Earlier this week, it was cold, but we decided to take a walk after my workday was over. The sun was just setting.
My hands are too cold; time to go in. The sun agrees, as it tucks into its home during the night.
Joining Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day when we pause and remember a horrific time in the history of our world. Genocide is a grim topic and I realize some readers will scroll on by and seek happier reading.
But, for the rest of us, I want to address this in a different way.
January 27, 1945 was the day the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex in German occupied Poland, where some 1.1 million people were murdered, was liberated.
Few of the survivors, or their liberators, are alive today. Soon enough, they all will be gone.
But witnesses will remain.
The trees there remain, silent witnesses to history.
Some of the trees still at the complex were planted by prisoners. They weren't planted to make the prisoners happy, but, rather, to please their oppressors. Others were already there, fruit trees planted by villagers whose village were taken over by the Nazis and the land used to expand the camp complex.
The caretakers of the complex do their best to safeguard the trees. In a way, they are symbols of hope. Where hate once was, now there is the beauty of nature.
I don't know if any of the trees in this picture were there to witness this event in the history of my country, but I would like to think so.
Trees do so much for us. We don't think of them as witnesses to our lives, but in they are. They give us food, fuel, building materials, and oxygen, teach us patience, and bring us hope.
As for the Holocaust, it was real, it happened, and I can only hope we never forget it and other such events in world history.
Joining Parul at Happiness and Food each second and fourth Thursday of the month for #ThursdayTreeLove.
For years, the small neighborhood church had served its members, many of whom were refugees from Southeast Asia.
When churches had to go remote during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, I had assumed that church had gone remote, also.
The parking lot was never plowed. Perhaps, there was no need.
But, even after churches were permitted to resume in person services, no one seemed to be coming here anymore.
One day recently, I passed the church.
The gloomy sky fits the mood of this building perfectly.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
In March of 2012, I blogged about Oreos, which was then celebrating its 100th birthday. Since then, there has been an absolute parade of short term flavors. There's been almost every flavor you can imagine.
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| One of many flavors over the years - this is from 2018 |
Now, for Oreo's 110th birthday, there will be a new limited edition flavor. You can pre order them now (no, I am not being compensated in any way for blogging about Oreos and this is not a sponsored post) and there is a website (which I am not linking to) to enter various sweepstakes in honor of the birthday.
I haven't purchased Oreos in quite a while, but, in my earlier years, I loved them. Here are some of my previous blog posts about limited edition flavors. There are actually few limited edition flavors I've tried and liked, so not all of these are positive reviews.
Then there was my favorite flavor ever - Strawberry Milkshake Oreos.
There's even a short street in New York City named for Oreos, where an Oreo bakery used to stand.
There are the flavors sold only in other countries. I would love the coconut Oreos, I suspect.
Ironically, in a way, it all started with Hydrox sandwich cookies, once made by Sunshine, which predate Oreos by some four years (1908 vs Oreos 1912). In my childhood, growing up in a Jewish home that kept kosher, my Mom didn't buy Oreos. (At the time, Oreos were not kosher. They are now). Rather, I grew up with Hydrox but, thanks to friends, was well acquainted for Oreos.
It may be heresy, but I liked the Oreos better than the Hydrox cookies. For all I know, it was the (forbidden for me) lard, which was used in the cookies until 1997.
There are so many ways to eat them, too. My method? Pull the cookie apart, nibble around the cream, then eat the cream, then eat the rest of the cookie. I don't like to dunk them.
If you eat sandwich cookies, how do you like to eat them?
I am looking forward to trying the 110th birthday flavor, Chocolate Confetti Cookie Cake, which will be released on January 31. I'll let you know if I can get hold of a package and try it. Two flavors of cream, and sprinkles both in and out. Hoping they are a winner.
I like playing "yea or nay" games with Facebook friends over flavors when I run into new flavors in the supermarket.
I hope this one is a "yea".
It's Monday and time for Music Moves Me!
Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music
each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!) First,
there is XmasDolly. (She has been a bit under the weather, but will be rejoining us as soon as she can. Get well soon!) Her co-hosts are: Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy,
and me.
We'd
love more music lovers to join us. It's easy! All you have to do is
join the linky above with a music post that contains at least one music
video (there must be a music video).
Each month, except December, we have a guest conductor. For January, our guest conductor is our very own Cathy at Curious as a Cathy.
Cathy has chosen the theme for this week: " Pick songs that pay a compliment to your readers for National Compliments Day". Happy to do so - there isn't enough positivity in today's world, so let's go!
Not sure all of these are compliment songs or compliments to those who read my blog in the lyrics, but they are what I'm picking.
Joe Cocker - "You are So Beautiful"
Queen and "You're My Best Friend".
