Singing my life songs

I'm back composing music again. I got the idea for this one around Christmas. It's all about the Christmas story and how parts of it are just not easy to believe. Oh, not the virgin birth--I can accept that--but the fact that anyone would send out soldiers to murder all the boy babies under 2 years of age just to be sure to get the one child, Jesus. It's unthinkable.

The good thing about this story is the passion it gives me to use in the lyrics and the music. I love matching the form to the meaning, having the accented beat in the bar fall on the most important word, and letting my own passion for the subject run free as my hands roam over the piano looking for the next phrase. And then I love to stop the action, change the beats in the bar, use a caesura for emphasis--all that great stuff.

I feel like I'm reaching deep within myself to express exactly how I feel. Oh, I know I love to talk in a crowd and have little trouble getting my point across, but in writing there is no one interrupting and I can pause to think about just exactly the best phrasing to use. Then when I have the song all finished I can print out a wonderful copy, professional looking, and with my name as the composer. What satisfaction. My first performance of it is for my number one fan, my hubby. He is so supportive and likes to be part of all I create. Then I like to send it to Beth for her to play. She now has the software so I could probably send her the file if I wanted.

My only sadness is that I don't have the drive to push my music to the world. How wonderful would be the feeling of hearing a famous person singing my songs. Maybe some day. Meanwhile I keep writing and learning, printing and binding, singing and feeling, and finding new ways to express myself--and that's a very good thing.

Oh, my God! Really?

Today's post is a list of things I've learned in my many years so far. Sometimes in life you just have to laugh.

10. Losing weight is not so much about what you eat as where your head is at.
9. Mirrors at the gym are to scare you into working hard.
8. Women like to be told they look good. All the time. Over and over. It's a little thing that will bring men big rewards.
7. The positive side of things tastes much better than the negative side.
6. When you think someone is absolutely nuts, get to know them better. Chances are they're the most interesting types you'll ever meet.
5. Each crazy patterned bit in a patchwork quilt contributes to the whole, like people.
4. The different sized clothes in my closet are a metaphor for the many facets to my personality. I keep telling myself that anyhow.
3. Getting older means you have splitting nails, dry hands and scaly legs but the important thing is your mind is still whirring along wonderfully.
2. As you age hair thins on your legs but sprouts freshly on your upper lip.
1. After a barium enema your poop is a pale whitish-yellow colour.

I guess the above points are examples of wry humour!

Scenes From Arizona

While in Arizona our hosts drove us up Mount Lemmon, just outside of Tucson, a trip of about 2 hours up including the lookout stop about half way. Like a little kid, I hopped around snapping pictures, not knowing when to stop. This one shows the beautiful big sky beyond the strong stone mountain. I felt I could see California!

Turning away from the broad expanse above I was enthralled by this natural sculpture, so much so that I had to climb up as far as I could to be a part of the scene. Hubby and I made it to the base of that teetering pillar of stone.

Golf at Tubac is a wonderful experience for hubby. This is a view looking out onto the fairway. I loved the contrasting shades of dark in the archway and the afternoon sun-drenched trees in the distance. Maybe I should have been golfing instead of shopping. Well...........

It is winter in Arizona, a state noticeable by the bare trees and some cold days, but we loved it all the same. Their winter is nothing like ours. Another scene from the golf course is positively pastoral. Who would ever guess this is the desert?

From these shots you might think Arizona is not desert but it definitely is. On other trips we have captured wonderful desert shots so this time I focused on the unusual. It is a wonderful part of the continent, so much so that we'd love to live there!

Cool California

Today I give you more pictures of California, this first being a fairy land scene of Idyllwild in the mountains near Palm Springs. We went into a chancey-looking restaurant and were surprised to meet a humorous waitress and excellent staple food.

On our four-hour Hummer tour up to Joshua Tree National Park we stopped at this oasis on the San Andreas Fault, easily marked by the massive palms sucking up the water created where the two plates come together, forming the fault. At least I think that is what we learned! We absolutely loved this spot and were sad that the driver wanted to move on so quickly. What a lovely natural discovery. Notice the old palm fronds of years past on the lower part of the trees. These were new to us.

We bumped and slid for an hour and a half up the trail to see the Joshua trees which only grow at high altitudes. Hubby and I are standing in front of one of the larger ones.

Hummer tour! That sounds awesome, we all thought. This is the tired but still sturdy Hummer we rode in for the tour, which did the job twisting and turning around rocks, finding a trail up the mountain where basically none existed. And on the way down, we actually met a Ford Explorer trying to negotiate the same trail. Sitting much lower than the Hummer I am sure the Ford got stopped very soon after we saw it as the rocks were so huge he wouldn't have made it. And there's no AAA out there!

Another day, at the Andreas Canyon Indian Reservation we discovered this lovely sanctuary for hummingbirds. Look closely to see several flying around. There were about fifteen that we could see coming and going.

Sometimes I wonder why I take so many pictures on trips but when I come home I find they help me remember our great discoveries, indexing our finds forever. Cool!

Now I've been tagged!

