Tag: weather

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: focused

It’s Tuesday morning in Ashlandia, where the sky is blue and the trees are green. September 5, 2023, we’re teetering between summer and autumn here. 49 F upon rising, it’s now 58 F and heading for the low eighties. Trees haven’t begun turning yet but the air’s smell and feel seem shifted. Peaches are harvested from friends and neighbors’ places, and damn were they awesome. No cherries this year; didn’t work out weather-wise.

Had to drop off my car at the mech’s this morn. I’d had new pads, etc., installed in the rear, and the car developed this strange groaning. Took it back to the mech; they found a rock stuck in the caliper. That should fix it, no charge.

It didn’t.

So, I took it back and requested the mechanic drive around with me so he could hear it. He concluded it might be the bearings in the hub assembly. So they’re putting ears on the chassis, which sounds neat. They’re listening devices which can be isolated so you can define where the sound is originating. They’ll hopefully find and fix the cause today.

Anyway, that process forced me out of my rhythm. Had to have early AM coffee. Now I’m catching up. The Neurons are firing but have brought up “Beth” by KISS (1976) where it whirls around the morning mental music stream (Trademark outstanding). I’ve searched for reasons for the song and interrogated Les Neurons, but none of them will confess why they chose that song. Only thing that came to mind was that the singer is focused and struggling with a creative endeavor, suffering isolation and separation to achieve their end. I identify with that when I’m writing and my world focus draws in to go work on the book.

I’ll make it through. Hope you do, too. Stay pos, be strong, work it out. More coffee is due. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: bubbly

A chill holiday Monday morning in Ashlandia, where the lawns can be green and lush, or dry and brown, depending on your ability to afford water. Clouds have sway over the scene. No rain is expected but one wonders with fifty shades of gray drifting overhead. Yardwork has commenced out there somewhere — you can hear the power tools cutting, blowing, trimming. It never ends for some, and they don’t take breaks until snow seizes the space. Fall seems truly on the way, with 60 F again our morning temp and an afternoon high of 72 F anticipated. This is September 4, 2023. Happy birthday if it’s your day, likewise happy anniversary, and congratulations.

Slow news day, of course, as is the American holiday tradition. Steve Harwell’s death at 56 from liver issues has us talking. In light of Buffett’s death, we remember the many years when ‘always in threes’ seemed to rule. This was a general observation that celebrities and famous people die in clumps of three at a time. It’s been studied and disproven, but here we are, two gone.

If it’s not on your news feed, Harwell was a Smash Mouth founder and member up until a few years ago. (Smash Mouth is an American rock band.) Naturally Los Neurons have plucked Harwell songs from the gray vault of memory and slide them into the morning mental music stream (Trademark offered). I’m going with “Walking on the Sun” in 1997. When the song was unleashed on the world, it was one that gave pause to listen and think, “Wait, what’s he singing?” Written in the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King riots, some band members dubbed it a social justice battle cry. I’ve always interpreted it as a song bitter with recognition that we keep doing insipid things while much greater problems taking place are shoved into the background. Big reason for this happening is how often the media treats news like entertainment, advocating for a local escaped convict in one city or town with the same time and passion as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires. Need the white girl syndrome need be mentioned? Anyway, with the world on fire again or still, thought it was proper tribute to Harwell and the Earth’s situation to have this song on Labor Day in America.

Stay pos, be brave, be strong. Time to press on one more time, one more day. Here’s my coffee, and the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: comfy

Man, was I comfortable in bed. Night air slipped in over me through a cracked window. I’d shifted positions and blankets until my sleeping g spot was nailed, and I didn’t want to go. Pleasant dreams had entertained me, and Tucker’s deep-throated purr was putting out white noise. So I just stayed in bed a while, drifting through various stages of sleep until my bladder spoiled it all.

