Tag: weather

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Hello, my fellow homo sapiens. Today is Wednesday, October 27, 2021. A dreary day in the valley of my home. Clouds blustering about rain. Winds whispering about storms. And the sun, quietly hanging back after its 7:38 AM, is a wallflower on this dance. A mild 52 F degrees now, we expect some of these clouds to skate away and leave us in the upper sixties before sunset takes over at 6:43 PM.

I was feeling philosophical last night. A power outage of five hours changed the day’s dynamics. It was a bit of a release, a staycation, as my other and I sat and chatted for most of those hours. I walked later, admiring the gowns the trees brought out for their fall collection. Russets have sprung into many, but there are mild browns, deep scarlet, brilliant red, and most impressively, lemon yellows that still your sight. Some of these leaves, especially on maples going red, seem like they’re lit with an inner light. Before that, I was enduring the monthly dark funk that likes to shroud me once a month for a day or two, spooning bitterness and weariness into me while maligning my energy channels. The walk helped reversed most of that, refortifying shaky defenses and infusing new determination back into my spine.

Out of that came a 1989 Indigo Girls song, “Closer to Fine”. Closer to fine is a good place to be. Not perfect but better than before.

Stay positive, test negative, don a mask as needed for the situation, and get the vax and boosters when you can. Here’s the tunes. Listen while I head off to the kitchen for my coffee. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

A little late with my typical posts. Power was out for over five hours today. Just back on line. Here we go.

The wheel has turned. We’ve all landed on Earth on October 26, 2021, a Tuesday. Speaking for my planetary sliver, it was a rainy night. Hungover rain clouds still drift aimlessly around, like they’re ready to go but don’t know where they’re going. A mild wind blows. It’s a cold 46 degrees F right now. The sun’s presence between now and sunset at 6:13 PM should add another ten degrees, giving us a high of 56 F. Sunrise, mild as an infant’s burp, arrived at 7:36 AM.

Our power is off. Yes, a power outage. Been out for half an hour now. Rare in our area. We had one a year ago, I think. They typically last one to three hours for us. The city has its own electric company, so there’s no outside company to blame. Like most, the questions of what happened and when will it end are foremost in our mind, with attendant worries about what it’ll do to our plans. I’m typing this in Word. Once power returns, I’ll connect to the net and post this, at which time, the power will be on. Follow?

I have “Heavy Fuel”, a 1991 song by Dire Straits, in the morning mental music stream on this Tuesday. BO – Before Outage – I’d a busy day planned. As I made and ate breakfast BO, I didn’t make my coffee but thought I’d do so soon because I’d need heavy fuel for the busy day. So I’m without coffee at the mo. I do have some Starbucks Via – think that’s what it’s called – instant stuff, and a gas stove, so I can boil some water and make do if I need. (Edit: which I did.) That’s why that instant coffee is on hand. It’s part of my emergency evacuation go bag. Meanwhile, I’ll go work on the novel until power is restored. Before the laptop’s battery dies. I replaced the battery a few months ago. The laptop is charged and says that it can give me another two hours. We’ll see.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and boosters when you can. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Welcome to Mocha Monday Madness! How I used to refer to Mondays. Back when I used to regularly visited coffee shops. We’re still under masks limitations in our county, which makes it all a little wearying. But we’re trending toward lower positivity. Fewer COVID-19 cases. Of course, if people had vaccinated, the story might be a little shinier. Even so, I think masks and limitations are here for a while. How long the while lasts depends on too many factors for serious guessing. With my track record, though, these thoughts will push Oregon to life mask restrictions for our county immediately. Just how life sometimes seems: contrarian.

Today is Monday, October 25, 2021. Sunrise came in with grey slug speed at 7:35 AM. Sunshine will spin out of our valley at 6:14 PM. Wind and rain will dominate topics and weather appearances. We’ll top out in the low sixties, which is higher than the current 46 degrees F.

Exasperations and frustrations inform today’s morning mental music stream occupant. Laura Branigan passed away back in 2004. Fifty-two years old. Her greatest commercial success came in the 1980s. That’s when this song was released. “Self Control” was a hit for her in 1984. Her song is basically about partying at night and losing control. Which was the quasi area I was shooting at in my thoughts. As modern frustrations arose, I reminded myself to maintain self-control. To not wallow in a negative energy pool. But that inspired my mental Alexa to pick up on self-control and deliver the Branigan song to my conscious awareness. Love how that works. Stream of consciousness music shuffle.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, get the vax and boosters when you can, and use self-control when called for. Here’s the music. I’m gonna go indulge in a that dark brew that I so enjoy. The one that gets my heart going. Yes, coffee. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Season’s greetings to you, my fellow autumnites. Today is Skunkday, October 24 2021.

Yes, Skunkday, where everything is coming up skunky this morning. Sometime about 2:43 AM, a massive skunk front swept through the house. It was Phase III of the Night of Nature. Phase I was furious winds beating up the house and trees. Wind died. The second assault began: heavy rain. Didn’t mind it. Then Phase III: the skunk assault.

