Sunday’s Theme Music

It’s 36 degrees F, with rain and snow. Happy Mother’s Day.

Yes, it’s Sunday, May 8, 2022, the second Sunday of May, which makes it Mothers’ Day in the U.S. Moms across the country are receiving cards and gifts, and are being taken out to brunch, or being served breakfast in bed in the best traditions of the day. But, that’s not how it works for some. Many mothers endure hardship and still work on Mother’s Day. And some women are not mothers; they’re women who couldn’t or didn’t want to have children for millions of different personal and biological reasons. We do have the flipside rising, where men are being noted for being mothers, because that’s their family role. The world’s twists and curves grow complicated.

Anyway, I did my duty, wrote Mom a letter and sent her a card. No flowers or foods, as I used to send, as she started complaining about getting so many flowers, she was tired of them. And the foods became less appreciated or desired as she aged and her appetite and diet were reduced. I tried gift cards for a while and learned that she was re-gifted them to my sisters, who really don’t want or need them. So I’ve fallen back on the basics. I’ll call later today, because I know the MD returns, and that she’ll be busy and can’t talk now.

Today’s high temperature will be 46 F. A freeze warning is on for tonight. Sunrise today was a slow graying of the day that began at 5:58 this morning. Sunset is expected at 8:16 this evening.

“Kyrie” by Mr. Mister is circulating around the morning mental music stream. Once again, it came about as I was feeding the cats. For some reason, my neurons felt that the 1985 rock song was the ideal soundtrack for the moment. I believe it was because I was looking up and across at the mountains, wondering if that was snow decorating the pine tops. The wind was blowing and the neurons might have been reacting to the first line in “Kyrie”: “The wind blows hard against this mountainside.”

Stay positive, test negative, and so on and so forth as they say. Time for coffee and brekkie. Cheers

Saturday’s Theme Music

The wheel turns again, taking us to Saturday, May 7, 2022, as the commonly accepted reality (CAR). Our quantum neurons had to all agree upon this alignment as the illusion du jour. It seems to be working so far, though it should be stated that if it’s not working, you think it’s another day, which is also an accepted conclusion. It’s a paradox: all is right and wrong, the same and different.

What’s not different is the rain. It’s crashing agin’ the roof and windows, pelting the leaves and blades, splashing o’er the cars and doors. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The temperature is a rain-chilled 47 F, just four off the projected high. Sunrise at 5:59 was a wet and noisy, gray and limp event. Sunset is expected thirteen hours and eighteen minutes later.

My wife has been on a Nelly kick, telling Alexa throughout the last few days, “Alexa, play Nelly.” The neurons now have “Ride Wit Me” from 2001 looping in the morning mental music stream. The flow of words keep me listening but the intriguing beat keeps me moving.

Well, I have coffee in cup in hand. Stay positive, test negative, and so on. Here’s the music. Enjoy!

Friday’s Theme Music

6:00 AM is when the sunlight began today, Friday, May 6, 2022. The rain has fallen away after a sequence of light showers throughout yesterday, but more is being projected for today. Our temperature is 61 F and the high will be about 67. Sunset will take place at 8:15 PM

Even with all this rain, our reservoir situation remains dire. Although Reed Reservoir, which directly serves Ashland, is 100% full, the remaining area reservoirs remain at about 20%. Not good. Water year precipitation is still lower than normal and lower than needed. 90 of the state remains in drought condition. The snowpack levels are erratic and uneven. Part of what will happen to the water levels depends on how hot it gets and how fast it gets hot. Fingers crossed.

I was cleaning out the cats’ food bowls in the sink. Tucker was impatiently telling me, “Hurry, I’m hungry,” by my feet. For some reason, the neurons thought that called for “The Fire Down Below” by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (1976) to be loaded into the morning mental music stream. They started with the lines, “Somewhere there’s somebody ain’t treating someone right.” The song is about prostitution. Don’t know what the neurons were trying to tell me here.

Stay positive and test negative, and so on. I’m off for my coffee. Cheers

Thursday’s Theme Music

Welcome to Cinco de Mayo, 2022. The day doesn’t get much traction around here, not like it did in the SF Bay area when we lived there, and certainly not as much as we saw in Texas when we lived there.

It’s Thursday. Yesterday’s 80-degree F air and cloudless blue sky had me singing with Nat King Cole, “Roll out those hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer.” It was as perfect as hoped for sitting outside with seven friends and quaffing beer. Today’s high will be twenty degrees less. Rain has been falling since sunup at 6:01 this morning and is expecting to continue to Sol’s end of shift at 8:14 this evening. Right now, it’s 53 F outside.

