Category: Music

Fall is My Favorite Season

Fall can’t get here soon enough. Aside from it being my favorite season, it will be the end of summer travelers, the heat and smoke and my schedule will settle down.

Missoula has been run over with people from all over the place, making for increased traffic, prices and more unattractiveness. We had one of those stupid (yea that’s my opinion) party vehicles that people pedal while drinking. It went up and down our main street at five mph, people yelling like a bunch of newly released convicts, attractive!


The river was packed and littered. The cost of hotels tripled. Locals can’t afford increased rents much less buy a home in this most unfair market. I haven’t floated the river this summer.

My schedule has been full with pet/house sitting, doing some childcare and cleaning Airbnbs. It’s been good for my pocketbook but my soul could use a little down time.


Come fall I’ll get my van set up for camping, find a body of water and get to camping.
And get back on track with writing which has taken a back seat in the midst of busyness.

Thanks for reading.

Dogs in The White House Again!

Everything is lighter, more hopeful. Yes there is so much to be done. But for today I am mainly excited to have dogs back in the White House. So welcome Champ and Major Biden.
Champ and Major on twitter
Champ and Major on instagram

And a dog love song by Annie Heron

Upcoming post: artist to support with your holiday gift buying.

Worth Your Time

It has warmed up to 16 degrees from 4 degrees today here in Missoula, MT. But the sun is shining and it’s actually quite beautiful after a day and night of steady snowfall. It will warm up to the 50’s by the end of the week. I’ll head to Eugene starting this Thursday.

A couple of talented friend’s work appeared this week. I hope you watch and listen. I found them both entertaining and enlightening. It’s worth your time.

Chris Sand: Montana’s rapping cowboy, “20 for 2020”

Also, part-time Missoulian, Quentin Robinson, stars in the first episode of Move on Netflix.

Quentin Robinson starring in Move

https://www.sozoartists.com/lovehealsallwounds

Petitions and sweet listen

Links to some petitions that are close to my heart. Click and sign if they are close for you too.

Divest police ACLU Petition

Expand Voting Excess Petition

Move-on vote by mail petition

Change.org vote by mail petition

Stop building of wall on native American land

And a nice listening treat: Tank and The Bangas, What the World Needs Now

A New Mississippi

Remember, my grandfather was partly responsible for committing Clennon King Jr., a black man, to Whitfield, the Mississippi mental institution due to Clennon’s attempt to enroll at the University of Mississippi. That was in 1958.

In 1962, James Meredith  became the first black man to enroll at the University of Mississippi. In December 1962, Bob Dylan recorded the song “Oxford Town” about him. At the time, Dylan was still an up-and-coming musician and Meredith was one of the most hated and admired men in America.

He went down to Oxford Town
Guns and clubs followed him down
All because his face was brown
Better get away from Oxford Town

Meredith is alive today and lives in Jackson, MS with his wife, Judy. This article tells more of their journey, A New Mississippi
If you haven’t heard the blues song he refers to in the article, take a listen: Shake Your Money Maker

Let’s keep fighting for justice!

Days Like This

Days Like This

Some days, we just have one of those days. Today is one of those days. Not sure what to do with myself, shedding a few tears, eating, bathing, sitting out in the sun, tearing pages from National Geographic , looking forward to nightfall and my new favorite BBC series, Scott & Bailey .

Meantime, I’ll share a poem that resonated:

Personal by Tony Hoagland

Don’t take it personal, they said:

but I did, I took it quite personal—-

the breeze and the river and the color of the fields :
the price of grapefruit and stamps,

the wet hair of women in the rain—
And I cursed what hurt me

and I praised what gave me joy,
the most simple-minded of possible responses.

The government reminded me of my father,
with it’s deafness and its laws,

and the weather reminded me of my mom,
with her tropical squalls.

Enjoy it while you can, they said of Happiness
Think first, they said of Talk

Get over it, they said

at the School of Broken Hearts

but I couldn’t and I didn’t and I don’t
believe in the clean break;

I believe in the compound fracture
served with a sauce of dirty regret,

I believe in saying it all
and taking it all back

and saying it again for good measure
while the air fills up with I’m-Sorries

like wheeling birds

and the trees look seasick in the wind.

Oh life! Can you blame me
for making a scene?

You were the yellow caboose, the moon
disappearing over a ridge of a cloud.

I was the dog, chained in some fool’s backyard;
barking and barking:

trying to convince everything else
to take it personal too.

 

 

Tetractys Poem

I have a couple of Southern women friends, up in Montana. We bonded over our Southernness and since have shared good times, giggles, floats on the river, food, grief and beauty. We call ourselves, the Hellgate  Junior League. Hellgate Canyon  runs through Missoula, MT and of course the junior league is an identifier for most upstanding Southern women.

Julie Rae has a style that don’t stop. Hardly ever have I seen her without the perfect hat, or lip color. For our Southern picnic in the park, she brought fine china, cloth napkins and peach pie. If it’s not done in style, it’s not worth doing.

Caroline Keys can strum a guitar, or banjo and sing a song that makes you feel dreamy.  I first heard her band, Stellarondo, named for an Eudora Welty character. Strawberry Cake is my most requested song. She is a prolific musician. In addition, Caroline teaches poetry to children on the Flathead Reservation.

She shared her class assignment with us. Write a tetractys: a 10 line poem, numbered 1,2,3,4, 10,10, 4,3,2,1. Each number is the number of syllables in each line.

Here’s my tetractys:

I
prefer
sunshine to
grey clouds above
go play outside today and tomorrow
flowers will bloom and people will heal soon
don’t be alone
you are loved
me too
y’all

 

Reach out and touch

Creating contemplative  collage – As I stared at this one last night, I kept singing Dianna Ross’s song, Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).

Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
Take a little time out your busy day
To give encouragement
To someone who’s lost the way
(Just try)
Or would I be talking to a stone
If I asked you
To share a problem that’s not your own
(Oh no)
We can change things if we start giving
Why don’t you
Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
If you see an old friend on the street
And he’s down
Remember his shoes could fit your feet
(Just try)
Try a little kindness and you’ll see
It’s something that comes
Very naturally
(Oh yeah)
We can change things if we…
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