Saturday’s Theme Music
Patchy snow is scattered over the ground like confectioner’s sugar on pastry. Weak sunlight bleeds through a porous gray quilt of clouds. Welcome to April 16, 2022.
Yes, we’re having unseasonable weather on this Saturday, as we’ve had unseasonable weather last season and the season before. When it’s unseasonable like this, it’s unseasoned to my taste.
Snow is in the forecast. The high will be 46 F, up ten degrees from the thermometer’s current stop. Sunrise came — look, there’s some shy sun looking our way now! — came at 6:29 AM. Sundown will steal in around 7:53 PM.
Another night of dreams, but it was a car drive with my wife yesterday, running local errands. As we passed a local landmark, we were, like, hey, something is different, and then remembered, oh, that’s where that drunk driver took out the tree used for the holiday lighting. We wanted to see it again, so I turned the car around. Well, just thinking, ‘turn the car around’ inspired the neurons to begin playing “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)” by O.A.R. from 2008. The song remained in the morning mental music stream today.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, etc. Here’s the music. Now, I’m off on a vision quest. My vision is a cuppa hot coffee. Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music
Friday has arrived. Around the nation, in work stations and meetings, cars and on Zoom, I hear people smiling and telling one another, “Thank God it’s Friday.” TGIF. For shift workers, it might not be Friday. And wait staff, hospitals, and others associated with jobs whose tasks and activities don’t recognize a standard work week, they’re probably muttering, “Is it Friday?” Then they think how the weekend might spin. It’s a four-day weekend in the U.S. For, this is Good Friday and the First Day of Passover. Sunday is Easter. Many schools are closed for today and Monday. The change will do some folks some good. Your life might vary. Let’s hope some shooter somewhere doesn’t decided to make this a more memorable weekend.
Today is April 15, 2022. Hey, your taxes done? Sunrise was another glorious show, a sharp dawning of light piercing the sky as the mountains were cleared at 6:30 AM. Temperatures are at 37 F outside of my house on the valley wall. Sundown will take over at 7:52 PM. Our high should be in the fifties again. Another winter weather advisory is in effect, for snow over 2500, 2-6 inches. A lot of snow for April, but appreciated, given our dry winter and drought conditions.
My dreams featured waterfalls. Naturally, the neurons are playing “Waterfalls” by TLC (1995) in the morning mental music stream. (In fairness to the neurons, they first started with the theme song to the Mouseketeers.) 1995 was the year I retired from the USAF, and I remember the song playing during my commute in my final months, wondering if I was chasing waterfalls. It worked out well, though, for me. The AIDS epidemic of the era was behind the song’s lyrics, something I later learned. While I took it as a song about doubt, it’s more of a song of worry, pain, and desperation, and a parent trying to protect their child. It’s much different from my dreams, where I remember realizing I was standing in a waterfall, looking over its edge and thinking, “Neat. What power and beauty.” In the manner of dreams, the waterfall infused me with a sense of strength, and I walked away feeling invigorated.
Stay positive, etc. Hope your weekend goes well, whether it begins today or another day. I’m off for coffee. Here’s the song. Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music
Today finds us at the juxtaposition of winter and spring and the week called Thursday, April 14, 2022. Snow on the mountains is a hopeful sign for us in our drought-struck state while the buds and flowers remind us of spring’s promise of life and growth.
Sunrise was a solid showing of light and warmth at 6:32 AM. Showers have drifted away, the clouds moving on for the moment, muttering about, “maybe coming back later,” perhaps after they go off to chill and have something to eat or drink, maybe even coffee. Although just 41 F right now, the sun’s presence makes it feel warmer to me. A 44-degree high is all they say we can hope for before sundown at 7:51 PM.
Reading the news, I can’t stop the conclusion from jumping into my head that Putin is a terrorist. “Don’t you dare join NATO, or I will nuke you,” he metaphorically shouts in his cold, threatening tone. Isn’t that the way of war, though, “don’t do that or we’ll do this,” pressing an escalation of tension with fear and the threat of violence. If not a terrorist, he’s certainly a bully. I know, the U.S. has its own version of bully tactics, too. At least we haven’t overtly attacked another nation recently.
The neurons have planted “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison in the morning mental music stream. Released when I was fourteen, its slide guitar, rhythms, and lyrics mesmerized me. Yes, I know of the later copyright infringement action and the obvious connection between “He’s So Fine” and “My Sweet Lord”. While “He’s So Fine” is an excellent song, its lyrics and slide work didn’t have me sitting there listening again and again.
Stay positive, test negative, drink coffee, wear a mask as or when needed, and get the jabs as, when, etc. Sorry about the coffee bit; it just jumped in there because it’s that time. Not trying to influence you or anything, no, about the promise of what that hot, dark beverage can do for the body and soul, no, not at all.
