FOTO FRIDAY: PRETTY AS A PICTURE

 FOTO FRIDAY this week was taken at the Heights Spring Soiree yesterday late afternoon at Tipton & Hurst and its creator of this fantastic charcuterie definitely stole the show from the flowers. 

 

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was FUSED

TBT: LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH HISTORIC SITE

There's one stop that is a must for any of my household guests and the Happy Bookers were no exception. Actually it is thanks to President Bill Clinton who ensured Central High School become a National Historic site under the auspices of the U.S Park system.  It is the only school to have this status.

A special treat is also having a former Central student now a U.S. Park Ranger give the initial introduction to Little Rock Cental High and its message of inequality of public education during Brown vs Brown Public Schools in 1954. Then Governor Faubus called in the National Guard to help de escalate a very volatile situation when nine brave black high students sought an equal education in their own neighborhood.

Note below the poster of the Central Nine who braved the injustice for an equal opportunity for education.

We must still remind our legislators the importance of providing equality in public education for all and to fund it appropriately.

TUESDAY TUNES: A MILLION DREAMS

 An 8 year old surrounded by friends and family, teachers, doctors and fellow patients with brain injuries share A Million Dreams on Britain's Got Talent...  May our world always be fille with dreamers .

A MILLION DREAMS

TUESDAY TUNES REMEMBERING A MASTER

Lee Habeeb remembering Arnold Palmer with a couple stories and a song.

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND

Dedicated also to GOLFERBOY,  the first guy who stole my heart when I first started dating in 2001...  

 FOTO FRIDAY: FUSED

Like life, one never knows how it's all going to turn out...

TBT: SIBLING DAY BROS & FROS

 TBT:One of my favorite sibling birthday celebrations at the Chinese Buffet no less.

My parents always were special in their card and gift giving... we still laugh about this one . When one's Dad is in the sperm banking business we kids always wondered who our parents really were!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SURREAL

Forecasted clouds and rain must have chased away the  500K supposed eclipse out-of-town guests to Arkansas.  Restaurants had geared up for all that business but with a no-show, they used social media to notify their patrons they had cooked for the masses to please come patronize their businesses.

Even Sunday the streets were eerily deserted.  Would we really get a glimpse of an eclipse? The 80 degree day was intense heat but when that moon blocked thsun it was incredible how quickly the temp dropped. 

And afterwards the presence of sunlight created an almost surreal lighting.  Was it its absence which intensified color.

 WOW now an eclipse is a lot more impressive than one might imagine. 

TUESDAY TUNES: CHO CO LA TE

TUESDAY TUNES is an oldie but a goodie filled with one of my favorite things... SOUL CONTROL here we go... CHO- CO-LA-TE

CHOCOLATE

MONDAY MUSINGS ABOUT REJUVENATION

My soul was reenergized after spending Friday and Saturday with people of all ages at a lovely bat mitzvah...

That extra energy served me well for refreshing the tired washtubs used for seasonal herbs and also re-painting a set of chairs for the front porch. 

My newly finished screened-in back porch is also shaping up. Poco a poco. 

Do you ever pine for more time and energy?  Due to all these projects, I missed an apparently great Soul Construction class yesterday but am fortunate a friend posted one of the handouts. I think we all can benefit from this outlook regarding age... I can, can you?

"What does it feel like to be old? 

The other day, a young person asked me: - What did it feel like to be old? 

I was very surprised by the question, since I did not consider myself old. When he saw my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question. And after reflection, I concluded that getting old is a gift. 

Sometimes I am surprised at the person who lives in my mirror. But I don't worry about those things for long. I wouldn't trade everything I have for a few less gray hairs and a flat stomach. I don't scold myself for not making the bed, or for eating a few extra "little· things." I am within my rights to be a little messy, to be extravagant, and to spend hours staring at my flowers. 

I have seen some dear friends leave this world, before they had enjoyed the freedom that comes with growing old. 

