Monday has pulled itself up for another go-around. It’s March 7, 2022. Sunrise kicked in at 6:38 AM and sunset is expected at 6:04 PM. We’re less than a week away from starting Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. again. The debate about whether we should be doing this has already begun locally. We’ll see a ramp-up this week. With COVID-19 on the decline, mask restrictions being lifted, and the Russian-Ukraine war, DST debate will be more muted.
It’s 35 degrees F. No clouds outside of the office window hampering the sunlit azure sky. We’ll see a high of 59 F. today.
Several hours later that same day…
I started this post around eightish. Concurrently, I was calling vets, looking for appointments. None available. All had the same recommendation: your cat needs to go to emergency. Hot, black coffee was downed. Calls were made to prepare the emergency vet service and pre-register. Then off we went.
So, for music, I have The Eagles with “Already Gone” from 1974 because we went out that door and down the road. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vaccines and boosters as and when needed. Cheers
It’s still March, although the number associated with it, 6, is new for the day. The year is still 2022.
Sunshine bulleted through the clouds and across the valley as the sun began striding in at 6:38 this Sunday AM. Sunshine and blue sky dominate but clouds lurk like an NFL hulking defensive line striding to the line of scrimmage meet my eye to the north and west. We started out chill but have jumped to 45 F and expect to reach 56 before the sun bows out at 1807.
I have a Firefall song from 1977, “Just Remember I Love You”, rattling around the morning mental music stream. This mellow melody is directly related to cats. Two sick ones are in residence. I got up a few times in the night, checking on them, feeding them, confirming signs of life. According to the net, Firefall has been active since the year I graduated from high school, 1974. I only know a few of their songs and they’re all light, adult contemporary rock.
Stay positive, test negative, wear thy mask as needed, etc. Excuse me, I’m getting some coffee now, m’kay? Enjoy the song. Cheers
Saturday’s daylight is a thin gruel. Clouds dilute its potency, taking the light from blazing whisky to tepid tea. Enough light has wormed through the parting clouds that snow is seen on the surrounding mountain ranges. That’s something to cheer on for today, March 5, 2022. They’ll be updating the water tables and snowpack information this week, giving us a peek into our future expectations vis-à-vis our drought and water situation this summer. Sunrise came at 6:40 AM and the sun’s dip beneath the horizon at daylight’s end will be at 6:06 PM. We’re grinding closer to twelve hours of daylight. Moving toward the time shift, too, just when I’m starting to feel sorted. Temperatures smack of late winter/early spring — let’s call it lawiearing, pronounced ‘la wearing’ — with the current thermometer reading of 40 F (but it feels like 34) and an expectation of 44 for the high, much like yesterday.
I have two sick cats today. One isn’t eating, vomits once in a while, and remains aloof. The other is being turned into the elephant cat with tumors but still pushes to eat, socialize, and drink water. Caring for them challenges every aspect of normalcy. My admiration for full-time caregivers continue to rise. They must have enormous capacities to care for others and patience that’s beyond human.
I have Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders singing “Middle of the Road” from 1983 up in the morning mental music stream. I was first thinking about 1983 from a comment related to me from my wife about a friend. That was like the pebble that rolls down and creates an avalanche. Then, you know, I looked out of the window and wondered, “What’s that in the middle of the road?” That’s all the cheeky little neurons needed to light the song up in my head.
Come on, baby. Let’s get some coffee in the middle of the road. Stay positive, etc., knock on wood and fingers crossed that it’ll work well as masks are slipped away in a bureaucratic striptease. Here’s the song. Cheers
My energy is low this March 4, 2022. All three of my floof companions are sick. That begs the question, WTF? One is cancer, and we’re just doing comfort and quality of life for him. He fights on, impressing me with his spirit and determination. Death not going to take him by the neck without feeling his murder mittens and their deadly devices. The other two…is it a cold? Malaise? COVID for cats? Another matter? WTF.
It’s a gray and cold, damp day. Like charcoal briquets from last summer’s final grilling. The sun’s energy today would lose a heating competition with a fast-food restaurant’s lamps. Rose before quarter to seven this morning. Gonna stay up there, dealing with the clouds, until just after six this evening. Temperature is now 37 F and weather services say a fist of degrees more will take us to our high. The clouds — must be more than one, but who can say — are a featureless gray monolith, like someone infused the typical blue with a squirt of gray so pale, it doesn’t seem like a color.
