tUESDAY tUNES: PRAYER

tUESDAY tUNES features Sheku-Kanneh Mason, a 27-year-old British cellist who won the 2016  BBC Young Musician award delivers Prayer from his new album. It is powerful and tugs at one's soul strings.

Take a  listen to PRAYER.

MONDAY MUSINGS: ALL THE WORLD IS A STAGE

MONDAY MUSINGS reflect a wonderful weekend ending enjoy- ing LifeQuest's Improv Class's production of Lady Susan by Jane Austen. The seating in the round was filled for the Sunday matinee.

Lady Susan was actually published after Austen died in 1871. The story revolves around a flirtatious, scheming widow (played by friend Anne (center) who has been kicked out of her friend's house for her coquettish behavior with the married man of the house. Shameless! She ends up on the estate of her brother-in-law (played by my junior high buddy Alan) and sets her sights on his 17-year-old son, trying to marry off her own daughter and ends up with a wealthy husband of her own. 

Thank goodness the play is cleverly told through letters as the actors are all LifeQuest members (translated 'seniors') and that would be oodles of lines to memorize. I loved the director's disclaimer "to be aware that the actors'ages may not always correspond with characters portrayed." Wink, wink...

What a hoot it was, and another example that "All the World is a Stage." 

Well done to all the thespians in LifeQuest's Improv class and their instructor and director, Wayne Chapman.

FOTO FRIDAY: DANCE AS IF NOONE IS WATCHING

 

FOTO FRIDAY gives a big shout-out to Tim, Anne's hubby for catching this moment of joy of us dancing as if no one is watching...  That's the best way to dance!

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY: GEORGIA ON MY MIND

TBT: FALL IN THE END OF THE RAINBOW VALLEY 2014

TBT: 2014 Fall in the End of the Rainbow Valley
For 20 years Natureman and I were so fortunate to share and marvel at the most beautiful sights without ever leaving home...  We never took any of it for granted... 

I washed the dishes with this fall view:

The chicken coop on the left where I encountered more than fresh eggs and chickens inside; add those unwanted guests, i.e., opossums, raccoons, a snake, and even a white weasel. On the right: The Tractor, a 1952 Ford, which helped clear and grade our one-mile road besides pulling/hauling a lot of stuff. Next to it was the pile of 9 cords of wood, which would be used for heating our home, the 1890s barn, which housed our goats and barn cats with 100 bales of hay in its loft, and the stunning, ever-changing valley's hillside... 

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: DEATH BY CANDY ?

My initial thought of what I'd write about today changed within a matter of a minute so that other topic can just wait for another MIDWEEK MUSINGS.

Tuesday is one of my catch-up days as I don't have any classes that I need to be at a certain time. I had a couple of errands in mind, and it is that first one where today's topic changed. I needed small snack Ziploc bags to package a chocolate trail mix treat I had made for a Halloween luncheon I was attending. 

 After living in the middle of nowhere for 20 years,  folks know I avoid going to the supermarket as much as possible. Anyhoo, I have my system of navigating the Kroger parking lot since I hate going up and down lanes looking for a spot close to the door. Instead of turning early, I wait to turn down the next-to-last aisle even though speed bumps are along the road until the turn. I made my turn and proceeded cautiously. It's easy for folks to back up without really looking both ways, right?  I saw a couple of open spots ahead when, out of the corner of my eye, a grey flash made me brake hard. Someone was speeding diagonally through the lanes via open parking spaces. The driver didn't even hesitate after almost hitting me.  I pulled into one of the open spots and sat there dumbfounded for a bit.  As I headed to the store door, I turned to see where the person had parked. That silver car was right in front of a chiropractor's door, but the driver hadn't emerged right away. My brain gave the driver a minute of grace, poor thing's in pain... But when I glanced back, a lanky blonde emerged, swishing her ponytail as she headed to the nail salon door. 

The grocery store mission had those mini snack bags on a top shelf and the search for a taller employee ensued. It gave me time to cool down. The decision was made to not let this incident go.

