Thursday’s Theme Music
The wheel has turned, and we’ve come, at last, to Thursday, October 21, 2021. A warmer day here. Dryer. Lively with wind teasing fabulous fall foliage. Red leaves dressed scarlet to merlot are in abundance, competing with warm pumpkin orange leaves, bright yellows, bronzes, and burnished golds. All against the enduring greens offered by firs, evergreens, and pines. While the current temperature is a pleasant 58 F out there, we expect it to get ten degrees warmer. Sunrise overtook us at 7:30 AM and sunset will transpire at 6:20 PM. The cats are generally enjoying it. Winds are not their thing, but they find places for a cozy nap outside.
They don’t know it, but the click is ticking. A cyclone bomb is heading our way. That entails stronger winds and much more rain. The cats will not be happy.
Today’s tune occupying the morning mental music stream is a Rush song called “Subdivisions” from 1982. It came through on the heels of yesterday’s music. After I played yesterday’s selection, I let the music keep rolling on Youtube as I typed with my headphones on. “Subdivisions” was one of the subsequent melodies heard. I haven’t heard it in quite some time. Sort of surprising, as classic rock stations that I tune into often play Rush music. I usually hear “New World Man”, “Tom Sawyer”, “Limelight”, or “Closer to the Heart”. I like “Subdivisions”. As it cut into my thinking, I flipped the puter over to the Youtube tab and enjoyed the live performance.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax or booster when you can, as you can. And remember, drink plenty of fluids. Staying hydrated is very important. I have water and coffee beside me now. Ready to write and roll. Here’s the music. Enjoy.
Tuesday’s Theme Music – Fixed
We’re striding through the week, marching through Tuesday, October 19, 2021. The winds here think it’s March. They’re roaring like a lion. Sunrise arrived sans fanfare at 7:28 AM, with sunset due at 6:23 PM. Temps will reach into the mid sixties from their present point of 56 F before dropping down into the low forties tonight. It’ll be a dry day, with a bit o’ wind. If the wind ceases later, as expected, I’ll head out for a walk.
Was a beautiful walk yesterday afternoon. Two miles burnished by bright sunshine and cool, mild breezes. Colorful trees provided companionship, along with deer, squirrels, jays, and cats. With an AQI of ten, the view across the valley was unhindered and inspiring.
With the cooler temperatures, we have the house heat turned on for the season. We keep the house at 68 F during the day. While that’s the agreed temperature and I find it comfortable, my wife likes it hotter. Not so much a personal request on her part; more a matter of coping with her health conditions. As compromise to the situation, we have a small electric heater employed in the snug. It’s like a little sun in there. She cranked it up to Medium yesterday, or, as I call it, broil. Had the room a toasty 81 degrees F. That inspired the morning mental music stream, of course. I ended up singing lyrics to myself from “Some Like It Hot” by The Power Station, way back in 1985.
Feel the heat pushing you to decide
Feel the heat burning you up, ready or not
Some like it hot, and some sweat when the heat is on
Some feel the heat and decide that they can’t go on
Some like it hot, but you can’t tell how hot till you try
Some like it hot, so let’s turn up the heat till we fry
h/t to AZLyrics.com
The last time I used this song as theme music was June, 2019, when a heat wave was crashing o’er us. Whenever I think of the song’s title, I can’t stop the movie, “Some Like It Hot”, from crashing in. A silly farce from Billy Wilder that won six Academy Awards, it had a helluva cast, with Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe headlining. Not PC for these times. A remake would require substantial re-scripting. But it came out in 1959. I saw it on television, of course, a looong time later.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music. Time for me to rassle up some coffee. Cheers
Well. Left the link to the video out. Sorry. That’s what I get, trying to post without hot-starting my brain with spot of coffee first.
Saturday’s Theme Music
Hear ye, hear ye, Saturday, October 16, 2021, is underway. Let the games begin.