Today’s song is “How You Remind Me”. The Nickelback song entered the morning mental music stream’s rotation last night. My wife and were talking about a phone call that took place earlier that day. She said, “Remind me.” With little thought, the neurons started playing the 2001 song’s line, “This is how you remind me of the man that I am.” Other than, ‘remind me’, the song and situation had nada to do with one another. But, that’s how the neurons roll.

Stay positive, test negative, and have a worthwhile day. Carpe diem while I carpe coffee. Here’s the melody. Cheers

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Sunshine blasted my eyes like a hot arc lamp this morning. 79 degrees F, they say it will be, up from the 62 we saw yesterday. 79 is an ideal temperature for sitting outside with friends, drinking a beer, talking about science, politics, books, and current events. That’s what I’ll be doing this afternoon.

This is Wednesday, Mary 4, 2022. That sunrise came at 6:03 AM today. The heater was on there, because we were still recovering from chilly dampness that made the air feel like we were in an abandoned mansion’s basement. At daylight’s other end, we’ll turn from the sun at 8:13 PM in our valley.

I have “Seven Wonders” by Fleetwood Mac playing in the morning mental music stream. This was directly from a dream. I’d been dreaming one thing, a muddied, dark vision that had me turning, looking for an exit. I thought I’d already turned in every direction but then, feeling trapped, with everythinoug closing in, I turned again.

And there was not just a rainbow, but the rainbow’s end, a blazing prism of light just a dozen feet away. Each band of light was sharply defined, and as twice as wide as body. And I thought in the dream, “Cool, the rainbow’s end.”

Naturally, when I awoke and remembered that, the neurons started playing the 1987 Fleetwood Mac song, keying on the lyrics, “I’ll make a path to the rainbow’s end,” and the chorus goes, “Rainbow’s edge.” That was enough for my cheeky neurons.

Stay positive and test negative. Coronavirus variants, and subvariants, and sub-subvariants are still emerging, but science, medicine, and time are dealing with it. Hope you enjoy some music whilst I enjoy some coffee. Cheers

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Sunshine prevails today. Tuesday’s sky can be described as mostly sunny or mostly cloudy. Both seem correct. While sunshine washes over everything in the valley, large clouds brood like waiting bears, shadowing large swaths of land.

Yes, it’s May 3, 2022. Our high is gonna be 64 F, they say, about ten degrees higher than it is at the mo’. The sunrise cometh at 6:01AM. The other end of the daylight session ends at 8:13 PM. Tomorrow, the weather ‘they’ say, we’ll see 79 F.

After a series of dark, messy, and splashy dreams, the neurons summoned a Nine Inch Nails song. Released in 2006, “Every Day Is Exactly the Same”, some of the lyrics go, “Every day is exactly the same.” Which sometimes is how my life feels, outside of writing. Feeding cats and taking care of them, house and yard work, the eternally aggravating question of “What’s for dinner,” dressing and eating, reading news, doing errands, reading books. Yet, in many ways, that’s how it was when working and in the military, too. The world is built on bureaucracies and routines. Sometimes, though, that tedium gets me. It’s funny, but I know this song because one of the QA guys who worked for me when I managed a tech support group introduced it to me. He no longer worked for me by that time, but sent me an email after the song came out, telling me about it, and mentioning, “It reminded me of what you used to say.” I still laugh about that.

Stay positive — yeah, who am I to talk? Test negative, etc. Here we go, music and coffee. Cheers

Monday’s Theme Music

April showers are now May showers. May 2, 2022, has brought Monday rain along with the now standard chilly temperature of 42 F. We expect 53 today. Sunrise was in interesting swarming of sunshine among swarming gray clouds and splashes of rain at 6:05. The sun’s daily turn will end at 8:11 this evening.

We had a gorgeous one yesterday, topping 70 F without a cloud in the air. The memorial service, a block party held on the street in front of his house and hosted by his widow, a sweet, retired nurse named Char, was well-attended, friendly, and oddly happy. Maybe it was the weather. Plenty of food was brought and shared. Anecdotes and accolades were dished out. Laughter ensued. Tears were wiped away. Gazes up at the blue sky were noted.

After the service, I returned home, checked today’s weather and went out for yard work. Alas, my string trimmer died on me after I was two-thirds completed. I suspect a switch and have found a video with a possible fix from people reporting the same problem and symptoms. I’ll be pursuing that later today. I’m coming to love DIY.

Today finds the neurons playing “Find Your Way Back” by Jefferson Starship from 1981. Yeah, it’s all mind games, coming about when I came out of a dream during the night. I wanted to find my way back to it and see how it ended. While that’s often successful, I failed this time. The song came out just a month before my wife and I were heading on our first overseas assignment. I’d already been overseas unaccompanied, but this was going to be a three to four year stay on Okinawa. Turned out to be a good one for us.