After making the purchase, you know me, I headed to the nail salon. The only customer was a 50-ish blonde sitting with her work binders at the pedicure chair. I introduced myself as the person she almost hit cutting through the parking lot. She spewed indignation,  " You mean you came all the way over here to tell me that?" " Yes, I did, because I wasn't sure you realized that you could have caused a terrible accident, and instead of criticizing me, perhaps there should be some remorse/ recognition of your wrongdoing." 

"Oh, "she blurted out unapologetically,"I'm sorry." 

Who knew that needing those baggies would prove that candy can kill us?

MONDAY MUSINGS: ARKANSAS GEMS

 Arkansas is known as the 'Diamond State' but there are other gems like our Jazz scene. I was fortunate to have enjoyed some of these gems at an Evening of Jazz, a fundraiser planned to benefit both Jericho Way and Opportunity House under the umbrella of DEPAUL ARKANSAS.

Jericho Way is for people experiencing homelessness in Central Arkansas. About 150 people/day have served meals,  the use of showers, laundry facility, a clothing closet (where I brought my Dad's clothing), phones and computers, case management, and housing placement. 

Jericho Way lives up to his name as a safe place where people can find care, as it has also expanded into housing with a"13 houses campaign placing homeless into refurbished homes where tenants pay 30 % of their income. 

We were treated to music by highly acclaimed state musicians including The Rodney Block Collective, American Idol alum Nia Renée, saxophonist Grady Nichols, and Pattern Blu with classic jazz.

Kudos to two of our community members who were named 2026 Chatillon Award Honorees: City Board Director Kathy Webb and Kevin Howard from the Dept. of Housing and Neighborhood                                         Programs.

What a delightful evening filled with donations of good music, food & drink. People doing good. 

Thanks to all those who donated to help homeless folks have a brighter future. Arkansas's best gem are all those who help make our state a better place to live.

tUESDAY tUNES:TIMELESS THE WORLD OVER

tUESDAY tUNES is a song that seems timeless like Engelbert Humperdinck's Quando Quando sung here by the duo of Cece Trương and Tuấn Dũng in a band Poppy Hills Musique in Viet Nam.

Quando Quando

FOTO FRIDAY: GEORGIA's ON MY MIND

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Meet Georgia, my newest foster. If you have been hankering a loving dog, this gal's the one for you. 

She's a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix minus the ridgeback, but you still get a beautiful marking on her chest.

Georgia's very observant and a great lover of nature, whether she is in the backyard/on a walk- she stops, looks, and listens... 

Update: Contact The Buford Project Rescue at

847-846-8134 if interested .If you are wanting a dog (s) in your area please check with your local Rescues. There is an abundance of dogs needing a loving home.

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was SHELTER OF PEACE

TBT: KYLIE 'S 17

TBT: 17 years ago today I was blessed to share a first grandchild, Kylie, with Natureman, a guy who had raised 2 boys. His first comment was about how pink she was!

Although she is a bonus grandchild, I'm so proud of all her endeavors. She is a good student, loves music, participates in theater and learning how to play the electric guitar. Most importantly, she is kind, giving and helpful. Her inner beauty adds to her natural beauty.

Happy 17th, Kylie, your Zayde would be so proud of the young woman you have become!

MIDWEEK MUSINGS:GIFT GIVING

 MIDWEEK MUSINGS this week is about gift-giving. Some folks as I have previously discussed are great gift-givers.  They know exactly what someone would love. but if you are not one of those,  do you wait until you see/ hear about a desire/ is money the answer? It is pretty impersonal. But what they do with it, is up to the receiver.

Have you noticed how newlyweds-to-be sometimes do away with gift registry and just ask for cash/signing up for different parts of their honeymoon? i.e., dinner on the beach, an excursion - ziplining/ whatever. How do you feel about that? I think it's pretty gutsy, but it is what they want. The bottom line is the final decision is yours. as to what you give...

So what's prompting all this is that yesterday I received a call about an offer I had made to gift money for a specific item I saw a need.  It would/ could be custom-made. The board discussed it, and decided they were not interested. Not a problem. It's their job to decide. 

