Category Archives: music

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frogseptember

My weekend at the Nowhereelse Festival would have delighted any frog. It rained nearly the whole time. I had a rental car, a tent and sleeping bag, and all of the music was in a much much bigger tent. I frogmarched back and forth from my small tent in a field, to the music venue, the volunteer tent and the food trucks. By the time I packed up my tent on Monday, the field was no longer absorbing water and it was 2-3 inches deep within a few feet of my tent. I hoped I would make it to the airport and not get caught by flooding roads. The fields and ditches were flooding but I was out before the roads were too bad. Whew.

The first photograph is the storm rolling in Saturday morning. The second is my tent from inside the rental car. WET.

For yesterday’s Ragtag Daily Prompt: frogmarch. If there is a frogmarch, there must be a frogseptember too, right?

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tent flounce

This tent looks like it has a flounce along the upper edge. I spent the weekend at the Nowhereelse Festival, camping in Ohio. The music is fabulous, hosted by Over the Rhine, and the Ohio rain was very impressive. I took the lightest camping gear I could, since I arrived by plane and rental car. My tent and sleeping bag stayed dry inside. Outside everything was sopping. I went barefoot for most of the three days except in the pokey field bits, and then I wore water slippers. None of my shoes would have stayed dry. I bought the slippers for indoors, but they are great in heavy rain and easy to take off when I was back on the grass.

Here is the tent in the evening, with clouds piling up.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: flounce.

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betrayed by my own brain

I took a very long nap after pulmonary rehab yesterday, pushed myself on the treadmill. I was tired. So then at midnight I can’t sleep, feel sad and sappy, get up, write Sorrow.

Then my own brain starts making fun of me.

It plays a soundtrack:

Yeah, ok, so my OWN BRAIN is making fun of me feeling heartbroken. Ok, ok, I am over it for this night. Let’s move on, I think I will manifest this instead. Yeah. I need a skintight dress and some heavy makeup, so there.

The header photograph is from Centrum’s Blues Fest on Saturday. Fabulous and fun!

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Defiance

Ok, this is a beautiful and romantic song, and yeah, George Strait is pretty.

And then there’s the Offspring. Singing Self Esteem. Guess which I like better.

The Offspring: defiance and singing about all sorts of things that we don’t talk about: “The more we suffer the more we really care!” Some of my patients needed to listen to this song. Often the mom, with a spouse and three children, who was taking care of all of them but not herself. “Who takes care of YOU?” I would ask. “No one,” some moms would say. “Look. There are FIVE people in your family. You are one of them. You deserve the same level of care that the rest of them are getting. I want you to include yourself in the people you take care of.” “BUT” “NO BUTS. If you don’t, then you are setting expectations for your children: the boys that a wife will take care of them and the girls to be walked on. Is that what you want?” “NO.” “Change it.” They often would, slowly but surely.

And The Offspring are further my heroes because of this song: Opioid Diaries. Ok, a punk band telling opioid overuse people to get help. MY HEROES! Thank you Offspring!!! It’s not easy to watch but wait until the ending and what if offers. I treated opioid overuse for the last 12 years in my small family practice clinic along with everything else: diabetes, hypertension, whatever. I never felt threatened or frightened, but some of that is because I grew up in an alcohol family. I recognize addiction. Reminding my of my parents is not a good sign. And I had to learn boundaries at home first. This is an uncomfortable video to watch but to me it is beautiful, because it offers hope.

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huge thanks to Trinity

The Summertime Singers had our tenth concert in twelve years last night at Trinity United Methodist, in Port Townsend, Washington.

And here it is, a video of the concert:

Summertime Singers – 2022

Trinity United Methodist hosts the Thursday Candlelight Concerts monthly. In September KPTZ will resume live broadcasts of the concert. Half of the contributions last night went to Jumping Mouse, the counseling center for children age 2 to 12.

Many thanks to Trinity United and to the folks who came out! And to Colleen and John, our directors, and Helen, our pianist. And a special thanks from me to Sidney, for some very timely voice lesson help!

Enjoy the concert and thanks to the church for posting it on their website!

The buck was right across the street on Tuesday, right before our dress rehearsal. I parked there and got out before I saw him. He didn’t mind. He continued to eat the hydrangeas. Yum.

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early wren

I recorded this in Wisconsin, with my phone. You may need to turn it up to hear it.

Recording of me exchanging songs with a wren.

I adore wrens. If I hear one and sing to it, it will sing back. Wrens change their songs all over the place. This one is very very patient with me, even though I am a terrible wren. At least I am trying, and this graceful musician is kind and encouraging, even though she is a professional.

I don’t think I ever saw the wren. I started chirping and trying to imitate the song when I heard it. Then I started recording. I don’t know how long we practiced together.

I am not good at wren songs. I am very good at chickadee, fairly good at eagle, and had a great blue heron back track and land in a tree when I tried that “BRAACCCKKKKK!” noise. Great Blue Herons sound like I imagine a pteradactyl sounded. There is an even more odd sounding bird, though. My daughter and I are walking around a small lake here and hear a monstrous sound. We stop and listen. We can’t identify it. We decide that it is not a cougar or a bear, and quietly walk forward, with caution.

It is a group of cormorants. It is twilight and there is a log sticking up out of the water. They are jockeying for position on the log. We think they are trying to roost for the night. As each one clambers up the water end, someone else is jostled and someone falls in the water. They are arguing in deep hoarse voices.

My daughter and I watch for a while. I don’t try to imitate the cormorants because I am afraid I will spook them. They are getting ready for bed. It is nearly dark so we walk on the the car and home.

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For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: noises.

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homage

Homage to the Jubilee and a woman who has seen so many changes. I had two friends over for tea yesterday and had fun dressing up. The suit is made of wool, probably from the 1940s. The gloves were my mother’s. She loved gloves and I have a box. The hat should be pale yellow green too, but this is what I could find.

I am glad that I don’t have to dress this way every day, but it was very fun yesterday. I did not feel encumbered. How DID they keep the gloves clean?

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: emcumbered.

The first song has tea! And a place in heaven for those who teach in Public School. Sigh.