Sapphire Tides and September

Hey, hi!

Here it is the first month of autumn, and the only sign that the season actually intends to arrive this year is the early appearance of migratory Lesser Long-nosed bats.  Having followed the “nectar trail” from Mexico to Arizona, I guess it’s only fitting that they sneak around in the dark, slurping hummingbird feeders till they’re empty, leaving their own trail of nectar on the patio floor in their wake. Interestingly, if we take the hanging feeders down and leave them on the table at night – still in plain sight – the bats won’t touch them. I think it upsets the hummers, though. They’re a bit testy in the mornings if we don’t hang the feeders back up in time for breakfast ;-)

The excessive heat has evidently bothered even the snakes this year, as every other day or so, new skin is shed and left near our front door. While this has unnerved more than one delivery person, I’m wondering where all these naked snakes are hanging out.

In answer to the question I asked in my website blog, my sister brought up a September song I simply can’t get out of my head!  Let’s see if anyone else brings it up.

Sir George Ivan “Van” Morrison will reportedly release three new songs targeting COVID restrictions in the coming weeks. I like his style, and at least he’s not throwing bricks through storefront windows.

Local musician J.D. Loveland has founded Zoom Entertainment Network, which offers an impressive alternative for live concerts with what he calls “Zoomcerts.”

Author Dean Koontz is in the spotlight of late. Not because he’s good, but because he’s so good he might even have predicted our current pandemic in his 1981 novel “The Eyes of Darkness.” While ardent fans, including myself, highly doubt that assertion, I wish I could remember who I lent my copy to so I could read it again.  I read “Devoted” earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

According to Goodreads, I’ve read fifteen books this year, plus two they don’t even know about. I’m sure glad they keep track ;-)

I’ve done something else as well. Something I’ve meant to do, and have hinted at for some time now – what a year it’s been, huh? – Anyway, I figure “Read an Ebook Day” is as good a day as any to announce the release of my latest (YA) book, “Sapphire Tides” Read all about it here if you like.  

If you have a favorite September song, book, or movie - or thoughts on anything I've rambled on about, feel free to share!

2018 A - Z Challenge - V

V    Things We Appreciate

The Velvet Hook

After an enjoyable walk in the woods with his dog, George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, found dozens of cockleburs firmly attached to his pants and in the fur of his dog. Curiosity led the engineer to his microscope where an idea began to form. Fourteen years of trial and error later, Mestral had perfected a way to replicate the sticky power of burrs and patented it (1956) under the name of Velcro, a combination of two French words: Velour (velvet) and Crochet (hook) nylon sewn under infrared light– Who knew?  

A Vignette:

It was right after Violet watched Gregory Peck ride off with Audrey Hepburn at the helm of a zippy little scooter through the cobblestone streets of Rome, that she, Violet, decided to dust off that Vintage Vespa she had in the garage and go somewhere. Anywhere would do, Anywhere besides her own Veranda with a View she’d somehow lost interest in.

She’d read in the Sunday paper of a singing Vaquero who entertained patrons at the Farmer’s Market. It seemed as good a destination as any. With a burst of renewed Vitality, Violet donned her finest Victorian blouse, swallowed a shot of Vermouth and sped down the hill toward the market.

Approaching a large display of Vegetables at a Velocity that sent patrons scrambling for safety, Violet recalled something of Vital importance: her brakes hadn’t worked in years. 

 

Happy V Day!

Any thoughts? Can you add to the list of things we appreciate that begin with the letter V?

2018 A - Z Challenge - M

M   Things We Appreciate

I could live on Milkshakes. In fact, I did for a while that last year of high school. Strawberry was my favorite; chocolate was good too. Shakes were just the perfect thing for hunger abatement in between classes and after-school jobs where I also enjoyed Making Money.

Keeping busy was one thing the Sinagua people had no trouble with, as evidenced by the 600-year old rugged high-rise suites their daring builders etched into limestone cliff faces high above the valley below.  Montezuma Castle, as it is called (though no relation to the Aztec Emperor, who hadn’t yet been born), is probably the most well- preserved cliff dwellings in North America, but access to the actual ruins was deemed too unstable in 1951. The National Park operates a Visitor’s Center within plain view of the castle, which affords excellent opportunities for photographs.

Near the Arizona-Utah border lies a high-plains version of our own star of the Silver Screen. Monument Valley in all its ruddy-red glory sports panoramic views of towering buttes and spires that have appeared in numerous media outlets, including films ranging from Stagecoach (John Wayne) to Back To The Future II; fundamentally shaping America’s earliest impression of the American southwest. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is located on the Navajo nation and visitors are welcome for a nominal fee.