Here’s the music. Look – sunshine! Hey, it’s raining. Cheers
Wednesday’s Theme Music
Another rainy day with chilly temperatures, another night of dreams, another morning of feeding the cats and then sitting down at the ‘puter. Feels a bit boring today. Tedious. I’m ready to dive back into the novels in progress but I’m also reading an excellent book. It all balances.
Hello, and welcome to Wednesday. This is April 13, 2021, a day when the sun rose over the Cascades at 6:34 this morning, showing us a spring that looked and felt more like late February than mid-April. Sleet fell for a while this morning, becoming snow, and then rain. Not a sharp surprise to the mind as we’re sitting at 37 F with hopes for a high of 42 F before sunset at 7:50 PM. More of the same is forecast until Easter Sunday, as a slow-moving Low comes aboard the Pacific Northwest.
The neurons have Pat Benatar singing “Shadows of the Night” from 1982 in the morning mental music stream, an occurrence directly attributed to Papi cat. The ginger blade wanted out, of course, so I did my duty at 3:30 AM. I had the porch light on, turning it on first to ensure no other beasts were waiting to ambush him, and watch his reaction to his environment. When he turned and dashed for the shadows, a WTF passed did a neuron wave. I went out to see what the what with a torch at which point the orange boy galloped back to me and into the house. I asked him what he saw in the shadows, but he stayed smugly silent.
The neurons picked up on ‘shadows’, though, of course, and kicked Benatar’s song in right off. It’s a good representation of early 1980s style rock, though, and a pleasant way to entertain the ears and mind. It’s a pretty silly video, though.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as or when needed, and get the jabs as it’s figured out. Coffee is serenading me in the other room, so off I go. Cheers
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Hi! Welcome to Shootday, April 12, 2022.
I’m sorry. Shootday! Ha, ha. What a slip of the head. It’s not Shootday, it’s Tuesday. That whole Shootday slip came from reading news of the many shootings. How many dead, where, when? Hard to track them all. Of course, if we did have a day of the week for shootings, our challenge would be deciding which day. It’s always Shootday in America, folks. Clearly, what is needed are more guns. As the old adage goes, speed kills, so give us more speed. Same logic for increasing the number of guns, isn’t it?
Why, no, gun advocates say. Our idea is that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun. Everyone in a dance club should be armed; that would stop someone from walking in and shooting anyone else. Also, everyone in school. And everyone in the family should be strapped, because family members shoot and kill one another. Toddlers should be armed because you never know when Daddy is gonna snap and shoot you. And that four-year-old killed by the two-year-old sibling in the gas station parking lot should have pulled and shot their little brother first.
Yep. Solid logic.
Okay, that snark front has moved through. On to normal muttering.
It’s 34 F now. We expect to hit 44 F. Sunrise came, lighting up the snow, at 6:35 AM. And the sun will move out of my sky area — skyrea? — at 7:49.
Yeah, we got some snow yesterday. Though we’re below two thousand feet and the warnings were for the snow level to be above 2500, snow pummeled us throughout the afternoon. The snow lacked solid temperature support at that point, with the thermometer indicating it was 33, leaving us with a sketchy snow offering today, an inch plus in some places, nothing in others. Yes, it was more spectacle than result for us. Hopefully, enough snow struck and stuck on the snowpacks to give us more water this summer.
The cats quickly sized up the weather situation and seized on the strategy of staying in, staying warm, and sleeping. Smart felines
An STP song — that’s Stone Temple Pilots and not the racer’s edge — is circulating around the morning mental music stream. “Unglued” came out in 1906. Hah! I kid. It wasn’t that long ago, but in 1994, which is only (mumble mumble) years ago. It’s directly related to my writing efforts yesterday. I was struggling with focus and concentration, a struggle abetted by interruptions from others in the household. That prompted the line, “I got a feeling coming over me,” to, um, come over me. The line is used in “Unglued”. The neurons recognized that and uploaded the song into the mental stream.
Stay positive…and so on. You know it, right? Here comes the song. Now I’m up for coffee. Cheers
Monday’s Theme Music
A strong wind shoves tree branches down as snow showers lash the land at a forty-five-degree angle. Snow grabs hold of branches and leaves and builds around the bushes’ base. A sunshine spotlight dramatically highlights ponderous charcoal clouds as the air holds the thermometer at 33 F.
It looks like that kind of day where we’ll have a bit of everything.
A winter storm warning is in effect for a few more hours. The snow level has been lowered but it’s still a few hundred feet higher than us. Clouds shroud the far mountains, staying us from observing if anything has fallen yet.
Today is April 11, 2022, Monday. The sun came onstage at 6:37 AM. He’s due to bow out at 7:48 this evening.
The dream mind had an eventful night. One dream had me witnessing the cat puke baked beans on the bed beside me. There were clues that it was a dream, such as the sunshine streaming in through the window, and the bright yellow bedspread. But I woke to check anyway, peering around in the darkness for vomitus as the sleepy cat asked, “What’s going on? What are you doing?”
