Reconnected

I've been without Internet service at home for the past 4 days. At first it felt like being lost. Then it felt like liberation. Well, for better or worse, I'm back in the loop. Hope you have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

White Christmas

Last night I watched White Christmas again. I love that movie. I find myself waiting for the familiar lines and songs. When the scene came on where they're in the train singing "Snow" I thought to myself that they must have had a blast making this movie. Here was Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Miles, and Danny Kay all together singing harmony. Boy, it doesn't get much better than that. I would love to have been there. Watching White Christmas was made all the better with the snow still coming down outside. This morning it took me 3 hours to do the driveway and it was wonderful. Haven't had this much fun playing in the snow since skiing at Trollhaugen the year I got new skis for Christmas. It's beautiful outside. Blue skys, tall white pines and 17 inches of new snow. I do believe we're going to have that White Christmas.

Missing You

I went down to Oklahoma to see my mom over Thanksgiving. She's 88 and still working 40 hours a week. She's making it awfully hard to me to live up to that kind of stamina. But more than that. It's really a joy to be around her. She's always on the go, and is game for anything. I was only there for a couple of days, but we crammed in lots of fun stuff. On the way home, I was realizing how much I missed being around her. It's that way with others as well. As my life has gotten busier there are a lot of people I've not seen in a while. On the way home this past weekend, I realized I really needed to reconnect with old friends. I'm missing you and hope we can get together soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

First Love

I was 7 years old when I first heard Jo Stafford sing “You Belong To Me”. Music was a constant in our house while I while I was growing up. My folks had all kinds of records and it was all good. I suppose I can trace my love of music back to those days of listening to all the big bands and popular singers of the day. Then I heard Jo Stafford sing “You Belong To Me” and everything changed. I’m not sure if it was the sound of her voice, the arrangement, the song itself, or all of it put together, but I never listened to music the same way again. For me it was as if someone flipped a switch and the lights came on. I felt the music in my soul for the first time and instantly fell in love.

A few days ago I was on my way to work and was flippin through the radio dial and landed on the 40’s station where Ms Stafford was again touching my soul just like all those years ago. Next Friday, November 12th, Ms Stafford would have been 93. Unfortunately she’s no longer with us, but happily her music and memory lives on.
I guess it’s true what they say...
You never get over your first love.
Happy Birthday Jo!
Hope you're having a great day :-)

Quite The View

I walked into a restroom at an SA station the other day and there hanging on the wall was an old photo of 11 guys sitting on a steel beam hanging high over New York City. It's obvious they are taking a break from work and they're sitting there on the beam with Central Park in the background as relaxed as if they were sitting in the living room. Their feet are dangling, some of them are leaning forward... Only the guy on the end is looking at the camera, looking a bit put off. From their clothes I'd say the photo was taken sometime in the early part of the 20th century. It's a great photo, and it got me to thinking how much has changed from then to now. No hard hats, safety belts, or steel toed shoes. Just guys building with steel... an inspiration if ever there was one.