Checking out my daughter's blog I learned about her being 'tagged', meaning she was asked to write about ten things that define her style. Wondering exactly what that was I read through the list, nodding my head at times and aha-ing now and then. When I got to the end I was thrilled to read her comment about her mother--me!--and that she has tagged me to do the same exercise. I love sharing this part of my daughter's life. So here is my list of ten things that define my style:
1. Hubby and I breathe pride when we think of our two children and the adults they have become. They are both really great people, loving the world and themselves. I like to think I had something to do with that; in fact raising them has been my crowning achievement.
2. Organizing my life is very important to me. I like things in their place and often borrow hubby's label maker thing to put neat, precise titles everywhere, although I haven't gone to Beth's level. She labeled their whole closet so every item has its own hanger and spot.
3. I am a singer and love to soar on the high notes. Having a special high part to sing in a choir anthem is joy to me. I thank my mother for my voice and my love of music.
4. Beading my pretties is my latest passion, another thing in my quest for creativity. I have often said there will never be enough time for me to try all the things I want to learn and so far I have learned knitting, crocheting, sewing, pottery, knitting by machine, plaquing, photography, composing music, and many different computer-assisted creative projects--the list is as long as my life will be.
5. I chuckled when I saw Beth's comment about being slow to accept a new idea. I am that way with gifts. My hubby is a very thoughtful gift-giver, taking great pride in ferreting out unusual things. I open them and wonder where he got that idea and what will I ever do with that, but soon I think about it and realize that he knows me better than I know myself and that gift is perfect for me.
6. I love people. I love to laugh with them and to study their uniqueness. And, as I've gotten older, I am much more patient with and understanding of their ways of doing things which might differ from mine but are still awesome.
7. I struggle with my weight. For the last thirty years I have put on and taken off those same 25 pounds numerous times, now realizing that food gives me life but I seem to lack the ability to keep my consumption to just eating to live, rather than sliding over into living to eat. It all tastes so good!
8. I married just before I turned 20 and am still married to the shining light of my life. He is my rock and I am his. We need each other but more than that we delight in each other. Lucky we are!
9. I delight in teaching things to people. Over the years I have taught high school French, English and Computers, along with a smattering of Business subjects. I have also directed choirs and taught adult courses, both things giving me a lot of pleasure. The latest thing I did was help my friend in Arizona learn a few new things on her computer--how to set up and use Messenger, how to import a recalcitrant email file, and how to use Windows Explorer for a few things. It was fun!
10. I am quick to answer and to suggest ways to do things. This has been good but I notice I am becoming much better at letting others speak first. Maybe I am more comfortable in my own body and don't need the rush of knowing the answer first. So maybe wisdom does come with age. I hope so. I'll be watching for it!

PS. I'd like to tag Trish to write about 10 things about her style. She is a world traveller, a seeker of answers, a student of the world and I know she will have wonderful things to write. Here's to you, Trish.

Colourful California

Today I give you three shots from California. This first is of the grounds at the Marriott hotel on the property where we stayed in a timeshare two-bedroom unit. All of it was wonderful but this lovely scene shows the standard we've come to expect and enjoy at the resorts Marriott owns. (I sound like I work for them!) We do enjoy knowing the place will be wonderful wherever we go if we stay at Marriott timeshares.

While in California we visited the Living Desert where we found animals of many species, the ones from Africa really catching our attention. This giraffe below we all took turns feeding and then I stood back snapping pictures, looking for that one special one. Here the giraffe is smiling for me, I think.

Finally for today, here is one of the beautiful sunsets I captured out our dining area window. In the foreground is the golf course which you can't see in this shot, but didn't the sunset streak beautifully?

California was special in many ways: the palms, the cool climate with no snow!, and the time we spent with our Shades of Bliss daughter and her husband. The Palm Springs/Palm Desert area had lots to entertain and enthrall us. I'll be writing more about it in the days to come.

Holy Crap! Where's the De-Icer?

Sunday, late in the day, hubby and I chugged up the 401 from Detroit airport to home after a sunny two weeks in California and Arizona. The road was bare and we made good time, arriving here about 8:45 p.m. Tired and glad of our own bed, we turned the lights out early, beginning a beautiful blissful sleep until about 8:00 the next morning. We couldn't believe we slept so long! Looking out the window I saw an icy panorama and was glad we had made it home on good roads. Here is the view from my office window upstairs. Note the icy tree.

In the midst of getting breakfast, about 8:20, the power went out. Oops. Guess it's cold breakfast. Not to worry. We had food in the house and bundled up. We turned on our gas fireplace and spent most of the morning in that room as the house gradually cooled down. Figuring what to do was the biggest problem as we are so dependant on power for our computers, our cooking, our washing of clothes.

Meanwhile outdoors, beside the front porch our little weeping caragana seemed to be shrinking under the weight of all that ice, and the red maple branches were hurting as well. This is the time when trees often lose their limbs as they creak, creak and often crack. There will be a lot of trees damaged across the area.

Around noon the power came back on and we raced to our computers to connect with the world. Hubby works from home so he checked his email which led to lots of work to keep him busy. I caught up on banking, email, uploading my holiday pictures and a bunch of other things. Around 2:00 p.m. the power died again and we were silent in our front room with the fireplace again. I thought I'd go down to the bank but then realized that I couldn't get the garage door open and would have to walk in all that ice and when I reached the bank it might not have power. Maybe they have a generator but I decided banking could wait till later.

Little did I know that the power would be out till almost 5 p.m. By then banking was way back in my priorities and I quickly heated the soup I had been defrosting all day. I put a kettle of water on to warm in case the power pooped again. Hubby went out on the roof to check on the ice near the drain--don't want a repeat of the freaky freeze we had a few years ago which resulted in a flooded room below and an insurance claim.

The story ends here today, with us still waiting for the sun to come out and melt the ice off the trees. Meanwhile I'm left with my memory, just before I went to bed last night, of the streetlight sliding brightly down the glassy branches as snowflakes drifted lazily to the ground. It was another time to stop and delight in the scene before it melts.