FOTO FRIDAY: GIRL'S SPA TIME

FOTO FRIDAY:  The two grandmas decided to have a spa moment with MS H for something special before her parents's return.

 Need I say more? 

TBT: S'NO UPBRINGING

TBT: My children experienced real snow growing up starting in the Midwest but you'd expect that...

Here I am with my daughter back in the early 90's and Iowa snowwomen...

                                                   

This pic of my eldest appeared very timely in memories this month as my daughter now has 2 littles of her own enjoying the cold stuff living in the deep South twice this January no less ...  Remember this s'no such thing as climate change!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: THE CIRCULAR FILE

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: This week has me ruminating on the state of that circular file even if it isn't always circular.  

Granted the smallest grand has not quite perfected potty training and pull-ups are still in the picture, add to that runny noses, a lot of paper towels for those spills and resanitizing counter tops during my 2 week stay while their parents traveled to a family wedding in India.

They showed me pics of how trash is stacked streetside in India where the cows and street dogs help themselves. Well, we are not quite that bad with regular trash pickup but the amount we generate is ridiculous in this disposable era.  

Then, I returned home to my own single contribution from all the junk mail that arrived in the last two weeks. Isn't this ridiculous to fill up our landfills with so much trash? 

EEGADS! I wasn't even home.

TUESDAY TUNES: GOT SUN SHINING ON MY FACE

TUESDAY TUNES; My plane again left Atlanta early, arriving early and returning to much more enjoyable temps in the 50's with the sun shining on my face. Oh my that does feel good!

 How can you not feel good listening to Jordan Smith's rendition of of FEEL GOOD ?

FOTO FRIDAY: BIG SISTER

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Big sister decided to clean up her brother's room and even added her special touch.

Take a look.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: POLAR BEAR TRAINING

Cold  MIDWEEK MUSINGS is no surprise as a polar blast immobilized so many Southern cities and towns who rarely experience freezing temperatures.  Those never bedecked in white are glad to stay home due to their recent snowfalls and frigid weather. School closings abound for fear of bus failures / frozen children awaiting them. 

To my buds in Houston, New Orleans and Charleston who rarely have to deal with this stuff, FYI it'll melt quicker in the south so enjoy watching it disappear.

We barely had a dusting in the Atlanta northern burbs yet due to the county extending North to South, the southern burbs got snow so no school for 2 days. Although the bus service was canceled MARTA's airport train was not, but the train involved a transfer.

Have no fear, warmer temps are coming. You'll be donning your swimsuits in no time.

TUESDAY TUNES: BE A LIGHT

 TUESDAY TUNES brings this translated tune from the season of light to remind us to bring its warmth to:

BE A LIGHT song by Neal Katz ,performed by YONINA

Such a lovely melody and prayer...

"I pray for you to be safe and be protected from all troubles each day.

I hope you will keep your faith and your heart will be pure.

I pray you will be kind to everyone, every friend that you meet.

I hope you will find joy in what you do, and lots of love.

Be a light, be a light.

And shine with courage, even at night.

Be a light, shine so bright.

Burn and shine with all of your light.

Be a light, Be a light.

You should do everything you can...

I pray for you to be wise,

To learn all your life and listen to your heart.

I also wish you consider and remember all those who suffer.

I hope you will go to sleep and have long dreams, sweet dreams.

Be a light, Be a Light.

And shine with courage even at night.

Be a Light, shine so bright.

Burn and shine with all of your might.

Be a Light. Be a Light"

FOTO FRIDAY: DIDN'T FREEZE

 

FOTO FRIDAY:  Remember when I spotted a new bloom on that gerber flower pot outside and I pulled it in before the freezing temps arrived? 

No regrets-

Look what happened ...

\

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was THE YOKE'S ON US

TBT: SPINNING TOPS A MONTH AGO

TBT: I made sure to get the December decorations put away and be able to enjoy February's upon my return. Yet, since my youngest brother who was Couchsurfing this past week at my place didn't get to see my Dreidl entryway table for December, I decided to post what he missed. 

After seeing Chanuka Harry and Larry here reminds me I still need to post all their 2025 Chanuka shenanigans. Ok, I promise to get to it!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: DELAYED, BUT NOT

 MIDWEEK came and went without me demarcating it on time as I was back in the air with a plane that departed early and arrived half an hour early. Go figure. A rarity for sure. I even saw my luggage deplane before me. Shockeroo.

Packing for this winter trip had also been an undertaking for a Southerner as the temps have been cold here in the deep South. Atlanta even got snow from the same storm system, just not as much as the 9 inches that fell upon Little Rock. Two different-weight winter coats made the journey to cover 20 to 50-degree weather. Crazy for sure.

The Atlanta kids wore coats to wait for the bus and returned carrying them at the end of the day. Sprinkle in some nasty drizzle/rainy days sprinkled with high 50's. 

