A man entered the coffee shop.Not paying much attention to him, I don’t know how old he might be.
A song was playing on the speakers: “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.
The man said to the baristas, “You know this song? I know it from Vietnam. I’d heard this song when we were surrounded by Viet Cong. Oh, man, what a nightmare.”
My mind did a little tumble as the guy hastened back out of the door. I pulled up Wikipedia to confirm what I was thinking: the Vietnam War ended in April of 1975.
“Dancing Queen” wasn’t released until August of 1976.
No way he heard that song when he was fighting in the Vietnam War.
Questions followed in my head. Was he deliberately lying, just creating something for part of a fake persona to gain attention, or had something screwed with his memory? Maybe he was just confusing songs…
Hard to say. These things happen to us. Part of being human.
Wednesday slides into place with a click. Snuggles up to August 14, 2024.
Cool summer morning. Hints of spring in that mountain air feel. It’s 62 F under smoke-free blues skies. Another less-than-hot day is expected, with a high of just 85 F. Comes with an asterisk: rain is forecasted for the evening, with thunderstorms. The thunderstorms aspect causes a thoughtful hitch to mental processes. Thunderstorms mean lightning. Lightning means fires. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, we won’t get hit. We’ve been fortunate so far this year.
I kept the windows open all day yesterday, along with the back blinds. It reached 83 F at our house outside, but inside was a comfy 78.
Weird, though, it smells like rain right now. I see that clouds have cantered in. Maybe they’re just getting an early start on setting up.
The housefloofs are digging on this chill weather. Sauntering into sunny places after breakfast, they assumed the grooming position. A jay karens over to tell them they’re grooming wrong. Those jays are such know-it-alls.
Just finished reading of Ernesto. It’s a Cat 1 hurricane now. Already been troubling Puerto Rico, which really doesn’t need it. Puerto Rico and a hurricane of course triggers images of then President Trump tosses out paper towels.
Paper towels are not really effective hurricane assistance. What are you going to do, Bounty up the flooding with ten zillion paper towels? Think of how many trash cans that would fill.
BTW, in a bizarre mental twist, calling the storm a ‘Cat 1’ has me imagining a huge cat swatting things around as the hurricane’s energy source. I think I need more coffee.
Shout it from the deep state’s secret location rooftops: inflation is below 3%. All those deeply concerned handwringers on the right whining about inflation should shut it now — if they’re aware. That’s the bigger problem: they’re not sharp about history, a little fuzzy on words and their meanings, and often stumble over what’s in and not in the Constitution. Of course, their news diet contributes. The right wing news feed will make you sick.
We got the dance theme continuing for today. The Neurons brought up a friend’s favorite. We were working together back when the musical Mamma Mia! hit the scene in 1999. She was sooo excited about it. I was sort of, meh, so I asked, why does it have her so up? Well, high school, the prom, “Dancing Queen” was the rage then.
Right then, our age differences were momentarily magnified. But hang on, I said; that came out in the seventies. Right, she agreed, but there had been some kind of revival of it when she was in high school. I’d not heard about that, but then, I’d been out the country in the military. Anyway, to belabor the point, The Neurons have “Dancing Queen” by Abba circulating in the morning mental music stream (Trademark bebopping).
Stay positive, be strong, and Vote Blue in 2024. Coffee is at hand, so here is the music. Cheers
Our intrepid band of three hundred million plus call Earthlings or Terrans come at last to the day noted as Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Once a date studied by prophets and feared by rulers, the reasons for that have been lost. Only one man knows the truth, but he’s been frozen and forgotten. And so we, the survivors, skip through this day not knowing its significance.
It’s sunny in Ashlandia. The sky’s blueness is marred by some lazy stray clouds hanging above the valley’s high edges, as though spying for an enemy ruler. Current temperature is in the upper 50s F. We’re shimmying toward the upper 60s. This is a fine example of how spring should appear in the middle of the season in Aslandia.
My wife and I have been involved in a jigsaw puzzle. She picked it up at the library of things last Friday. We began working on it that day.
It’s a Ravensburger, which is my favorite. Ravensburger puzzles have solid pieces which fit together well, and vibrant colors. This one is a tableau of a beach house living room looking out over the sea. A small dog rests on his bed in the foreground, looking back at you. His orange toy is on the bed beside him.
A coffee table dominates the center. It sits on a striped rug on a hardwood floor. Sharing its surface top is a tray of food and wine, a long scarf colorful with sea creatures and flowing aquas, purples, oranges, and blues, a gold-rimmed bowl of shells and starfish, and a plate of food. Sea foam green easy chairs and sofa are arranged on either side of the table. Past the table are open sliding doors leading to a deck.
Beyond the deck is the sand and churning waves. Further out are sailing vessels and a coastguard ship. Osprey and gulls wheel through light clouds and blue skies.
I’d love to live in that place. Wish I was there now, listening to the ocean and reading a book. Small stacks of books are on the sofa and the coffee table’s lower shelf.
The puzzle is coming together fast. We are now about 85% finished. Sky and sea remain, along with the birds.
It wasn’t that way yesterday morning. Back then, we had one edge piece missing. The coffee table was almost complete, and the dog and several other areas were completed. I’d say it was thirty percent done.
I was focused on that missing edge piece. My obsessiveness had kicked in. I hadn’t plan to work on that puzzle at the point in the day. It was mid-morning and I had things to do. But I sure wanted to find that missing piece.
Going through the pieces, I began asking deities and fates for help. None came but The Neurons, taking up my issue, began an ABBA song: SOS from 1975 began playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark sinking).
I found an American Bandstand episode with Dick Clark and ABBA on the net. Seeing Bandstand shook up memories like they were in a snow globe. Many teenagers and pre-teens hustled into a television’s presence to see the show in the 1960s. I never became deeply into it, but my older sister surely was. ABBA wasn’t a group I followed. I didn’t aspire to their style. But I respected their talents and their drive to succeed. There they were, doing what they’d set out to do. Congrats to them. I knew about them because AM radio broadcast their music. Then there were the friends who were so into them, too…
By the way, I didn’t find the missing piece and left for the coffee shop. My wife returned from her exercise class and answered the call, finding the missing piece. She’s my hero.
Stay positive, persevere, and Vote Blue this November. Coffee is being actively consumed in parallel to my typing. Hope you have the kind of day you wanted when you awoke this morning. Here’s the music.
We’ve landed on Earth, Tuesday, Coffee 13, 2021. Coffeerise was at 6:34 AM and coffeeset is expected at 7:50 PM.
Sorry, have coffee on my brain. Was walking around the kitchen singing the old round to myself, “C-o-f-f-e-e is what I need. It’s a drink some people wake up with. That it makes you nervous is a myth. Slaves to a coffee cup, they can’t give coffee up.” I learned that thing in grade school. Sing it often as I make my coffee.
Speaking of singing, between the coffee song, I was singing “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, 1976. Except, I subbed coffee for dancing. “You are the coffee queen, fresh and strong, that’s why you’re in this song. Coffee queen, felt the heat from the coffee machine, oh, yeah.”
Tres popular, topping the charts in multiple nations, that song was relentlessly played everywhere in 1976. Disco club DJs loved it — or the dancing crowds did. This morning, it’s in me like a strong cuppa. So I share it with you, a magnanimous gesture on my part, to get it out of my head. You’re welcome.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, get the vax, and have a cuppa. Doesn’t need to be coffee, but it’s what I need.
Michael Seidel, writer 