Monday’s Theme Music

105 F is today’s magic number. Ashland’s forecast high temperature, keep it in mind as you plan and pursue activities. Cooling shelters have been set up around town at churches, community centers, and the library.

The house system says it’s 66 F outside. Alexa claims it’s 21 C in Ashland, where I reside. The net says it’s 74. It all makes sense because they’re all correct. Depends on where you live, the mountains’ shadows, and the sun’s reach, yeah? Hope the weather is kind to you wherever you are. If it’s not, then I hope you’re in a safe place.

Another week has begun. This is Monday, July 25, 2022. July has entered the final stretch. 2022 is halfway through summer in the northern hemisphere.

Old Tucker was active last night. The big guy was feeling it. I opened the back door just after midnight to let in some cooling air and check upon them. When I flicked on the light, I saw Tucker dash out into the yard. He seemed to be after something. Well, the light was bad so I dropped back for a flashlight. When I illuminated the scene, I saw a young raccoon facing off with my cat. The raccoon was a little larger than my boy but Tucker goes aggro with animals. I called for him to come back. The raccoon tried to make an escape. Tucker gave chase, but the raccoon made it into a bush. Tucker sat there to ensure the critter didn’t leave. I went out an coaxed Tucker back, allowing the other to make their escape.

Meanwhile, the orange menace known as Papi, aka Meep, had watched all this from the patio’s safety. Once Tucker returned and the raccoon was gone, Papi went over there and laid down in front of the bush where rocky raccoon had taken refuge. He just grinned at my efforts to get him back in.

“Everyday Is a Winding Road” by Sheryl Crow (1996) has settled into the morning mental music stream. The Neurons riffed on my thought upon reading some news and thinking, “Well, anything goes these days.” The Neurons promptly launched the song, homing in on the lyrics, “Everybody gets high, everybody gets low, these are the days when anything goes.” Like almost every song residing in my mental juke box, the song has a story attached, although it’s just a regular tale of hearing the melody during my Silicon Valley commutes, passing the time as we motor slowly through the webs of interchanges clotted with cars.

Stay pos, etc. It’s still cool so I’ll refresh with a little hot java, yeah? Yeah. Have a better one.

Later, gator.

Friday’s Wandering Thought

Every once in a while, not enough to be predicted, his cat meowed like he was Jimmy Durante imitating a cat.

Here’s a taste of Jimmy Durante’s voice for a point of reference.

The Dream, the Cat, the Boy

No people were visible in this dream. No bodies.

I never saw myself. I faced a wide and featureless brown plain. The sky was a striking crystal blue, like a clear sky seen opposite sunrise after the sun clears obstacles and takes the stage.

On the horizon were low brown mountains, the same color as the plain. A sense of dustiness was implied but no dust was ever seen.

Three objects equally spaced apart floated above the mountains. Outlined in jagged red, their interiors were hot white gold. Black letters scrolled within the white gold. I could see they were words but couldn’t read them.

A male guide was beside me; I never saw him. He said, “Those are your choices. You need to make a choice.”

Utter bewilderment on my side met this. “I don’t know what you mean. What are they?” Staring at them brought no elucidation. I half woke and thought of them. Drifting back into sleep, the scene returned, except I was much closer to the mountains and the three objects. They seemed larger to me. I still couldn’t read the words. The side boundaries were jagged but the top and bottom borders were smooth half-arcs. The guide mentioned choosing them. I replied, “Can’t I integrate them?” No answer.

I drifted from the dream toward consciousness, working on recalling what I’d seen and then returned to it. I was much closer. The objects were huge. Instead of being spread across the horizon, they were stacked. I said, “I think I can move them, but I don’t know what they are. I don’t know why I’d move them.”

The cat, Tucker brought me out of sleep. The dream stayed with me. Tucker did something he’d never done that I can recall. He laid down opposite me, his face facing mine, his head on a pillow. Purring, he stretched his front legs out, put his paws on my shoulder, and kneaded me. I drifted back to the dream. No changes manifested. The words kept scrolling, like the lines in a book. I still couldn’t read them.

That dream moved to my mind’s right side. The guide was with me but silent. On my mind’s left side, another dream arose. I was a young boy, sitting on the ground in a field of green weeds by a barbed wire fence. I clearly saw and knew it as me. The sun was rising to my right, and I turned and looked toward it.

I stirred myself into waking. Both dreams remained, one on the right, the other on the left, slowly receding. Both remain, faint and distant as galaxies in the sky, present on either side of my mind.

Sunday’s Wandering Thought

A friend who is a grandmother related a story about her latest granddaughter, Vera. As soon as she found the words, Vera announced that her name was Peaches and she would not answer to any other name.

That was two years ago. She’s now five. A young cat found his way to her side. Cat and human are with one another like snow and white. She calls him Butters. He’s nine months old.

The adventures of Peaches and Butters are just beginning.

Monday’s Theme Music

Clickity clack, Monday is back. Forty-two degrees F on this Jun 13, 2022 day. Looks like a typical and beautiful southern Oregon June day. Well, except for the heavy cloud cover and lack of sunshine. That lends it a Octoberish appearance, but with green leaves and flowers. Sunrise and sunset were at the proper times for June in Ashland, 5:33 and 8:47, AM and PM, respectively. Today’s high will be a mild 62 F.

The cats encouraged the neurons to sing “Minute by Minute”. Do you know the song? Written by Michael McDonald and Lester Abrahms, the Doobie Brothers released the song in 1979 (had to look that up) and showed some moderate chart success. The neurons liked it for the cats because there’s lyrics in there which proclaim, “I’ll keep holding on.” That’s what Tucker was doing after I picked him up for some personal time. His claws found their way into my sweatshirt, and he kept on holding on. The neurons so delighted in this, they began playing the song. It continues to reside in the morning mental music stream.

The coffee has arrived. Stay positive, test negative, and be aware, responsive and responsible. Here’s the tune. Cheers

Wednesday’s Theme Music

The clouds have taken a wide stance today. Their defenses are stretched thin. Blue sky and sunshine pour through the gaps.

Today is Wednesday, May 25, 2022. We’re into the last week of 2022’s fifth month. Time has slowed for me, which I appreciate.

It’s 60 F out right now, but our local weather dude said we’re probably going to experience the year’s warmest day to date, with our smell segment hitting the low eighties while other parts of the region see the upper eighties. Sunrise was celebrated at 5:41 AM. Closure at the other end of the daylight portion of our day will be at 8:35 PM.

I’m beset by a song I sang to my cat last night. Called “Motorcycle Mama”, I leaned its words and melody by heart without making a conscious effort, also learning to play it by ear on the trombone. Why was I singing it to my cat? That’s a good question. A very good question. I don’t have a good answer. I lack any answer for it. My neurons said, “Don’t look at us. We’re as mystified as you.”

I had to look up the year and artist. I figure it must have been 1970 to 1971 but was clueless about the group or individual behind it, which turned out to be Sailcat, and 1972. My childhood friends didn’t know why I liked this song so much. I appreciated its mellow approach and gentle humor. Decades later, I’d be with two friends having a beer when the three of us broke out in spontaneous harmony and sang it completely. That was memorable fun.

Here’s the music. Stay positive, test negative, etc. Don’t let complacency or weariness take over. I’m off for the coffee. Cheers

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