On Sunday I took a look at my back yard and found these.
And, my early blooming white Lenten Rose has buds hidden under the leaves.
A joyful moment. It won't last long - snow tomorrow.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
Note: I may be late in responding but I appreciate your comments and readership and I will respond when I can.
It's Monday, and it's time for music.
Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us at the linky below). 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 may be labeled "No Music".)
Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.
Every other week, we have a theme. On alternate weeks, we can blog on any music theme we want. This week's theme is picked by Xmas Dolly and is: a winter related theme to build our music around. Think cold weather, sports, snow, snuggling with your friends, or anything that says winter to you.
As my regular readers know, I hate winter, which is why I live in a place where winter is long and cloudy.
Winterlude - Bob Dylan, from 1970, is more than a song about winter.
The Bangles and their cover of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Hazy Shade of Winter." As a Simon and Garfunkel fan, I have to admit I like this cover better.
What could be the opposite of winter? Well, dreaming of something warmer. Here are the Mamas and the Poppas with their 1965 hit California Dreaming.
Now for a brief intermission.
This doesn't, but it supposedly is from 1897. "Snowball Fight".
Back to our theme, with the Doors and Wintertime Love, from 1968.
Finally, a tribute to the Winter Olympics, here is Andrea Bocelli at the Turin 2006 closing ceremony singing Because We Believe.And that's a wrap!
Remember, I may not get to you right away, but I will. Eventually. Thank you for your patience.
Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.
Some shadow pictures taken yesterday.
Have to love the blue skies and warmth. Today, it got up to 53F (11.67 C).
Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for #ShadowshotSunday.
Two memes for the price of one today, as our unusual fall continues. First, the skies.
Here are skies from two different days in November. They are alike, but similar.
The clouds of November have arrived. At least it isn't the slate grey we'll see almost all the time later in November.
November 5.
November 11.
We are under a high fire danger where we live. So far, no fires have been near us. I only hope that continues.
Next, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, brought to us by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Our outdoor gardening season in my zone 6a gardenis over, even if temperatures are trending above average. All my outdoor flowers are done, and this is all I have to share with you today.
Kalanchoe-a beautiful plant given to me by my brother in law and sister in law. It's almost done blooming.
Finally, an impatien cutting I have in water waiting for me to have the time to pot it up is blooming. I apologize for the blurring.
To all my skywatching and GBBD friends, due to a personal situation I may not get back to you for a while, but I promise I will get to you.
Joining two memes today:
Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens for #GardenBloggersBloomDay.
It's time for tea at Your Home Library in Johnson City, New York.
For the second straight year, it's time for tea at Your Home Library in Johnson City, New York. The drawers that once stored catalogs now store giveaway seeds in the spring and tea and cocoa in the fall.
Time for tea, and time to support your local library by enjoying one of their programs.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
It's Monday. In the United States it's Veteran's Day (what many other countries call Armistice Day), and it's time for music.
Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us at the linky below). 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 may be labeled "No Music".)
Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.
Every
other week, we have a theme. On alternate weeks, we can blog on any
music theme we want. This week's theme is "You Pick". But before I begin, an announcement.
I am decreasing my footprint in the Blogosphere and once again trying to avoid social media, which is becoming more and more toxic. My time has also become more limited. So this will be a short post, and I may be delayed in visiting your post.
So, some musical selections today, both upbeat and sad.
Let's begin on an American patriotic note. The Stars and Stripes Forever, performed by the United States Army Field Band and Soldier's Chorus. This is a song whose tune can be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of where they were born or live.
Ray Charles and America the Beautiful.
Written by a Canadian soldier in 1915 upon the battle death of his friend in Flanders, Belgium, during World War I, by a soldier who, himself, did not survive World War I, it is one of the most poignant poems I have ever read. Here it is:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
And that's a wrap, as I honor all veterans of war today, including those in my family.
Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.
Two fall foliage shadows for your consideration, as I join up today with Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for her #ShadowshotSunday.
November 3, some of the last of the fall color.
November 5.
The leaves keep falling and we keep raking.
Speaking of shadows, history also has shadows. This is the anniversary of Kristallnact, the Night of Broken Glass, that took place November 9-10, 1938 in Germany. Here is a description of that event, one that echoes into the present as we face increasing hate in our world.
Let us insure that this history and other histories of hate (so many of them) never recede into the shadows of our memories, to be ignored, denied, or forgotten.
Is it really Friday already?
One of the few nice things about the now early sunsets is that it gives me more of an opportunity to see the sunset at a convenient time. Unless, of course, you are busy or working. But Monday I was able to catch these pictures.
I took a walk near our neighborhood park.
Sun continues to set.
Kissing the horizon.
The end.
Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.
I am making changes to my blogging schedule (discussed back in July) official probably (at least) until the end of the year.
I am stepping away from daily blogging effective next week. I still plan to blog on Mondays (Music Moves Me), Wednesday (Wordless Wednesday), Friday (Skywatch Friday) and Sunday (Shadowshot Sunday) but that will depend. I also plan to blog on the 15th of the month (Garden Bloggers Bloom Day), which, this month, will fall on a Friday.
I hope you will continue to read my offerings - there are many blogs out there that I enjoy and I will still be dropping by to read and enjoy your offerings, too. I may not comment right away, but I will.
Finally, a thank you to all those who commented on my digital vs print post. My spouse is the main reader and he dislikes digital. I enjoyed reading all of your perspectives.
Remember - change is good, or so they say.
