What Have I Been Reading

I don't watch TV...all the news I need is on the computer when I sign in in the morning..but I do love to read..biographies are my favorite..but anything that is historical and for the most part true.
My dear niece thoughtfully bought me a Laura Ingalls Wilder book~The Long Winter~
She bought it for me 2 years ago and I finally began reading it on one of the hottest days we have had so far this spring...ha ha it cooled me off I must say~I don't think I could have survived the winter Laura describes with such a joyful, let's-make-do-with-what-we-have-and-be-thankful-even-if-we-don't-have attitude! Was she being truthful in her recounting of her life? I like to think so.
It is difficult for us to look back at their way of life and understand it fully because, lets face it...we were not brought up that way. Some of us had more and some of us had less, but I would venture to say that since most of us, if not all that are reading these blogs, have computers. We have not had to sacrifice as much as our ancestors did. Frankly their lives and the living of it make me feel spoiled~I whine about going to the grocery store, or fuss when the furnace isn't heating me enough. How would I like to burn straw because the wood is gone to keep warm?...keep a whole family warm for 8 months and eat nothing but brown bread and if I was lucky little seed potatoes? (I love brown bread and potatoes but that is beside the point) I wouldn't like it in this day and age, certainly. I glance into my pantry and see canned goods..none that I have 'put up'. I made zucchini pickles once..that was my first and only claim of preservation..it was fun and rewarding but I haven't done it since. I do make most of my food from scratch but I certainly don't grind my own wheat to make flour.
So my point of all this is that when I am feeling down and out, I gather up all my pioneer women's diaries and read voraciously and that gives me strength, solace and appreciation that I am where I am today~spoiled but oh so appreciative of what they endured for me to live easier.

Finally Summer..

Finally it is summery feeling...hoping the bad things stop happening and am looking forward to being outside like we were today and yesterday...working on this little tiny yard that is more work than 40 acres...we need a mule!
Finally got some flowers to make it look like summer.
Finally have seen a few squirrels early in the morning and later in the evening...too hot!
Finally hoping to see fewer bad strong storms.
Finally hoping I can get somewhat of a tan so my skin won't be in shock!

Lookin' For A Better Rest of June

ManCave Fun!

just realized I haven't blogged since May 20th! Gee, what has been goin' on?
Well, lots of things actually...think there has been a couple of "bad moon risings" lately!
KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong took 10 days off at the end of May for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, as you might recall..he had Man Cave Week which started off fine..but then his sweet little 140 year old kitty decided that it was going to be her last week of her nine lives and showed definite signs of getting ready to go to Kitty Heaven. She pined away for him every day and night till I finally had to put a call into "the cave" wherever that was and tell him that no matter what..come flood or tornado or speeding race cars...you have to come home now for your kitty.
Well, he knows that I have a keen sixth sense so he left the cave and the other men and drove home through hail stones and swirling tornadoes literally to be home with her. She was so happy to see him..even if she couldn't walk a straight line without falling over. The next day he had to make the decision...glad I didn't have to.. this time.
We, then, went to visit his cousin in southern Indiana that I have written about...the singer and Elvis impersonator..to give his morale a boost since he had to have emergency abdominal surgery right after he sang for us and the senior citizens in French Lick, Indiana. All that in May.
June started out quiet until we got the call that our best friend was in the hospital having surgery on his broken leg...seems that he put too much pressure in the tires on a two-wheel dolly and when he picked it up to put it in his shed...bam it exploded at the metal wheel hit him in the shin and broke his leg...of course he said he left his cell phone on the kitchen counter...had to crawl backward in the 90+ degree heat to the house to call his daughter and 911. One thing we learned from that bad accident...carry your house phone or cell phone with you outside when you are just doing mundane errands..even if you go down to the basement...you never know when the bad moon is going to be rising!

A Peaceful Easy " Cat Hair Covered " Feeling

While KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong is having a "guys" week with his brother and friend at the Indianapolis 500 race track, I had a what was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon in the tented gazebo reading 'Rhett Butler's People". I sprawled out and got cozy on the wicker settee when Eddie and Lucas, the cats next door decided they wanted in. There they came squeezing under the netting and up on my black (of course)clothes to take a nap on me.. This is unusual and noteworthy because they have never been like this before even though they have known me for about 9 years and 4 years respectively. And since I always go outside with a jar of peanuts in the shell for my squirrels, guess who came in to be with all of us..yes, two of my squirrels and a chipmunk. Well, Eddie doesn't care about those darling furry people at all, but Lucas is still young and loves to play with them, so round and round they ran inside the mosquito netting squeaking and squealing being chased and unable to get away from fluffy Lucas. Around my feet, up and over Eddie and me as he stayed put under my chin. So my nap was interrupted as I had to unzip one side so that everyone could run free. Covered with cat hair and a runny nose, I finally went inside to finish my book in the peace that I thought I had found with no one around!

MacArthur Park~Sweet Green Icing Symbolism

Another favorite story song...This one melts my heart♥
♥Jimmy Webb♥

Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed,
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
and I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
and I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I recall the yellow cotton dress
foaming like a wave
on the ground around your knees
The birds, like tender babies in your hands
and the old men playing checkers by the trees

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
and I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
and I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

(BRIDGE)
There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
and never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
after all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one.

I will take my life into my hands
and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes
and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
and my passion flow like rivers through the sky.
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
and wondering why.

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down...
Someone left the cake out in the rain
and I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
and I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

In Bob Dylan Mode Under the Full Moon

Storied songs~like dreams~drifting from time and place~make perfect woven sense to the dreamer~

Early one morning the sun was shining
I was laying in bed
Wond'ring if she'd changed it all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues getting through
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when we first meet
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a little too much force
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split it up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to look at me
As I was walking away
I heard her say over my shoulder
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue"
Tangled up in blue.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Working for a while on a fishing boat
Right outside of Delacroix
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind and I just grew
Tangled up in blue.

She was working in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept looking at her side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me "Don't I know your name ?"
I muttered something underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello" she said
"You look like the silent type"
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burning coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.

So now I'm going back again
I got to get her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives
Don't know how it all got started
I don't what they're doing with their lives
But me I'm still on the road
Heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in Blue.



I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the caf,s at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.

So now I'm going back again
I got to get her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter's wives
Don't know how it all got started
I don't what they're doing with their lives
But me I'm still on the road
Heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in Blue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a 1978 interview Dylan explained this style of songwriting: "What's different about it is that there's a code in the lyrics, and there's also no sense of time. There's no respect for it. You've got yesterday, today and tomorrow all in the same room, and there's very little you can't imagine not happening"{Interview with Jonathan Cott, Rolling Stone 11/16/78}

The little pond outside my office is alive and thriving. The Canadian geese have had their little goslings, the Blue Heron is on the pond nearly all day long now and I just saw a turtle head sticking up out of the water at the shoreline sunning himself!

On the homefront, one my squirrels isn't fareing as well. One of them has mange mites and she is very ill looking..so I think today KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong is going to stop by the Exotic and Wild Animal vet and pick up some Ivermectin for me to administer to my little darlings. A very kind new patient of the dental practice I work for who just called to make an appointment (I have the uncanny knack of having detailed but short conversations with people on the phone~I don't know a stranger) told me he is going to stop by and bring me some also since he is well versed in the administering of such medications. We have the best patients...how thoughtful of him! So hopefully soon all wildlife habitat arenas around me will be alive and thriving!