The neurons folded a Tom Petty song into the morning mental music stream. The neurons thought it an appropriate response to my chatting with one of the ill felines. “You Don’t Know How it Feels” from 1994 seemed right, though. I was trying to understand what the cat was feeling. It’s him singing it to me. I know little about his life. He goes out, is gone a bit, returns and seems fine, but what did he witness out there? Anyone try to get him?
Those sentiments can be glued onto just about anyone. Beyond their physical manifestation, we rarely glimpse their true history. Their inner world is shut off to our senses. We don’t know how it feels to be them. They don’t know how it feels to be me.
Definitely time for coffee. Stay positive, test negative, etc. You should know it by now. And it’s changing. Fingers crossed, right? Sure.
Sunrise came, quiet as smoke, 6:43 AM. Clouds dominated. Soft rang sang a light ditty. We’re happy for the rain. Give us a little more, please. It’ll be a good day to light the fire and pull out a book. I’m reading Razorblade Tears, and I’m eager to continue.
Today is Thursday, March 3, 2022. Sunset will be at 6:03 PM. Meanwhile, our temperature is 43 F, with a high of 47 possible. A train is chugging through town, its warning horns a higher note under the engine’s low, steady thrum. The tracks are about three quarters of a mile from my house. The sounds remind me of my childhood. Grandpa was a model train enthusiast and bought me train sets, which I set up, emulating him. Many seasons have been swept under the rug since I last played with trains.
I have “Helen Wheels” by Paul McCartney and Wings from 1973 playing loud in the morning mental music stream. Came about because of a dream. Awoke thinking about said dream, which prompted thoughts about said song, and here I am. The dream was about traveling in cars, so the dream and song connection make sense, as the song is also about traveling.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaxes and boosters as needed. Speaking of needed, I think I’ll go into the kitchen and help a cup of coffee fulfill its purpose of melding with my taste buds. Here’s the tune. Cheers
The sun had been coming up, coming, coming up, then — wham — at 6:45 AM, sunshine lit up the trees and mountains, and exposed a clear blue sky.
Welcome to Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
It’s 53 F now. We expect ten more degrees to show up on the thermometer today before the sun’s disappearing act comes around again at 6:02 PM. They say we have a 58% chance for scattered rain showers, but the few thin clouds drifting into our realm don’t really seem interested in delivering rain.
I have several songs orbiting the morning’s mental music scream, but then read of Dee Snider’s proclamation authorizing the Ukrainian people to use “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in their fight against Russia. Though it’s a repeat as my theme music, I thought I’d use the 1984 Twisted Sister song as a to support Ukraine.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, when needed, and get the vaxes and boosters when ye can. Here’s the music. I’m slipping away for a cuppa. Cheers
March has toddled in on unsteady steps. Yes, it’s Tuesday, March 1, 2022 already. Weirdly, I keep wanting to write 2023. Maybe it’s a subconscious desire to just leap this year.
Glorious sunshine spangled the clouds, trees, and mountains in the early going. Temperature was already up to 51 F — 55 now — and we’re probably going to reach 67 F. Went up the road to Medford yesterday for shopping and saw 72 F, according to the car. Didn’t feel like it, though. Felt more like 68.2.
Clouds have massed, a demonstration against too much sunshine, a vow to deliver rain somehow, somewhere, on someone. Sunrise kicked in at 6:46 AM. We’ll ride the rays until 6:01 PM, when they take their leave and wave good-bye.
War and politics rule the news. Coronavirus and pandemic, anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers supplanted by real matters of freedom as Russia plays like the USSR to use tank diplomacy to achieve its goals.
I was out walking in Ashland’s downtown area on Main Street yesterday, visiting the library, picking up more to read which they’d put on hold for me. Was wonderful to have a light, cool breeze flirting with me as sunshine warmed my bod. The neurons summoned Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band singing “Mainstreet” from 1977 as I walked. But when the turns carried me to Sixth Street, the neurons pivoted to the Wallflowers and “Sixth Avenue Heartache” (1996). The latter was the last song standing in this morning’s mental music stream, so here we are.