Sunrise spanked us at 7:25 this morning in the valley. Warmer air dominates today. It’s already 56 and we expect a high of 79 degrees F. Should be a glorious autumn day before sunset takes place at 6:28 PM. Our air quality is stellar at a clear and fresh 10 as rain and cooler air helps us in the fight against wildfires. Containment is increasing. We take a breath of relief that another season has been survived. It has its costs, though, as wildfires destruction in 2021 in the U.S. is expected to cost between 70 and 90 billion dollars, along with lives lost.
I found myself walking around in circles this AM. Catering to cats, you know. Fickle felines. Want in, want out, want that food, this food, no, pet me, pet me, pet me, let’s go play! I did the feeding, a little ear and chin scratching, and then attempted to deal with my essentials — food and coffee. When all settled down I chuckled at hearing a song by Soul Coughing called “Circles” circling the morning mental music stream. The song was released in 1998. I probably wouldn’t be familiar with it but I had a friend and co-worker, Saba, who knew it. She’d already introduced me to the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Violent Femmes. Now, on a lunch run where she was driving, she called up “Circles” and introduced me to Coughing Soul.
So, here’s to Saba and her wonderful influence. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get a vax if you can. Enjoy the music while I ensure the dark deliciousness served as coffee. Cheers
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.
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?
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
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
Saturday’s Theme Music
Saturday falls on us like a time-released drug. So much to do! Or not to do. Depends on your point of view. I speak of Saturday but for some, Saturday comes on a Wednesday. That’s how their work or school week flows.
Today is October 2, 2021. October 4, 1974 is when I enlisted in the USAF, so back on October 2, 1974, I was readying myself to leave. First airplane flight; until then, it’d been buses or cars. Now here was the big jet, carrying me across the country to Texas. My girlfriend, who became my wife a year later, was more nervous than me. I was just going away. My childhood would officially end. Eighteen years old, a few months removed from high school graduation, I was ready.
Sunrise today was at 7:09 AM. Sunset will arrive at 6:51 PM. Temperatures again, cool this morning, 50 F, will rise into the seventies. The world keeps on turning.
With that, I go to the mental music stream, where Fleetwood Mac is performing “World Turning” from 1975. I heard it when I was on leave, readying myself to go on my first overseas tour, fifteen months without my wife. We’ve done a lot together since then. Have had many disagreements. Separated with plans to end it. But here we are, still together. World keeps turning. Shit happens but the world keeps turning. Probably sums up my general approach to existence.
I like this live recording (love that paradox of modern terminology) of the song. Had not heard this version before now. It works.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax and boosters. Also get coffee. That’s where I’m going. Peace out.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Wonderful fall day here today. Harvest moon last night. Clear sky to view it. Enjoying it all.
The weather systems have delivered gusting winds, clear skies, and a sweet balminess to Tuesday’s air. Today is September 21, 2021. We have reached autumn. Survived the year, mostly thanks to many others. Service people, yes, but I also owe some thanks to politicians, newspaper writers, novelists, librarians, farmers, police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, teachers, family, friends, beer brewers, bakers, chefs, truck drivers, pilots, transportation specialists, television engineers, producers, and personalities. It’s a long list of those keeping us safe and fed, managing our water, delivering things, and distracting, entertaining, and educating.
Today’s sunrise was at 6:57 AM in the valley. Sunset will come at 7:10 PM. Air quality is a delightful 4. Our high temperature today will be in the mid to upper eighties. Think 87 F. Current temperature is 73.
After another bevy of bodacious dreams, I find a 1978 Al Stewart song called “Time Passages” populating the morning mental music stream. These lyrics (with accompanying instruments) were on loop:
I felt the beat of my mind go
Drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
Time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight
h/t to Songfacts.com
Can you go home again? I’ve gone ‘home’ to why Mom and Dad each separately live with their new partners, so I’m thinking, no. Not physically. In many ways, going home is a brief spiritual journey of nostalgia about what was when. In that sense, yes, going home is often a mind trip away. Going home to either of those places — where Dad/Mom live — highlights the changes between now and back then. Mom and Dad left each other and then I left them and roamed the world. Didn’t see enough, to be sure, but I came to grasp that home is a state of mind.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the music, a mellow folk rock offering for a mellow day. Enjoy. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 