But what they did need, get ready for this- was a new lectern. I had to stifle my laugh. Oh Lordy, you know that's a very touchy subject here in Arkansas...

"The lectern for Governor Sanders, who served as press secretary for former President Donald Trump and has been widely viewed as a potential candidate to be his running mate, has drawn attention ranging from late night host Jimmy Kimmel to The New York Times.

The blue and wood-paneled lectern was bought last June with a state credit card for $19,029.25 from an events company in Virginia. The Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14, and Sanders’ office has called the use of the state credit card an accounting error. Sanders’ office said it received the lectern in August."

Yeah, I think I'll pass on donating a lectern...

tUESDAY tUNES:: SILENCE

tUESDAY  tUNES comes in a different note today. The music of silence.  WOW. Listen to silence... a photo can sing a 1000 notes

Back story:Well, I woke up at about 2:45am and thought about photographing the Moon-Jupiter occultation but figured (a.) it was probably foggy and (b.) the moon was probably too low and behind our bluff.

After dreaming that got up and caught the end of the occultation, I got up and got the occultation. (At least the end of it.)

I first hiked across the yard to only realize that the moon was still behind the trees. Ufda! I then ran to the car, threw the camera, tripod and myself into said car and zoomed down the driveway and over to our neighbor's sod farm (Thank you for the clear view Bill and Mandi!).

I rapidly deployed the tripod and camera to just catch Jupiter re-emerging from the shadow-side of the moon. You can not only see Jupiter but it's four Galilean moons.

They are called the Galilean moons because Galileo was the first to spot the four major moons of Jupiter back in 1610. Today we know Jupiter has at least 115 moons!

Note: The image was taken with high dynamic range settings in-camera, then post-processed using advanced software. Is it "AI"? Sort of, but it was not manipulated to add Jupiter's moons, etc. It was used to reduce noise, sharpen the image and help bring up the dynamic range. Advanced hardware, software or AI? You can be the judge. 

Thank you Alan Stankevitz for providing the sound of silence.

MONDAY MUSINGS: RUBBING SHOULDERS

MONDAY MUSINGS reminds of one of Natureman's favorite phrases, one which we enjoyed immensely:'rubbing shoulders.' 

Community events do just that- they allow us to rub shoulders with folks we normally wouldn't. This past weekend I sat at 2 very different tables: one at the Turkish Fest and a couple hours later just blocks away at the Greek Fest. For the last couple of years, both festivals have shared the same weekend.

The grill and fryers were working overtime, and the emanating smells made one hungry. The desserts were all so tempting too. Fortunately, I could split choices so I could sample more. 

Our first table was with young families with gorgeous dark-eyed and curly-haired toddlers speaking their native tongues. Our second table at the Greek Fest was English-speaking, and I had hot Greek donuts to share. One gal was originally from California and her Bostonian rock band partner is performing in Pine Bluff. Their Asian-American friends had a toddler. 

This is what the United States is, not a melting pot but a salad with all different backgrounds rubbing shoulders at a community event. 

FOTO FRIDAY: SHELTER OF PEACE

 

FOTO FRIDAY:  When I discovered my most recent couchsurfer was Jewish, I decided a great place to add to our sightseeing stops was my Temple's sukkah.  What a lovely addition! I'm assuming the Sunday School students made it...

TBT: BELLE D LA MISSISSSIPPI. AKA JEWEL

 TBT 2018 was a tough choice today as it obviously is a good week in a lot of years. Below meet Jewel also known as Belle D' la Mississippi. "October has finally arrived.  5 months ago I completed the mannequin floor lamp which will be auctioned off at the Light Up a Life fundraiser for Downs Syndrome in Winona , Minnesota on the 18th of this month. All the mannequins to be auctioned off that evening will be on display in Winona, Mine will be at Home and Community Options on 3rd street  in the front windows until the 17th. Come support a good cause at Winona National Bank on the 18th. 

Many thanks to all who donated their "Jewels" to make Jewel the girl she is today. This pic is called Got Your Back!

A Winona resident bought her and Jewel thank goodness will be living in her Master Bath close to water!