And as a retired teacher knows, kids return tired, off schedule, after the holidays. They also return with lingering coughs from all that socializing. January is usually a tough health month. I had pumped myself with Emergen-C besides all the other vitamins and worn my mask en route.  

As we all know there are some guarantees with travel and the 'new' normal is just not normal...

TUESDAY TUNES: S'NO TUNES FOR THE BIRDS

TUESDAY TUNES became obvious when I was awakened by the cacophony of bird song. The birds were also thrilled to have the snow melted. The large black birds' presence in a tree nearby was striking on the white-covered branches... And then this story reappeared on my memories which many of you may have missed. Read on...

“He was visiting America. It is said that he was sitting, resting, when he heard a woman screaming. He looked up to see a black woman being surrounded by the police. The police had her handcuffed and were beating her. He thought the woman had committed a terrible crime. He found out "the crime" she committed was to sit in a section reserved for whites.

Paul McCartney was shocked. There was no segregation in England. But, here in America, the land of freedom, this is how blacks were being treated. McCartney and the Beatles went back home to England, but he would remember what he saw, how he felt, the unfairness of it all.

He also remembered watching television and following the news in America, the race riots and what was happening in Little Rock, Arkansas, what was going on in the Civil Rights movement. He saw the picture of 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford attempt to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School as an angry mob followed her, yelling, "Drag her over this tree! Let's take care of that n**ger!'" and “Lynch her! Lynch her!” “No n**ger b*tch is going to get in our school!”

McCartney couldn't believe this was happening in America. He thought of these women being mistreated, simply because of the color of her skin. He sat down and started writing.

Last year at a concert, he would meet two of the women who inspired him to write one of his most memorable songs, Thelma Mothershed Wair and Elizabeth Eckford, members of the Little Rock Nine (pictured here).

McCartney would tell the audience he was inspired by the courage of these women: "Way back in the Sixties, there was a lot of trouble going on over civil rights, particularly in Little Rock. We would notice this on the news back in England, so it's a really important place for us, because to me, this is where civil rights started. We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those troubles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those troubles, it might just help them a little bit, and that's this next one."

He explained that when he started writing the song, he had in mind a black woman, but in England, "girls" were referred to as "birds." And, so the song started:

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting

for this moment to arise."

McCartney added that he and the Beatles cared passionately about the Civil Rights movement, "so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’ "

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting

for this moment to be free."

- Jon S. Randal, via Valgeir Sveinsson

BLACK BIRD FLY

MONDAY MUSINGS: MUSCLES CAN TALK

 MONDAY MUSINGS: Let me reassure all of you that my Midwestern friends found it quite amusing that Arkansas had more snow on the ground than they did this past weekend. 

During my years in the End of the Rainbow Valley when I would mention the snow and cold my childhood buddy Kaye never forgot to remind me "Well, you do live in Wisconsin."  

Well, now I don't and I moved without all my snow removal shovels much to my chagrin as I had promised to do airport runs: one late Friday afternoon and the other early Saturday am. Besides driveway issues, our hilly side streets not only would not be plowed, but there was virtually 0 traffic up/down my street all day Friday. 

It took me 2 hours just to clear the snow for the arc swing of the electric gate. Then, that snow had to be moved to the backyard garden bed to allow me to back up from the carport. 

To say relief flooded me when both parties of the airport runs found alternate rides is an understatement. One had a next-door neighbor with a truck and the second had Minnesotan neighbors. ( Minnesota always got a boatload more snow than we did in Wisconsin, just saying.)

Saturday I was the only one clearing my walkway. Silly me thinking the US Postal Service's creed  would not come to be:  "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" 

I did finally have a cautious long walk Saturday afternoon in the snowy part of the street ruts avoiding their ice. My snow sculpture didn't get built but the Tylenol bottle did get a workout and is lighter as are those muscles which spoke to me all weekend.

Thank goodness for my early morning Jazzercising stretching them all and getting them to speak a different language... 

BTW: My snow shovel should arrive on Tuesday but perhaps it will be like having an umbrella prevents rain and chase away future snow storms. My muscles will appreciate it.

FOTO FRIDAY: THE YOKE'S ON US

FOTO FRIDAY: I should have moved with a snow shovel...  Three more hours for this white stuff to fall here in Arkansas.

 SNOW I forgot how beautiful the moonlight can be upon fresh snow...

Don't be ooohing my BLOCKBUSTER ruler... check out the number and we still have 3 more hours for this white stuff to fall!

9 inches.  RIGHT, she quips with sarcasm.

TBT: GOT YOUR TUTU?

 TBT: As most of you know there are some definite musts in my weekly routine, one of which is the now 'internationally' renowned exercise program of Jazzercise. 

Jazzercise has been part of my life since 1978 when I lived in Denver. When I moved to southwestern Wisconsin the classes had an additional component added by the franchise owner and main instructor Debbie- it was camaraderie. Every Tuesday and Thursday after class we went out for coffee. Our coffees grew so large as did our noise level that we were asked to patronize elsewhere. Luckily, a larger Java Vino was built for which we were very thankful as we have celebrated so many occasions there.