Anyway, here is the music. Hope you can stay positive and test negative, that you endure and prosper. Hope I can find a cup of coffee somewhere around the house in the next few minutes. I guess I’ll check the kitchen.

Sunday’s Theme Music

Ah, May 1, 2022, has arrived. As Bob Seger sang, “Turn the page.”

Today is Sunday, and it’s living up to billing. Sunshine blazes o’er the valley, warming the air. Still 42 F out but we expect 71 today. The sun’s first official appearance here today came at 6:07 AM. The sun show ends at 8:10 PM.

Memorial services for my friend are today. It’s an outside block party. Guests are bringing finger foods. My wife made almond tarts for the event. I’m not looking forward to it. Besides noting what it’s all about, I’m a poorly constructed social critter, don’t do well with strangers on an extended basis, and I’m not really proficient with small talk with friends and family, either. These things — parties, celebrations, services — are always discomfiting for me. Yes, I know, as I’ve known my entire life, to suck it up and do it, it’s not about me, etc. Yes, I’ve heard the expressions and understand the sentiments. None of that changes my nature. Of course, it’s seen as a failing by several that I dislike these things and don’t do well at them. To which I respond with dignity and style, “Whatever.” Yes, original.

The neuron’s music machine has Paul Simon singing “The Boy in the Bubble” from 1987 in the morning mental music stream rotation. Word association triggered the song. Someone said something about a miracle while talking about the Jan 6 Insurrection, and my neurons thought, “These are the days of miracle and wonder,” and off they went. I found this video of Simon and company to be entertaining and share it for your pleasure.

Stay positive and test negative. Be smart. Coffee time, right? Cheers

Saturday’s Theme Music

Raining again, as the song goes. It’s Saturday, April 30, 2022. The rain is light, the air is chill, the neighborhood is quiet, the children are still. It’s 51 F now but feels lower, thanks to the moisture hanging in the air and permeating everything. Low mists hid the top of the northern ridges’ pine-loaded top, imbuing the scene with a gothic air. All we need is a black castle. The valley’s high will be 59 F, they say, and I believe ’em. The sunshine so far seems as listless as me without my morning coffee. Arriving with a yawn at 6:08 this morning, it’ll depart our area at 8:09 PM, giving us almost fourteen hours of the sun’s presence today. Huzzah!

But wait! Sunshine has punched through! The temperature is now…51 F.

Oh, wait. The sunshine is blocked again.

Rain is falling again.

The neurons have Bonnie Raitt singing and playing in the morning mental music stream, “Nick of Time” from 1989. This song is from an album by the same name. The album was part of my wife’s album rotation back in the 1990s and became ingrained into the neurons. I believe they brought it up today because of the weather. On rainy days like this, she’d declare, “Let’s put on some music and clean, and then we’ll just sit around and read books.” It worked.

Here’s the music. Now the neurons are singing the praises of coffee and suggesting that I go indulge in a cup. Have a better one. Cheers

Friday’s Theme Music

The time was checked.

4:14 AM.

About two hours before sunrise.

I listened for noises and heard nothing. One cat was asleep by my head. My wife was asleep. I don’t know the other cat’s whereabouts. He’s still young and likes the night life. I blamed him for whatever noise I’d heard and settled back toward sleep mode, thinking about the dreams I’d been experiencing. Up top was the cow puzzle dream. The neurons began playing “The Midnight Special” by CCR.

Hi. Today is Friday, April 29, 2022. Looks like the perpetual battle between clouds and sunshine is entering another rain. The sun made a bold move, striding in at 6:09 AM, but the clouds have lined up some towering heavies to the northwest. Our temperature is 42 F, but it’s a damp one with the remains of yesterday’s watery hours lending its effect. We expect 65 F as our high before the sun leaves our stage at 8:08 PM.

Thinking about using “The Midnight Special” as today’s theme music, I searched and confirmed that I used it last year on May 10. In the post, I noted that my kidney stone had passed.

I decided to do something other than “The Midnight Special” as today’s theme song. The neurons responded with Shawn Mullins and “California”, a song my spouse actively dislikes. The song was never released as a single that I know but I’ve heard it periodically and enjoy its details about the people and their lives – driving a Trans Am, listening to Bob Dylan, etc., and also enjoy the guitar and organ play, as well as Shawn’s voice. There’s a Tom Petty vibe to Mullins’ music, especially “California”. So here we are.

Stay positive, and so on, for another day, or perhaps another month or year, or more. Coffee is speaking up in the other room. I’m going to go see what it wants. Cheers

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