Stay positive (yes, I know, it’s asking a lot with all the vectors of buffeting), test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Here’s the song. I’m pursuing my destiny with a cup of coffee. Cheers
February’s final day to make an impression on us has arrived. Yes, today is it, Monday, the work week’s beginning, is February 28, 2022, the last day of Feb. Despite that drama (or non-drama, really — just a mental shift for me, don’t know about you), the sun rose at 6:48 AM and will set at 6 PM. It’s a warmish, cloudyish day, with rain offers in its gray gaze. Current temp. is 55 F, and 67 is on the plate as a high.
“You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)” by Rod Stewart (1977) is in the morning mental music stream. The neurons brought it up during a conversation with sick cat, but it stands well with news out of Ukraine. They’re in many people’s hearts as they stand against Putin’s aggression and Russia’s savagery. Lot of stories of bravery have emerged from Ukrainians fighting for their nation and rights. Shouldn’t be a surprise, as they’ve fought for their rights before.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and boosters when you can. Here is the music. I’m off on a quest to find a cuppa hot coffee. Not much of a quest, really; it’s right there in the kitchen. Lucky me.
Sunday, Feb. 27, 2023, has chugged into the calendar station with all the screeching, hisses, and sighs of an old steam locomotive coming to a halt. It’s February’s final Sunday for 2023. One sixth of the year’s months have passed us. Or we passed them.
The gray light seeping through filtering clouds must pass for daylight. That started at 6:50 AM. The daylight hours will end shortly after the sunset at 5:58 this evening. Meanwhile, the valley is seeing a warmer today. Never dropped below 49 degrees F during the night. Now at 52, we expect a high of 60 F. Rain showers may fall.
Had songs from Little Shop of Horrors in the midnight mental music stream. Rocky Horror Picture Show songs followed. They’re gone from the morning mental music stream, which is instead featuring U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. “How long must we sing this song? How long?” The song was released in 1983. U2 members say that it’s about the cycle of violence and doesn’t stand for any specific incidents. Thats what we’re seeing in Ukraine, isn’t it? The cycle of violence. Using war under political cover to kill others, steal, and pervert civilization. We’ve been doing it a long time. How much longer will it happen?
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and boosters when you can. I’m off for the morning ration of coffee. Here’s the tune, from Live Aid in 1985. Cheers
“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” Sometimes they say that Mark Twain said this but that’s disputed. Watching Russia attack and invade Ukraine as Putin talks about going after Finland and Sweden sure does echo with past historic performances in Europe.
Today is Saturday, Mar — no, wait — February 26, 2022. I’ve been doing some time traveling and screwed up the date in yesterday’s post. Or, the cats were angry that I hadn’t provided them with sufficient treats and attention and changed it. Or, I simply made a mistake. I think it’s one of the first two. Surely, it’s not the third. And some reading that will say, “Don’t call me Shirley.” The sun delivered its gift on schedule at 6:51 this morning and is scheduled to perform all day in this area, packing it up at 5:57 this evening. Temperatures weren’t as cold last night, dropping to
The latest war, started by Putin in Russia, attacking Ukraine, pretending he’s doing it for the good of the Ukraine (which I’m sure something the dead agree with) has been going on for a few days. As it takes place, it has the feel and flavor of something that might expand to engulf the world. Not needed, know what I’m saying?
Two songs are competing for attention in the morning’s mental music stream. One is a disco song released in 1976 by one of the great singers and performers of any era. The other is a prog rock song that came out in 2001. “Drops of Jupiter” by Train is the second song. It came to head because of yesterday. The sun was giving us a gift of warm sunshine. My wife and I went down to Lithia Park to walk around and share in some of the treasure. Afterward, she wanted to visit a new store, called Drops of Jupiter. That’s what prompted the neurons to begin the piano notes, vocals, and strings that open the song. But I’ve used that song twice before as the theme music, so it gets voted out of the head.
The second offering is “Love Hangover” by Diana Ross from 1976. Disco raged across the world during that time. I don’t know why the neurons brought it up today. I’m more of a classic rocker with a leaning toward blues but being in a car or out and about meant that you were probably going to be exposed back in the 1970s, which is fine. It’s not rock, but disco has many admirable elements. It’s not the music I’d put on to relax or party, but then, my mother was always shaking her head and telling me that my music was not music. So, different tastes.
Here’s the music. Stay postive. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed. Get the vax and boosters. Hope the war ends soon but I have my doubts. Besides, it’s too late for too many already, and the ramifications for other matters, like the world’s wheat supply, are already rising. I’m going to go get coffee to reflect on it. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 