Who cares if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 in the morning and then sleep until who knows what time?

I will dance with me to the rhythm of the 50's and 60's. And if later I want to cry for some lost love .. .l will!

I'll walk down the beach in a swimsuit that stretches over my plump body and dive into the waves letting myself go, despite the pitying looks of the bikini-wearers. They'll get old too, if they're lucky ... 

It is true that through the years my heart has ached for the loss of a loved one, for the pain of a child, or for seeing a pet die. But it is suffering that gives us strength and makes us grow. An unbroken heart is sterile and will never know the happiness of being imperfect. 

I am proud to have lived long enough for my hair to turn gray and to retain the smile of my youth, before the deep furrows appeared on my face. Now, to answer the question honestly, I can say: -1 like being old, because old age makes me wiser, freer!

I know I'm not going to live forever, but while I'm here, I'm going to live by my own laws, those of my heart. 

I'm not going to regret what wasn't, nor worry about what will be. 

The time that remains, I will simply love life as I did until today, the rest I leave to God. "

Lunyta - in Oldsmar, Florida

FOTO FRIDAY: PLAYING IN THE DIRT

 FOTO FRIDAY Since the watering issue of feeding off the house has been corrected and hooked up with the rest of the sprinkler system station soil and mulch were delivered a week ago. In went the azaleas in one bed and in this bed where only a dead camilia had been now there's a dogwood sapling from my family home and blue hydrangeas.

Neighborhood kids helped me gather stone from all the digging.

and here's how it looks today...

Having fun playing in the dirt....

TBT: LEST YOU FORGET 2016

 TBT: These were posts I posted on this day from 2016 AND you want to bring the guy back? 

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE BRAVE, SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE STRONG

My latest drama series binging called Kaleidoscope inspired this Midweek Musing which truly demarcates the void of a partner to share talking about a show you are watching.  You know sometimes a not so great movie/book gives you a lot more to talk about than if you both really liked it. I thought it was entertaining.

Kaleidoscope is a nonlinear heist story with a revenge plan that is eventually explained with 7 Billion dollars at stake which btw mirrors a real-life 70 billion Manhattan brokerage firm heist with a Stage 4 hurricane aiding the thieves' plans. 8 color-coded episodes are shown in a different order to different viewers. How do they do that?

I personally liked the cast with: Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, Jai Courtney, Rosaline Elbay, Peter Mark Kendall and Niousha Noor, even if some of the schemes were a bit hokey/ more super power'ish techie style with intricate burglar master plans. I enjoyed being challenged to follow the plot and subplots.

You know me and lines so one poignant touching moment with the adult daughter and father reenacting one of those parent-child affirmation lessons saying "show me where you are brave followed by pointing to their head and delivering the next line " show me where you are strong "and putting their hand on their heart. AW. Even if we don't take away anything else, that might be enough for me. 

SO tell me if you saw it, what did you think?

TUESDAY TUNES: RAINING IN MY HEART

 Boy were you all anxious to hear about the perfect man yesterday! Just as there's no perfect woman this clip of an old Buddy Holly song came across my feed by Blackwater Draw. I think you'll like it too as sometimes we all have a little rain in our hearts.

RAINING IN MY HEART

LYRICS;

Raining in My Heart

Song by Buddy Holly

The sun is out, the sky is blue
There's not a cloud to spoil the view
But it's raining, raining in my heart

The weather man says clear today
He doesn't know you've gone away
And it's raining, raining in my heart

Oh, misery, misery
What's gonna become of me?

I tell my blues they mustn't show
But soon these tears are bound to flow
'Cause it's raining, raining in my heart

But it's raining, raining in my heart

And it's raining, raining in my heart

Oh, misery, misery
What's gonna become of me?

