Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
It is Independence Day where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State. Tonight, many in our country will be looking towards the sky at fireworks shows.
We had ours though, yesterday afternoon, when a severe thunderstorm came through our area, downing trees, raining hail down on us, and disabling landline 911 (emergency) services. The building our year round farmer's market is located in was damaged and there will be no farmer's market Saturday. Many county facilities and parks are closed until further notice.
We were fortunate; our power never went out and the pieces of tree branches that fell on my property were small.
I wasn't about to go out in that storm and take pictures, so these are from last week.
The sky has its own colors, especially at sunrise and sunset.
For example, last week I was too late for the sunset, but not for the after show.
After sunset, the sky started its own show.
The trees learnt their own color.
Happy Independence Day to my readers living in the United States.
P.S. I had mentioned needing dental work in an earlier post. Two days ago, my dentist extracted what was left of a molar, one that had a root canal and crown years ago. Friday before last, the crown had come off while I was flossing. The tooth underneath the crown had already broken in half (which I had never felt because of the root canal) and the dentist took out what was remaining. He also needed to do a bone graft yesterday partially due to the complication. In two weeks, I get the suctures out and then I will have the fun decision of either getting a bridge or an implant. But again, it could have been worse.
The friend I call my guest photographer looked out her window the other day and saw this:
Stretch....
No, it wasn't Yogi Bear.
Bears are commonly seen in the countryside here in the Southern Tier of New York, and sometimes in urban areas. Years ago, another friend once saw a bear while walking in her neighborhood. Fortunately the bear did not approach her.
I am having a dental procedure today, so I may not respond to you right away. But I will.
It's Monday, and it's time for music. This Friday is also our annual celebration, here in the United States, of our Independence Day.
Today
I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us
at the linky above). We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music
each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video,
please! Otherwise, your post link may be labeled "No Music" or even removed.)
Every
other week we have a theme, and this is one of those weeks. Today, our
theme is "National Day", and it is also my sad duty to blog about another two inductions into Rock and Roll Heaven. Perhaps we should call this a national day of rock remembrance?
But first, let's celebrate our Independence Day with a little Ray Charles and his cover of "America the Beautiful". We have such a beautiful country. I've been to 46 states and have so many fond memories of travel within our United States.
And now, the musician tributes.
Bobby Sherman, when I was growing up, was a teen idol, but he was also a singer and actor. Sherman died June 24 at the age of 81, but I want to remember him as the young man he was once.
Here's a fun clip with Bobby Sherman and also the Monkees featuring the song "Easy Come, Easy Go" at about three minutes into the clip.
From 1969, "Little Woman".
In Sherman's later life, he became a paramedic and a medical training officer for the Los Angeles, California police department. Here (with another clip of him singing "Easy Come Easy Go" towards the end) he appears on a talk show discussing that career.
Also, Mick Ralphs, guitarist, vocalist, song writer, co-founder of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople, died June 23, also at the age of 81.
Here is one of the songs he wrote - "Ready for Love" as performed by Mott the Hoople (it was also recorded by Bad Company).
And that's another sad wrap.
Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.
If you like these, there will be more to come. In fact, I checked my blog and I am slightly behind where I was last year.
From Lamberton's Brookside Daylilies in the small town of Thompson, Pennsylvania. They were supposed to be going out of business three years ago (the owners are in their 80's) but they are still open for limited days and hours.
Also from Lamberton's; daylilies do get into your blood.
The other two are from before I found Lamberton's.
This one is putting on quite the show.
My only sure rebloomer. This may be a Stella de Oro; not sure. It does not bloom continuously once it starts.
I've gotten my day lilies in various places. Some were bought at a combination of plants sales including our local
Cornell Cooperative plant sale, a plant sale we lucked into years ago in
Charleston, and a wonderful day lily business in Penn Yan, New York (Finger Lakes region)
called Grace Gardens. Sadly, Tom Rood, who ran this wonderful business after the death of his wife in 2020,closed at the end of last year. At his age (he's now 87) he also found he could no longer keep it up.
Our heat wave has broken, but not before breaking a couple of all time records. And I'm so happy it was short, because I had a dental emergency and a doctors appointment I had to travel to. I also had two appointments for my spouse that I had to accompany him to. So I wasn't able to stay at home as much as I would have liked, but, in the end, it was all good.
It rained Monday and yesterday, at least.
Wednesday, the last hot day, the humidity had improved to where you no longer felt like you were wearing the air, and I went outside to take some sky pictures.
It was nice seeing those clouds and blue skies.
These were taken at three different times during the day.
I like "Mt. McCloud" in the last picture.
Even though our hot is still below what some other parts of the country would consider hot, I'm glad it's over (until Monday, anyway).
And, yes, it's going to rain again this weekend. I think that makes 32 weekends in a row with either rain or snow. Or, maybe 33?
Nature, whatever you are trying to prove, I think you proved it. How about a precipitation free weekend? Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
From my photo archives - September of 2017, Owego, New York. I figured you were tired of my flower posts and decided to randomly select pictures on my phone.
I've (mostly) been staying home the last couple of days.
I think these were on the exterior walls of a construction site but can't remember for sure.
Today
I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us
at the linky above). We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music
each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video,
please! Otherwise, your post link may be labeled "No Music" or even removed.)
Every other week we have a theme, and this is one of those weeks. Today, our theme is "You Pick", and it is my sad duty to blog about another induction into Rock and Roll Heaven. It's also a sad duty to pay tribute to one of our own towards the end of today's post.
First, I cover the induction of Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (stage name Lou Christie) into Rock and Roll Heaven.
The singer better known as Lou Christie died June 18 at the age of 82. He was one of my favorite artists back in the 1960's and here are several selections from his hits.
His greatest hit - Lightnin' Strikes, complete with go-go girls. This song made it to #1 on Billboard's charts. Love that 60's vibe!
From 1969, I'm Gonna Make You Mine, which I never realized until researching this post that it was a cover.
Rhapsody in the Rain
Finally, Lou Christie's 1973 venture into country music with his cover of Beyond the Blue Horizon, a song from 1930.
And now, it is my sad duty to say goodbye to one of #MusicMovesMe, Patrick Weseman, whose blog Adventures in Weseland was a regular participant in our weekly music meme. Patrick was a former sports reporter for his local paper and was currently a special education teacher in San Francisco. He was also a Gulf War veteran. He was only 56 years old at the time of his passing on June 16.
At one time, he worked as a counselor at the California School for the Blind. I read he took his students on field trips to allow them to experience things others may not have thought those without vision or with only limited vision could enjoy.
Almost
every week, without fail, he posted about music, or what he found in
his latest travels. He also participated in other blog hops.
Patrick loved to attend local outdoor concerts and sporting events. I was honored to have been his friend on Facebook.
Not only had he posted his music post on the day of his death, but he visited my blog (and other participants' blogs) and commented. This is his last music post from the day of his death.
May he forever rest in peace. Judging from the tributes on his Facebook wall, Patrick made a difference in many lives. His will be a great loss to his California community.
Perhaps he is being named an honorary member of Rock and Roll heaven for his devotion to learning, and to music. In the meantime, he has taught his final lesson to us all: things change in a moment. Let's all live the best lives we can, and, when we finally leave this world, leave it a better place.
And that's another sad wrap.
Join me again next week with anther episode of #MusicMovesMe.