It’s Sunday, September 3, 2023, in Ashlandia, where the politicians are average and the people are good-looking. Gray clouds block the sky. Weather folks say it’s partly sunny. I wouldn’t call this party sunny, but mostly cloudy. Could be different in another part of town. Probably is. 62 F out now, 72 F is thought to be the high. Yesterday’s high was supposed to reach the 70s but the weather was an overachiever around our place, ending up at 82 F.

After learning of Jimmy Buffett’s passing, one of his songs has full command of The Neurons. “Come Monday” is echoing through the hallowed halls of the morning mental music stream (Trademark forecasted). It’s not like his bouncier songs, but it does feature his hallmark mellow-dy. A worthy song for Sunday when you’re looking forward to going on. It could also have been Der Neurons’ choice because the first line mentions, “Headed out to San Francisco for the Labor Day weekend show,” This is the Labor Day weekend in the US.

As I got up late, I started on coffee early in my routine. Have already had a cup, thanks; The Neurons are happy campers. Stay pos, be strong, and keep going. It’s darkest before the dawn, right? Here’s the music. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Mood: sparkling

Wow. Saturday, we have blue sky, and I can see across to forever. Rained most of the first day of September. September 2, 2023 gives us almost smoke free sky and the best air quality numbers in over a month in Ashlandia, where the roads are under construction and the people are weary. 60 F now, we expect sunshine and thunderstorms, along with a high in the mid to upper seventies. Feels like summer is throwing a final hurrah.

We have had a great deal of road work going on in town. Repaving, along with fixing sidewalks and building ADA bump-out corners. Slowed us down a little, but given that our vehicular traffic is miniscule, our slow downs are nothing like the frustrating encounters of San Jose & San Francisco, CA, or Frankfurt,
Germany, Seattle, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Boston, San Antonio, Chicago, etc. There are advantages to small town living, and that what’s we are.

I had Wham singing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” ringing through the morning mental music stream (Trademark tested). I don’t know how The Neurons came up with that. Nothing about their reasoning peered through the morning fog. They wouldn’t answer any queries about it, either. Crickets to however I phrased things. No reply at all, as Phil Collins sang.

Then I saw something about the Beastie Boys on social media and “You gotta fight for your right to paartay” blared through the morning mental music stream. However, that only lasted until I saw news of Jimmy Buffet’s death. Then a medley of his songs swam into the morning mental music stream. Which to go with?

Well, the choice wasn’t mine. The Neurons resumed with Beastie Boys and won’t let it out of the morning mental music stream. So, here we go with today’s choice about rights; “You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) from 1986 is today’s theme music. But I will comment on Buffett. His mellow music, with a touch of whimsy introspection, was a regular car companion on long drives across the states and Europe for a number of years. That easy-going style was a good remedy for stress in many days. He’s gone, but technology will keep him alive for us.

Stay pos and strong. The coffee cup cometh. Here’s the boys with their Saturday theme music. Time to bop heads. You gotta admit, it’s a quaint video. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: trending up

September 1, 2023. Friday. Are you ready to turn another page? They’re different sizes, aren’t they? Varying purposes. But they can help us move on and go forward.

Rainy here in Ashlandia, where the cats are masters and the rest are servants. 59 F with our bodies set for a high of 72 F. Thunderstorms are possible. The smoke gives the damp morning an interesting petrichor.

I read about ‘the bottleneck’ last night, a time when humans were almost extinct due to massive climate change. “Our ancestors remained at low numbers — fewer than 1,280 breeding individuals — during a period known as a bottleneck. It lasted for over 100,000 years before the population rebounded.” The study estimates that 98.2% of the world’s humans were wiped out in that era. All due to climate change. Well, probably also due to some poor survival skills, bad lucks, and willful ignorance which led to an unwillingness to change. It’s a study, a paper, an idea that remains to be fully investigated, including how we rebounded. Fascinating stuff, though.