I tell my blues they mustn't show
But soon these tears are bound to flow
'Cause it's raining, raining in my heart

Raining in my heart
Raining in my heart

MONDAY MUSINGS: THE PErFECT MAN

What a weekend playing in the dirt...  besides the greenhouse and my own yardwork I binge-watched all the reality shows I have missed: the Golden Bachelor, The Bachelor (Joey), and The Farmer Wants a Wife. Not exactly Love at First Sight. Easy on the judgment as there are some definite winner lines.

My favorite line this weekend: "If I can love the wrong man this much, imagine how much I can love the right one."  Ooh.

Get ready I think I found the perfect man. First, he brought me this frozen margarita with the glass dipped in sugar vs salt . It was just what the doctor ordered. But maybe because the server was so easy on the eyes.

And then shortly thereafter he served me a wonderful chicken mole... I think I'm in love.

Watch my perfect man at work. He works at El Portón and loves Mexican music. Here's the video but remember girls I saw him first.

Happy April Fool's Day...

there's no such thing as the perfect man.

FOTO FRIDAY: PURIM SCHPIEL

 

FOTO FRIDAY:Last Sunday was the annual Purim schpiel ( play ) at the Temple. 

 

Meg had written a very clever script with a modernized flavor with Shushan being The Villages in Florida'.  EIt was one of her best plays yet! 

We were all supposed to dress as Floridians / snowbirds and all those who know me, know I love dressing up.

 It's a fun community event and our pic has 3 attendees members from the different  Jewish places of worship.

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was FLOWRS ABOUND

TBT: 12 YEARS AGO STEVEN'S BDAY

 We found ourselves all in Philadelphia for Steven's Birthday. Steven lived there and Lori and I were both attending the same ESL conference. How fun to be able to share a conference!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: REJOINING COMMUNITY FUN

 As I perused the community weekend happenings on Facebook one in particu- lar caught my eye. Local artists would be down at the Rail Yard.  Saturday there was a chill in the air but I knew the sun would eventually reappear and warm things up.

So glad gloves were in my purse I headed downtown and was probably one of the oldest attendees. I have never seen so many different colors of rainbow- colored hair. Yep, it was a young crowd. Intermingling with a group I don't usually experience was invigorating. The young artists are using lasers and skills at technology I have never even imagined. It was delightful hearing about their crafts. 

As the temps warmed, the crowd grew and sitting in sun-drenched colored Adirondack chairs, people-watching and chowing down on yummy tacos from the La Casa de Abuelita food truck was perfect.  I have been yearning to try their truffle Cactus vegetarian option was a treat as were the birria beef tacos combo.

Don't forget to check out your local events as you never know what you'll find and be able to experience. Wink, wink.

TUESDAY TUNES: HOW I WANT YA

Talk about a catchy tune once I hear Hudson Thames How I want Ya  with Hailee Steinfeld it's stuck in my head all day. Check it out.

HOW I WANT YA

Hailee Steinfeld won an Academy Award in her role in True Grit. 

What a stunning young lady. "Her father is Jewish and her mother is of African American, English, Filipino, Irish, Scottish and German descent. Her maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin is a Filipino, from Bohol, Philippines. "

HOW I WANT 

MONDAY MUSINGS : THE GENTLEMANLY THING TO DO...

After being away I was glad to be home and get some appointments taken care of yet by the time the weekend came around, I was ready to socialize again.

Friday's field trip came none too soon as one of my Spanish students,
Mary Ann, wanted to know the airport short cut which lent itself to lunching at  Rosie's new locale. It's especially busy at lunchtime. We made it there before the big rush. 

The daily specials were fried catfish / a foot long chili beef dog. Mary Ann ordered the first and I, the latter. I knew I needed to just eat half to leave room for dessert. Their strawberry pie is delish.

 But today there was also another special at a table across from us, Buddy Mac sat down. He greeted the wait staff by name and stuck up a conversation with us immediately.  He donned a military green cap and jacket with cavalry patches which we admired and he proceeded to share war stories one after another.  Mary Ann knew something about aircraft but I had no clue as to the different planes. 