One additional tradition began ten years ago when our Jazzercisers entered their 7th decade and Nancy, our seamstress extraordinaire, made each a tutu. Take a look at our 2015 tutu girls below. You can tell we are a lively group! Sara, one of our registrars is celebrating her next decade today. She's the one donning the black tutu. You do the math.

Love & Miss y'all.

            HAPPY NEW DECADE SARA!

I sure hope I can get my honorary tutu since I still jazzercise online with La Crosse.  I know Nancy had bought 'teal' tule a while back with me in mind...I'll be back visiting in March. Wink, wink.  

                             

MIDWEEK MUSING: S'NO JOKE

This MIDWEEK MUSING is something on Arkansans' minds this week as our temps have plummeted. Yes, it is January but our winter has been way too mild with azaleas still blooming. 

In fact, I spied a Gerber daisy flower emerging in its big pot by the front porch so it was moved inside just in time. Vive la fleur!

A city that is not accustomed to Northern weather is bracing itself for what might blow in. Citywide events are being cancelled and grocery store shelves need restocking. 

My sinks 's lower cabinet doors are open to allow warmer airflow with their faucets dripping. There have been too many homes when this precaution was forgotten!

Snow is predicted for Thursday evening. As Dad used to say: "That's s'no joke."

Personally, I am looking forward to hunkering down with some good audio books starting with American Dirt.  

TUESDAY TUNES: SIT STILL, I DARE YOU

There's nothing like a remix for this TUESDAY TUNE, one very cold morning here in the South. A winter storm will arrive tomorrow but the winds are lowering those temps and this remix will warm you up with Jason and Meghan

HANDS ON ME 

Enjoy!

MONDAY MUSINGS: IT'S a DOG S LIFE/ IS IT

 MONDAY MUSINGS RE: It's a dog's life is an expression which was first recorded in a 16th-century manuscript and alludes to the miserable subservient existence of dogs during this era. By the 1660s there was a proverb: It's a dog's life, hunger, and ease. 

Today in the 21st century we know how many people would love to  be treated as well as today's pet dogs. Heck, there's an entire aisle devoted to doggy paraphernalia in stores. And the dog food aisle is something else with a lot of choices.

They say if you want to know somebody's character see how they treat their dogs. Is it because our dogs love us no matter what?

During Covid, a lot of people were stuck at home and lonely and they decided to get a dog. Well, now many folks have gone back to work and their new furry friends are burdensome. The shelters are bursting at the seams. Each week there are pleas for fostering/ adopting these four-legged orphans.

It's just not fair.  So one of my New Year's resolutions is to become part of the solution to helping these guys get the care they need whether it involves vet visits/ rehoming transportation/ even a roof over their heads temporarily until they find their forever homes. 

You too CAN help and if you can't physically, maybe you could open up your pocketbooks and donate to the Humane Society/ your local shelters/ alleviating the foster care expenditures for your communities.

FOTO FRIDAY: SPINNING INTO THE NEW YEAR

 

FOTO FRIDAY: After a week of lighting candles and welcoming 2025, it's time to take down the decorations entering this new year with hopes of good health and new adventures. 

The next suitcase will be for an eastbound plane ride since this Bubbe is needed in HOTlanta. The 2 munchkins's parents are heading to a family wedding in India so it will be a longer stay than usual but fortunately, GG is also joining me. One of us is more of a morning person so the other will pick up more of the night stuff. 4 hands will be needed with these kids' schedules. Their calendars are full!

Last .FOTO FRIDAY was SPINNING

TBT: HOLIDAY PARTYING

December 2018 One of the many holiday celebrations I was able to attend in La Crosse, WI with my Jazzercise buddies. 

What a group of wonderful women!  I miss their camaraderie in class exercising and socializing. 

                        Sue's home for the 2018 holiday potluck

MONDAY & MIDWEEK MUSINGS : GIVING

This week's musings are combined. There are just so many causes and individual situations which require more monies. The calls, the appeals, and the decision-making as to how we will be charitable in helping our society. 

Monday was my day to finish up my monetary gift-giving. The pile of paper had already been alphabetized, yet there were still duplicate appeals to be eliminated. The little trash can filled to its brim in time for the Tuesday garbage pickup.

Incredibly, we all receive those same appeals throughout the year and when those verbal charity callers tire,  my email inbox and mailbox are still plentiful in December. Verbally I always respond the same " I donate at the end of the year in December after reviewing all the year's  requests. "

This past year when specific life cycle events happened, it was even more important to make those donations priority and generously. 

Relief flooded my state of being once that pile of donation mailings was dropped off inside the post office. 

In such a wealthy country, we still have way too many in need... 

TUESDAY TUNES: 2025: Let's Get This Party Started

With the New Year of 2025 upon us: Let's Get It Started with 

Black-eyed Peas...