I was thinking about how many tales there are to tell, or new spins on old tales. Out of that, The Neurons brought up a Love and Rockets song, “No New Tale to Tell” and pitted it in the morning mental music stream (Trademark overrated). Bit perverse of The Neurons. They point to the closing lines, “It’s all the same thing, no new tale to tell.” What do you think? Are there new tales to tell?

Let’s continue practicing the Four Bs — be safe, be smart, be pos, be strong. Forward into September with confidence. The coffee is here at last — like I’m not the local provider. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: okay

Thursday, August 31, 2023. Last day of August. September takes over tomorrow. We’re hoping for a peaceful transition of power. Usually is. Time to make your list of monthly goals.

Autumn is sneaking in under the velvet ropes that divide that seasons in Ashlandia, where the deer are numerous and the dogs are wary. Just 64 F now, the forecasted high is within eight digits. Rain is expected in the afternoon. Not a high percentage for our realm, with the median chance at 41%. We don’t usually see rain unless 55% or higher is forecast, but’s been a weird weather year, so we don’t discount it.

Terrific moon last night. Super blue moon, unencumbered by smoke, cast impressive light across the yard. Cats were out there with me, one on either side. They each kept saying, “Why are you looking up there? I’m down here. Pet me, pet me. Here, look, I’m rolling for you. See my belly? See my belly? Who has a pretty belly? Hey you, look at me, damn it.”

“News of the world has been perused. There’s little to lift my spirits. Coffee is applied. It’s marginally effective this morning. Smoke is creeping back into the air. Nice of it to give us a respite for a day. Boy, everyone was so pleased, telling each other about it. “News of the world has been perused. There’s little to lift my spirits. Coffee is applied. It’s marginally effective this morning. Smoke is creeping back into the air. Nice of it to give us a respite for a day. Boy, everyone was so pleased, telling each other about it. We are like, “What do you think of this air? Pretty great, isn’t it?” At least we don’t have hurricanes or tropical storms blowing through. And we’re not flooding, so we have all that going for us.

I read that “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood was released ‘on this day’ back in 1985 or ‘6. The Neurons reacted to that news by replaying “Higher Love” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark damaged). Don’t mind; I quite enjoy the song. I read some factoids about it. That drumming that opens the song was the drummer’s whim, played after the song was over, moved to the beginning during production to give the song a distinctive opening. Well done. The other interesting tidbit I read was about Chaka Khan’s part. She came in, sat at the mic in the recording studio and lit up a cigarette. When her part came, she sang it perfectly, releasing a mouthful of smoke. Not healthy, nor a good role model for others, but definitely legendary.

Here’s the music. It’s a throwback video, with Winwood on the David Letterman Show. “Gimme Some Lovin'” is also played. Yes, Twofer Thursday. Hope you enjoy it. Practice the Four Bs today: Be safe, be smart, be pos, be strong. Here we go. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Wandering Thoughts

Pleasant midday walk. 74 F, sunshine and a delicate breeze. No smoke smells, just cut grass and cooking foods. A doe and her fawns eat and digest in a yard across from an elementary school. Feels comfortable striding through the neighborhood. Feels normal, stress free.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood: optimistic

Lovely moon out last night. I checked it out about 12:30 AM, when the air quality levels were improved and the temperature hovered about 60 F. Did you see that moon? Part of the perigean moon cycle, it seemed quite large, almost full, and pretty clear for us, meaning only soft marigold brushstrokes marred its clarity.

Now it’s 61 F. Clearish air, with some bluish smoky sky. AQI is better but the smoke smell is there to be sucked up as soon as you step out. Where there is smoke, there’s particulates, and possible respiratory system damages. Myself suffers from an AM stuffy nose and sinuses, and a sore throat. Shot of saline up each nostril helps the first, and a cough drop is sucked on once in a while for the latter.

Today’s high will be in the low 80s. This is Wednesday, August 30, 2023, in Ashlandia, where the children seek advancement, and the parents press for sanity.