The conversation turned to his return and finding a job at Central High as he oversaw the Print shop. One of his students told him about the newest English teacher who was quite a looker, I knew where that story was going...  After 9 years of dating, they got hitched. Mac's lunch arrived before ours but he kept on visiting. I worried about his fish getting cold but he didn't seem to worry about it.  Mary Ann had taken one English class at Central so he filled her in on their history.

Then he had a bigger tall tale re: his knowledge about a group of his boys stealing the Hall Indian mascot from my high school. They had kept it hidden in a fishing boat covered with a tarp and left on Central's front courtyard. He had helped return it but never revealed its captors.

Our lunches arrived and we chowed down.  Buddy Mac had started visiting with another table who were thanking him for his service. At the end of the meal, I stopped our waitress and inquired about our  check not being on the table. She pointed over to Buddy Mac who had paid for our meals. When we thanked him, he said "it was the gentlemanly thing to do..."

We continued visiting out into the parking lot. He certainly made our outing extra special...

FOTO FRIDAY:FLOWERS ABOUND

FOTO FRIDAY: It wasn't just flowers that were grown and arranged which were the stars of New Orlean's Art in Blooms on the Bayou, participants attending the preview not only dressed in floral prints. This couple took it seriously about their dress for the evening.

 A picture speaks a thousand words, right? Mighty spiffy.

TBT: FINDING MY ARTISTIC SIDE AGAIN

 TBT: Twelve years ago  (3/21/12)

Filling my new found freedom with 2 classes... a refresher Chinese class after 40 yrs and a water color class after 20 some odd... It does the mind good.. This is lesson number 3 using salt, only 2 colors, negative painting and trying to go from dark to light...

FAST forward to next fall 2024 I will be in Tuscany refreshing those painting skills once again and taking Italian cooking classes...

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: NOT GETTING WHAT WE WANT, WHEN WE WANT IT

 I learned early in life we don't always get what we want, when we want it. My parents enforced that one pretty well.

When other kids got the most popular toy of the season that didn't happen in my household. In fact, I don't think my folks ever asked me what I'd like for a birthday. Did they know better/was that teaching me some life lesson? When other kids got a car in high school, I was lucky to even be allowed to use my Mom's. Can't you hear the violins playing?

So here comes the story of denying myself something I wanted on a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico when I was completing my junior year in college. In this quiet provincial pueblo lived a potter who was known as Doña Rosa. She looked ancient already but she was a local treasure as she polished her pots made from the black earthen clay. I watched in awe as she did her craft.  Oh, how I wanted one of her pieces but knew it wasn't in my budget and even if I splurged, that pottery could break before I even returned home...  I was used to not getting what I wanted.

Fast forward almost 50 years years and I am in a consignment store in a suburb of Atlanta and there in the pottery section sits a rustic black pot. It is from Oaxaca without a doubt but Doña Rosa had passed in 1980. She had had many students throughout the years so I looked on the bottom for a signature and in the dimly lit space it looked like it said Doña Clara. Disappointed, sure, but I didn't care because it was a Oaxacan piece of pottery and it had been sitting there for 6 months and the marked price would be discounted 10% per month. It was going home with me and I would hand carry it on the plane to add to my Native American shelf.

Upon returning home I unwrapped it, cleaned it up to place in its new home...

As I flipped it over etched on its bottom was a scrawl which read: 

Doña Rosa Oaxaca, Mexico.  

OMG I have a Doña Rosa pot, something I had to wait a while to acquire but I know its 'appreciation'  now after 50 years for its intrinsic value.

What is that old saying, "all good things come to those who wait?"

. 

TUESDAY TUNES: BESAME MUCHO

 

When asked to sing a Spanish love song at a wedding I sure wish I had been able to deliver it like this...  Bésame Mucho was the perfect choice just not by me after 5 weeks of a cough. This young lady, Mafe does it justice. " Kiss me, kiss me a lot as if tonight will be the last time.."