I leave you with a song - David Bowie and "Changes".
The leaves are blowing away but yesterday was a gorgeous day, with unseasonable high temperatures. I was able to get out and take this picture of a tree up against evergreens.
A spot of red.
Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.
It's Election Day in the United States, and it's been going on for so long, and has been talked about so much, that we are all exhausted.
But today, I am asking for your vote on - Print or Digital?
Yesterday, I got an issue of a magazine my spouse and I happen to like - Birds and Blooms Extra. We love it especially to read at our leisure. It's heavy with photograph. We had just extended our subscription for two years because their price was going to go up. No problem there.
But there was this on top of the cover:
IMPORTANT MESSAGE. "Birds and Blooms EXTRA is going digital. We are pivoting the format of Birds and Bloms EXTRA magazine from print arriving in-home to digital arriving in your inbox as of the upcoming February 2025 issue...but rest assured the digital issue will contain all the same content you have come to love!" (they will also extend our subscription by one issue.)
Oh no.
The last thing we want is still another digital read.
They did offer a phone number for questions or to cancel and receive a refund.
We are seriously thinking of cancelling.
So, my voting question to you, my readers, is this?
Would you accept the digital subscription (no idea this would happen when we extended our subscription for two years recently)? Or would you vote to cancel?
It won't influence my decision. I'm just curious.
Print or digital?
It's Monday and it's time for music!
Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers. 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 may be labeled "No Music".)
Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.
Every other week, we have a theme. On alternate weeks, we can blog on any music theme we want. This week's theme is "Pick a song(s) that has to do with your country. Examples: songs about presidents, pursuit of happiness, liberty, national pride, etc."
First up, from the movie Selma, here are Common and John Legend with the award winning song Glory, from 2014. Freedom is not guaranteed. It must be cherished and fought for.
Perhaps one of the best songs written about freedom is Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom Flashing.
I have never known what it is like to live in a dictatorship, but, over the course of my life, I have met various people who have. Most came from Europe; one came from a country occupied by Japan. I will never forgot what they told me and I am not necessarily going to pick songs representing my country, the United States. To honor those still living under the thumb of dictators, here are the Scorpions and their 1991 masterpiece Winds of Change.
Finally, from 2016, a song by Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar. This is being used this year in a Presidential campaign, but I am posting this in the spirit of the song's original meaning as a civil rights hymn. Here is "Freedom".
And that's a wrap!
If you live in the United States and haven't yet voted, tomorrow is your last chance. Exercise your right to vote - it was hard fought and won. If you have or will vote, thank you!
See you again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.
Taken October 17 at a local park.
Showcasing the long shadows of October, now that it's November.
What a weird reflection. See the disk with the white circle in the middle touching the ground? Maybe it's a miniature flying saucer. Or, a dirty lens.
Enjoy the memories of October. We had a run of clear skies, and it was a great time for shadow photography.
Now, the gloom of November settles in even as the leaves fall onto my lawn, and I join Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for #ShadowshotSunday.
Thursday, Halloween, was the day for chills and ghost stories, but sometimes things that come in the mail are even more creepy.
Wednesday, my spouse and I received a "Voting Report Card" from an outfit called the Center for Voting Information. It read, in part:
"Dear AM:
Public records indicate that you are eligible to vote in the coming election....Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you voted is public record."
It then gave me a chart, contrasting my voting record (i.e. if I had voted in that year's general election), with two of my neighbors, with their addresses and names redacted, for the years 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
And then for the chills.
It continued "We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting." (italics are mine).
And then what? Is this a veiled threat, given the political climate we in the United States are in? Aren't many of us exhausted or fearful already?
Who are these Center for Voter Information people, anyway? I invite you to research that online if you are interested. I did.
I went online. I'm not the only person who has received mailings from this Center for Voting Information and I'm not alone in feeling this particular mailing was creepy or even vaguely threatening.
So. It is true that voter registration records are public, at least in New York State. I can easily determine if I am on the registration rolls and find out my polling place. If I voted by absentee ballot, I can find out its status. And, I can see if I am registered as a Republican or a Democrat.
My actual vote is private. Our democracy depends on that privacy. I have the right to vote along party lines, or I can cross that line and vote for the other side. Voting is a civic duty, and I am well aware that, as a woman, many fought for my right to vote. In fact, at the time my mother was born, she had no right to vote. I am well aware of that, too. I don't need a mailing to tell me that.
Oh, and about that list of neighbors and if they voted. I have the grand total of, I believe, one neighbor on my block who was living there in 2016. For that matter, on my block, there is only one family besides us who was living here in 2022. One neighbor died earlier this year. Most other houses are rentals and there is a constant turnover of tenants.
Do I even care if my neighbors voted? (For the record, my spouse and I early voted in this year's election, and, once again, it's no one's business how we voted.)
So, about that "we will be reviewing these records....": For what purpose? Learning how to better influence my vote? Retribution? Who are you to review my voting records.
That really does creep me out.
Center for Voting Information, just stop it.
But, despite all this confusion....
Vote as if your freedom depends on it, my fellow Americans.
Because, one day, it might.
And that's what is truly creepy.
I'm calling yesterday the last day of summer because it was the last day of an incredible streak of mild weather where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.
But it's November 1, and Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday. I'm not ready to face reality.
So instead, I'm sitting outside on October 31 and writing this post.
Sky earlier on October 31.
But yellow is nice, too.
One more before I go, taken October 31. The winds are blowing and the leaves are coming down fast.