Tracking the Hurricane Idalia, worrying about my fellow citizens, and tracking fires, worrying about everyone and everything. Engenders a sense of helplessness to track information and understand how little I can affect the course of activities. But track I must. I want to know what’s going on in a multitude of areas.

All that takes me back to how much I take for granted, which is a testament to the past, where problems were recognized and people worked out solutions. I mean things like highways and roads, fresh water supplies, electricity, the net, the food chain. Not all were perfect and some cause us problems, and because people are invested with how well those solutions work, they refuse to admit their solutions are now problems. Also, money. Security. Power. MSP. Follow the MSP and you’ll learn more than you want to know. I mean, think about how insecure wealthy people must be, if they must keep acquiring more money and power to prop themselves up. It’s a sad sickness.

Hearing about taking things for granted caused The Neurons to bring up Todd Rundgren and “Hello, It’s Me,” from the early 1970s. See, he wrote about and sings, “I take for granted that you’re always there.” So easy to fall into the mind slip of taking people and things for granted, and as I was thinking on that, the song began playing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark ancient). I found an interesting stripped down, live version that I hope you enjoy.

I’ve had a half cuppa joe, and the mind has picked up speed. Be strong and stay pos. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: focused

I live partway up a hill that heads on to mountains. The street ends a few hundred feet beyond my house. That’s where the city ceases. South of the end in a few miles is where California’s border with Oregon rests. Distant barking, distant sirens, a distant small airplane, distant truck and car sounds, shape the city to my west and north.

It’s a robust 57 F outside. Today’s top end will be 77 F. Fires dot the rugged land east and south of us, feeding us a perpetual smoke diet. Smoke is worst to the west, suffocating towns like Grants Pass and Medford.

A blood red moon rode our night sky last night like some bad omen. Today’s sun is clearer than other recent days, more of a yellow cast to its brilliance. Sunrise is earlier, sunrise is later as the shifts brought up by our journey through the solar system are reinstated again, part of the annual journey. It’s Tuesday, August 29, 2023, in Ashlandia, where the children are polite, and the adults are political.

I don’t know what’s going on with Les Neurons this AM. They’ve switched on Donnie and Marie Osmond’s cover of “I’m Leaving It Up to You” 1974. That was the year I graduated HS and joined the military. Donnie & Marie are not part of my usual musical palette but that was one of the day’s ubiquitous songs in my region. The part which goes, “I’m leaving it all up to you. You decide, what you’re gonna do. Now do you want my love? Or are we through?” That’s how I remember it. Maybe The Neurons are feeling nostalgic for an earlier life period, when I was young and things were simpler. Who knows what those rascals are up to.

Coffee has been picked up, sniffed deeply, sampled for quality. Time to get on it. Stay pos, be strong, and remember, 42. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

We’ve traveled through the rotation again. Another Monday has come upon us.

It’s August 28, 2023, in Ashlandia, where the smoke rules and we submit. Will be a coolish day for us, 63 with haze now, in the mid eighties on the top end. I was hoping for an overnight miracle and some relief from the smoke. The air quality has improved a little but not enough to give us happy feet. The photo is off Ashland Street and Tolman, going northwest, late afternoon, ’bout 3/4 miles from my abode. Nasty at that time, it only got worse as night descended. No new fires, knock on head, but a cumulative effect of the half dozen burning within 100 miles of us. Turn on the air filter and close the doors and windows. Glad I can do that but it’s dispiriting to think of the many in town without that, homed and homeless.

The cats are none too pleased, and when the cats are upset, then you have trouble. Doing what we can to keep them safe and healthy although they have other opinions about it.

Well, you know with the former President’s latest trial date being set for him and his co-conspirators, Les Neurons have law and order on their minds. That culminated with one of their favorites songs, “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest (1980) settling into the morning mental music stream (Trademark gossip). Here they are, performing at the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

Alright, coffee is on the way. Stay pos, be strong, and mind your step. Here’s the music. Cheers

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