Isn’t there just something about the scent of Maple Syrup that makes you want a pancake? Some folks drizzle it on other things as well, like bacon, ice cream, salads and roasted vegetables. What do you put syrup on?

When I’m anxiously waiting for that first clap of thunder during summer Monsoon, reading a good Mystery helps the time pass. Cranberry Mimosas at a wedding shower have the same effect ;-)

 

The only things more treasurable than the experiences we have are the Memories we keep, and as my grandson brought to mind when he insisted I add Music (of course!) to the list, Motherhood has been one of the very best!

Happy M Day!

Any thoughts? Can you add to the list of things we appreciate that begin with the letter M?

B is for Bad Company

Lines of Inspiration

Melodious expressions, Enduring Truisms

B

Bad Company

“Seagull you fly across the horizon, into the misty morning sun…”

Song Title:  Seagull   

                                                 

Songwriter:  Paul Rodgers

The Band:

Established in 1973 and comprised of members from the likes of Free, Mott the Hoople, and King Crimson, the British bred supergroup, Bad Company staked their claim to fame and never let go.

Soon after one of their first public warm up performances (in Germany), when the band was asked what they called themselves Paul Rodgers (founder and lead vocalist) reportedly replied “Bad Company” – after a film starring Jeff Bridges; which he had seen just prior to their show. Though in a later interview, Rodgers explained the idea came from a picture in a book on Victorian morals depicting a young boy looking up at an unsavory man leaning against a lamppost. The caption read “beware of bad company”.

The Bad Company band was still going strong in 2013 when they announced a 40^th Anniversary tour with the southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Film:

Described as an “ironic western”, the undiscovered gem of a movie: Bad Company, portrays a group of young renegades heeding the irresistible call of the outlaw west, only to find it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. According to Jeff Bridges, the gunfight in the forest had to be completely re-shot (by none other than DP Gordon Willis of the Godfather movies fame) as it had been ruined in the lab.

So, how about that line? Does it call to mind a memory? Instill a sense of wonder? Are you familiar with the song, band, or film?

There’s a whole lotta blogging going on right here!  

Ruminations

Well, I’m crushed. Dorothy’s ruby slippers (The Wizard of Oz) sold at an auction for $660,000. Not that I’d have anywhere to wear them… but this is the kind of thing a convalescing trivia buff runs across.

A Superman appears in every episode of Seinfeld, and an orange is seen right before a death - or close call, in all of The Godfather movies. Now they tell me. Did anyone catch the little red car in the background during the epic chariot scene in the movie Ben Hur? 

You might imagine my relief when hubs announced he’d “found something” on Netflix! We watched a film called “Knowing,” starring Nicolas Cage. I thought the acting was a bit edgy, but the storyline is really quite good as he tries to discover the meaning of a page of endless numbers which seem to connect locations to unexplained events involving massive casualties. The gripping ending provides much to consider, no matter your spiritual or practical acumen.

For example, those who give the slightest credence to the time-defying travels (Phoenix to New Mexico in only a matter of days!) of an irascible Apache called Geronimo, via vast and far-reaching underground passages beneath the Salt River Valley, might easily accept the notion that these extensive tunnels were excavated by the very same legendary “little people” also credited with directing the unexplained light shows above the Superstition Mountains. Likewise, they may have an entirely different conception of what exactly happened to Cahokia, the largest prehistoric Native American (cosmopolitan) commune ever recorded (roughly where St. Louis is now) than the Army Corp. of Engineers who tirelessly worked to modify the Mississippi River from meandering so much, and thereby generated prime real estate for wildlife preservation, the production of agriculture, and the development of several other industries (jobs!) as well.

Admittedly, all those industries prompted the “Clean Water Act” (not a bad thing), but do you think those elaborate tunnels were burrowed only for Geronimo’s convenience? And, as reticent as our government seems to be about even acknowledging the possibility of extraterrestrial beings, what do you make of the need for a Federal Regulation prohibiting any contact between humans and alien beings - or vehicles?

Not that watching the movie “Knowing” will send you on a philosophical tangent, but I do recommend it (the movie, I mean). Besides, ruminating is good for me just now as I recover from a visit from an old antagonist called Epilepsy, which has pretty much demanded (much-appreciated) time to think and read and write while my mind reboots and my body recoups from the battering. 

Thank you in advance for your patience (What the heck is she thinking?) and your ever-thoughtful comments!