Take a listen... 

BESAME MUCHO

MONDAY MONET MUSINGS

 One of the special outings this past week in New Orleans was attending the MONET EXPERIENCE. Now I had the most unique experience seeing this new type of 3-D presentations in France (2017) in a rock quarry no less. In fact, links for that visit and Monet's Giverny home, and work are below: see darker print.

I had no idea what to expect in this venue in the Big Easy.

Our first room was an introduction to Monet. Monet as a child started with caricatures. Then he started studying art, choosing his color palate and became

instrumental in the 'impressionist' movement.

The next room was a reproduction of a bridge at Giverny bathed in the palette colors Monet loved to use. It was the perfect place for a Kodak moment as I had poised on the real bridge 7 years ago admiring the lily pads and Koi fish in that very same pond.

The 3rd room was filled with Monet's work as if it was in Monet's  Giverny home outside of Paris .

Then, finally there was the big projection room where around the room were beach chairs, benches  and bean bags for people to have a place to sit/ lie down. My other experience was standing /walking around. I much preferred the chance to sit down and become part of the art.

A train was on the wall moving into the station and then the painting turned into the real station while different walls had other scenes changing with the seasons and music... 

It was easy to get lost in Monet's masterpieces... Take a look.

GIVERNY

ORANGERIE

LES BAUX et CARRIERES DES LUMINERES 

TUESDAY TUNES: LOSING CONTROL

 I think you'll agree that Kelly Clarkson and Teddy Swims knock one's

socks off with this tune: LOSING CONTROL with this dynamic duo. Doesn't Kelly look fabulous? Heard her show is moving to the Big Apple.

I 

MONDAY MUSINGS: THE RAINBOW MEANINGS

MONDAY MUSINGS : THE MEANING OF THE RAINBOW                                            

During my unseasonal Wisconsin warm stay (75 degrees one day) the skies darkened as a rainstorm brewed. It was a perfect setting for a rainbow to appear afterward,,, 

As we parked at the Trumpealeau Hotel, a place where Natureman and I had biked to every season, some band members were departing with their equipment. "Oh no, we missed the music," but the band member said "no worries another group is following us. "And there warming up were 3 very well-known faces in the Driftless region music world Dan Sebranek along with long time friend John Smith and John's daughter Elisi. 

Elisi , John and Dan

Unfortunately, their concert was sold out. Drats. When John was free, I asked him about his upcoming Ireland tours which are a lovely mix of touring and music. Those who have participated always return highly complimentary. John told me to check with his wife re: which tours might have space. When she arrived I introduced myself and handed her my contact info and she said she would send me info re: tour openings and descriptions.

Then out to the back deck to enjoy my frosted mug of root beer. As the rain fell we sought shelter under the eaves and was able to hear the music waft back to us while the clouds lifted and there was that rainbow.

During COVID when we isolated in the End of the Rainbow Valley across the pond in Italy children put drawings of rainbows with the words "Andra tutto bene" ( Everything will be all right) similar to the saying in China during lockdown.  But to me this particular rainbow equates the reason why I am there ... It's just been that kind of trip as if Natureman was making sure the signs were clear. 

When I returned home South an email was awaiting and I have the last room in the late August trip to Cork, Kerry, and Clare counties in Ireland.  Happy new decade to me!

Take a listen to:   John Smith's Safe Home

               APPALACHIAN RAIN

FOTO FRIDAY: HOO RAY FOR THE RAMEN

FOTO FRIDAY  is a wonderful restaurant surprise in a most unlikely place Sparta, Wisconsin known for being “Bicycling Capital of America.” Located in the scenic Driftless Area, it offers access to over 100 miles of multi-use trails including the Elroy-Sparta State Trail...

But this place gets a 5 star rating...  Wowser. Lucky Sparta.

                        Matsumoto's  Tantanmen Ramen - delish

                beef, pork or vegetarian broth possibilities