled through my head. One took it by storm, though: “Living After Midnight” by Judas Priest, from waaayyy back in 1980. FORTY-ONE YEARS AGO. An OMG moment that made me laugh.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Cheers

5

Monday’s Theme Music

Soft as the air, sunrise’s slow grace came upon our valley at 5:51 AM. Today is Monday, July 19, 2021. Heat is expected, but not too terrible. Seventy now, at nine AM, looking for 95 F before the sunset’s mellow withdrawal at 8:43 PM. More fires are burning in the Pacific Northwest. None too close to us, knock on wood. Bootleg continues burning, 300,000 acres, over a quarter contained. Tamarack down south has exploded. Favorable winds are keeping our air clean. Several small fires started locally but quick responses by people and fire departments contained them.

Walking yesterday, I channeled Flo Rida, “Good Feeling” (2011). I got those good feelings yesterday when I was walking. Often afraid to speak of them or write about them, lest I scare them away. I was high on a hill in the town’s southern end. Great view of some of the valley. Wineries. Brown hills. Mountain peaks. Air dirty yellow on the horizon, wildfire smoke.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah
I get a feeling that I never never never never had before, no no
I get a good feeling, yeah
Oh oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah
I get a feeling that I never never never never had before, no no
I get a good feeling, yeah

h/t AZLyrics.com

And I got that feeling. Wonder, how now? Why? What drives these feelings, a sense of optimism, almost invicibility? A sense that change is coming. Where does it originate? Is it an amygdala gone mad?

Maybe, yeah. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Welcome to the day before Monday, a.k.a., Sunday. This is also known to some as the day before tomorrow, the day after yesterday, and the day after Saturday. Some call it the week’s beginning. Others refer to it as the end of the weekend. It is also July 18, 2021.

The warm but not blazing summer trend continues. Lows in the upper fifties to low sixties at night bring in fresh cool air. Then the sun, rising at 5:50 and setting at 8:43, will heat us up into the mid nineties. It’s a slow burn, not hitting the 90 mark until the early afternoon. Humidity is low, about 3%.

The Bootleg Fire continues burning 100 miles away. Sixteen fires are burning in the region. The Bootleg dominates, burning through almost 300,000 acres. It’s now 22% contained. It’s a surprise that our air is fresh and clear. Favorable winds. Favorable for us means it sucks for someone else, though. There are no winners in this.

Today’s music is brought to you by Sugarloaf. Their biggest hit, “Green-Eyed Lady”, came out in 1970. It reached number one in Canada, number three in the U.S. Why it’s in my head today, I have no idea. One of those wonders of the mind.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask when needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

5:49 AM, 8:44 PM. Those are today’s times for the sunshow on Saturday, 7/17/21. Rise comes first, with a lethargic unveiling. Set comes later, a gradual withdrawal. Between those times, the sun will work its heat on us. Not too bad today, upper eighties to lower nineties. Forecasts say get ready for a new rampup.

Although the Bootleg Fire and numerous others still burn, our southern Oregon’s valley air is clear and ‘safe’. Went up and down yesterday. Down in the evening, which helped make a summer concert a pleasant time. Listened to a regional band, East Main Street, play covers of the Eagles, Beatles, CSN&Y, Seals & Croft, CCR, etc. You get the feel, right? Had beer, wine, drinks, BBQ. Celebrated birthdays. Wondered how many were vaccinated. But we were outside.

Today’s music is a Nirvana song called “About A Girl” (1994). My mind brought it up to entertain and distract me as I ambled around town yesterday. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Cheers

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