Don’t know what transpired. Dawn at 7:34 AM brought no evidence for this amateur sleuth. No wind damage; just nose damage. Woof. The air purifier is on. Some windows open on the non-skunk side. We’ll see if the air is fresh by sunset at 6:15 PM.

More rain is expected today. Temperatures remain in the mellow zone — low, 42 F, high of 60. Winds have calmed again but we’re being warned that the bombogenesis that’s churning storms out off the coast will be sending more our way. BTW, I love that word, bombogenesis. I think whoever came up with it was probably stoned or tipsy. Sounds like a word my friends and I would come over cups of wine or mugs of beer.

No songs in the morning mental music stream this AM. Made coffee. No song. Fed the cats. No song. Figure that between my dreams — it was a heavy dream night — and the skunk and weather, my brain was too full to register music. But then, there, thinking my head is heavy with dreams brings up Collective Soul playing “Heavy” from 1999. Which is a relief. Thought my mental Alexa had gone on the fritz.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, like when the skunks battle, and get the vax and boosters when you can. Here’s the music. I’m going back to my coffee. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

We interrupt this morning with a special news bulletin. Today is Saturday, October 23, 2021. Sunrise was at 7:33 AM and sunset will be at 6:17 PM. It’s windy and rainy, 50 degrees F, with an expected high of 60 and a low of 42. Clouds splashy with gray and white sprawl across the sky. Every few minutes, sunshine and blue sky bolt through the clouds. Their escape is short as the clouds gang up to shut them down again. From appearances, I’d guess this struggle will be going on for a few hours.

Today’s morning mental music stream inhabitant is “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill from 1993. I haven’t heard this song for at least twenty years. Probably more. But it was featured in a television show I streamed. Hearing it, I remembered how much I enjoyed it. It’s a straightforward, rambunctious punk sound, hard on a steady beat, thick with a driving guitar sound, sustained by heavy bass. Always inspires my head to start moving with it. And it’s a great sing-along chorus.

Sorry for the interruption. We’ll now continue with the morning and I’ll return to my coffee. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and booster when you can. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Give me an F! Give me a U! Give me a —

Oh, wait. I started to spell Friday but diverted onto a Country Joe and the Fish route. Some of you may not understand.

Starting over. Welcome to Friday, end of the work week for many, beginning of the weekend for multitudes. Today is October 22, 2021. Storms roared around us all night, giving drum solos worthy of a Rush concert. Sunrise stole in, infusing light and color into the gray day at 7:32 AM. Sunset comes around at 6:18 PM. A blustery wind has brought us balmy temps. We’re hovering around fifty right now and expect to reach the low sixties. Not as fine as yesterday, when the thermometer kissed the low seventies, but we’ll take it so long as it comes with rain.

Songs about rain and storms are naturally mingling in the morning’s mental music stream. I featured “Stormy” by the Classics IV a few years back. I thought I’d present the Santana cover, done in 1978, for today. Carlos stayed with the original song’s mellow feel. Of course, for me, the line so well known at the end of the chorus, “Bring back that sunny day”, isn’t about a woman, but just better times. Deliver us to some better days — some sunny days — around the world, s’il vous plait.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and vax up and booster up when you can. I’m behind on my coffee rations this morning. Need to go fetch that first cup. Here’s the music. Hope you enjoy it. Cheers

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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.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

I’ve rolled the dice. They’ve come up sixes. Moving my piece — which, by the way, is a beer mug — half full, thanks — I land on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Shadows are long and the sunrise is slow where I am. A weak, lethargic sun, debilitated by distance and angles, hindered by clouds. It began its journey through our sky, a function of the world turning, at 7:29 AM Pacific, and will retreat from our region at 6:21 PM.

Rain sang to us all night long, sometimes soft as a kitten’s swat. Othertimes it burst into a long Buddy Rich drum solo. The wind came in with demonic shrieking and wolfish howling. Now it’s calm. We hear it’s a momentary thing. We’re happy for the rain as it feeds root systems and replenishes our water sources. While it rains here, we keep our fingers crossed that it’s snowing in the mountains, building up the snowpack.

We’re at 46 degrees F. right now. High will be about 56. Air quality is good, at 7.

The morning’s mental music stream is entertaining me with “Eminence Front” by The Who from 1982. Not a favorite song nor album. I felt their mojo had waned by then. But — should be noted — I’m comparing this song with the music I knew from them ten years earlier. I believe front was the trigger for the song’s entrance into the MMMS. I was reading about weather fronts. I think the mental Alexa jumped on that and said, “Playing ‘Eminence Front’ by The Who.” She’s so cheeky.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaxes and boosters as recommended. Then, chill. Have some coffee. I know I will. I hear it whispering to me from the other room. Here’s the music. Cheers

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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.

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