After that, we need to pep things up a little. I am not a huge pop song fan, but I love everything about this song - the lyrics, the singing, the dancing, and the positivity. Taylor Swift and "Shake It Off".
Cyndi Lauper and "True Colors".
We'll wrap it up with Billy Joel and "Just the Way You Are". I enjoy you, my readers, just the way you are.
Don't change!
Join me again same time, same place, next Monday for another episode of Music Moves Me!
We've lost so many greats in the past couple of weeks, and rock n'roll heaven has received some new inductees. One of the latest is Marvin (later changed to Michael) Lee Aday, who went professionally by a childhood nickname, Meat Loaf. I'll get to him in a moment.
One of my Facebook friends, Onyx, commenting on all the recent deaths, posted this:
"Meatloaf, Louie Anderson, Bob Saget, Betty White, I’m reading all these posts from fellow actors/musicians and they all describe them lovingly, big hearts, kind, funny, nice guys, humanitarian, loving, great to work with, amazing.
Now, were these people perfect? Not by a long shot! Had flaws, did things that hurt others occasionally, had some regrets? Of course! But here is my point, not one person has mentioned any of those things, instead they mention, the love, the humor, the impact, the music, the light in the darkness.
The point is, those things we think disqualify us in life, those things we beat ourselves up over, those mistakes we fear will linger……at the end of our lives, what will matter is how we loved. It’s okay to make mistakes and be flawed just love others and make them feel like they matter. That’s the legacy these people left. It’s the legacy we can all leave."
We are all human. We've all done things which are wrong. We've sometimes wronged others. None of us are perfect, but if we have given much more love than we have received, and improved our world even a little, we have lived a good life.
The greatest compliments we can pay another person comes within their lifetime, but many times the compliments come after the person died.
Tomorrow, I will be participating in Music Moves Me, a Monday music group. Our theme for tomorrow will be "Pick songs that pay a compliment to your readers, for National Compliments Day."
Since I already wrote tomorrow's post, I want to feature, for my Sunday post, a short tribute to the singer/actor Meat Loaf, who died Thursday at the age of 74.
This obituary will give you some facts about his life and accomplishments.
Here are two of his greatest hits. First, "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" from his 1977 album "Bat Out of Hell". I can still remember the first time I heard this song, and I thought "This song is something special!" It wasn't just because I was a Yankees fan from around 1961-1965, and the song has some clips from the late Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzutto. Holy cow! It also has Todd Rundgren on guitar and two members of the E Street band on drums, and keyboard/piano.
The song is sung by a man (as an adult) who makes a vow in the heat of teenaged passion and lives up to it despite all the pain it causes. What could have been a cheap few minutes is turned into something much more, especially when we hear from the girlfriend, who stops Meat Loaf as he rounds third base with her voice. And what a duet results. The part was sung by Ellen Foley on the recording, and Karla DeVito in concert.
The other song for today is "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" from his 1993 album "Bat Out of Hell II" but I'm going with a live version. People have been wondering what "that" is since 1993.
I hope you will join me again tomorrow for more music.
I read a thread on Twitter today. It started "Am I too old for a charm bracelet at 61? Hubby says no one does these anymore...I assembled it and picked up from jeweler today. I’m crushed." She got quite a number of responses.
Charm bracelets. Why not? If you are a woman, you have the right to wear whatever you want. Same goes for men. And why limit yourself with age? As far as I'm concerned you are never too old to do anything that interests you. You may be held back physically or healthwise, but why not try what you can?
But the thread that followed that question brought back memories. I'm older than 61, and have no charm bracelets currently, but I've owned a couple of charm bracelets in the past. I wish I knew where they were. One, I think I lost long ago.
I've wanted a charm bracelet for a few years and just didn't look into it. In fact, since the pandemic began, I have worn jewelry only on a handful of occasions.
Believe it or not, part of the reason why I want one is because of WW (formerly Weight Watchers). They give out Milestone charms for various weight loss milestones so I have a tiny (well, a little) pile of unused charms. I could put them on a keychain. WW does not sell the bracelets. They sell so many other things, I wonder, why not a charm bracelet to put the charms on?
I went on Etsy and there are quite a number of charm bracelet sellers out there, some priced quite reasonably. Now, wouldn't I love a charm bracelet with a camera, a watering can, a chicken (because I used to own chickens), and my/spouse/son's birthstones? What an amazing way to tell a life story.
I found a seller called Pammytail who seems to have excellent reviews for her made to order charm bracelets. She also offers over 1,000 charms.
Now, as for for those weight loss charms, I'd have to figure out how to get them on the bracelet.
And then, of course, I would have to wear it.
Maybe now it's time for an informal poll of my readers: Does anyone out there still wear charm bracelets?