When I tried returning to sleep, the cat was now up and pushed in to have me scratch his nose, a favorite night pleasure for him, and then stroke his back. Sucked in by sleep, I stopped after a few seconds. He pushed up against me to start again. Out of that, the neurons called up “Love Me Two Times” by The Doors from 1967, where it stayed in the morning mental music stream. I offer it up to you. This video recording begins with Jim reciting some poetry.
The sun has retreated. Snow flurries fall. The charcoal clouds have yielded to a softer, more threatening light-gray mood. Time for coffee. Here’s the music. Cheers
Sunday’s Theme Music
The sky looks like a gray warship going by. “Sun?” the valley asks. “What is this sun you speak of?”
Today is Sunday, April 10, 2022, but winter is on the stage for an encore, bringing snow to the upper levels — three thousand feet — and rain down in the valley, a perfect complement to the cold air. It’s 39 F now. We expect 50 but I don’t know… The cats are doubtful, curling up in warm spaces and already asleep, their day plan already being executed. We humans take snow and rain here in southern Oregon. Give us something to refill the water tables in all its phases and elements, and water the food chain.
The sun’s moment came at 6:39 AM but she balked over showing off her blaze. She leaves our stage at 7:47 this evening.
Another night of brisk dreams had my neurons singing several songs. Finally, while in the bathroom shaving and thinking about my reflection, they began singing bits of a song about being older, so much older. Took a minute or two to realize the neurons were having fun with me, playing the opening lines to John Mellencamp’s “Hurt So Good”. The neurons were sobered some when I pointed out that the song came out when I was living on Okinawa, which would put it forty years ago. They were like, “Wow, we were only twenty-six then. Where does the time go?” “Indeed, my little neurons,” I replied, “indeed.”
Gotta admit, this seems like a strange music video. Never saw it before. Was reluctant to post it after watching it. But I did, though I grimaced.
Stay positive, test negative…you know the routine by now. If you don’t, then I think you might be a lost cause. Coffee is coming up and I am out of here. Cheers
Saturday’s Theme Music
It’s green-bag day, so today’s first business was putting that outside. Tucker the magnificent was talking about how underfed, hungry, and neglected he is, and so had to be fed. Of course, as soon as food was mentioned, Papi said, “Hey, what about me?”
All in all, this Saturday, April 9, 2022, has started like many other days, if you ignore the green bag. Sunrise illuminated a blue spring sky at 6:42 AM. An overnight low of 39 degrees F had the heater run for a little time. We don’t expect much for a high, 52 F but we’ll accept it. Never did see any rain in my area today. Clouds are anticipated later today here but no rain.
Before dream processing, “Severed” by The Decemberists was orbiting the morning mental music stream. Somehow, the mind plates shifted, and the neurons began instead playing “I Alone” by Live from 1994. So that’s the theme music. Reflecting on the song, I remembered and confirmed that it was about learning spirituality on your own, that it’s something that can’t be given to you.
I took a day off from the news yesterday after reading initial reports of the rocket attack on a train station in Ukraine. I was also trying to focus on writing/re-writing, and pushing some energy that way. A friend read the alpha version of The Constant and had excellent feedback. I was immediately stimulated to start working scenes.
Well, I say a day from the news, but habits rode in and I was back at reading the news by the mid-afternoon. There, headlines from around the U.S. blared about more gun deaths. A two-year-old shot and killed his four-year-old sister in a car at a gas station. Six dead in Sacramento. Three dead in Florida. More dead somewhere else. But please, let’s talk about protecting children from hearing about gender. The idiocy makes me scream.
Stay positive and test negative, my friends, wear a mask as needed to protect you and your pods, and get the jabs to do the same. I have my coffee; here is the song. Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music
The day has pivoted, the world has turned, the calendar page is flipped over to Friday, April 8, 2022. Our weather has turned, too, dropping about twenty degrees. The sky is a study in conflict of blue, white, and gray. But, hoo-rah, we’ll have some rain showers today.
It’s 53 degrees F out there, according to my desk weather station. A high of about sixty is guessed at. Quite windy right now, as the air moves the trees and drives the cats back into the house. Sunrise was at 6:42 AM. Sundown will fall about 7:44 PM.
The neurons pulled a song out of 1973 and stuffed it into the morning mental music stream. It’s apparently related to the words, ‘the night time is the right time’. From that grew the Status Quo song, “Caroline”. If you’re not familiar with it, this is a rocker, children. Sadly, I don’t think I’ve heard it played anywhere for about thirty years. Had the album on vinyl but didn’t replace it on CD. Sad face. Nice version played during Live Aid 85. Like the addition of the piano, which the original song lacked.
Stay positive, test negative, say it with me. Mask as needed, vax as needed. Here’s the music. Guess where I’m going now? If you said the bathroom, you’re wrong. I’m heading for the coffee. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 