Stand By Me

Absolutely, Fabulously Wonderful song & video:

Playing for Change

I’ll probably be absent again for a few days. I’m in the midst of doing the “Stand By Me” thing for a friend. She broke up with her boyfriend so he committed suicide in her garage this morning.

We are incredibly relieved and thankful that he did not harm her or her family, but she saw it… and the neighborhood heard it…

I have incredible respect and awe for our police force who have to deal with this. They’ve been wonderful today.

That’s all I can say right now, except that I’m headed back over there again tonight. If you pray, please do so for my friend.

WWC #82: “R” and ANGRY

More than a day late and a dollar short, here is what I’ve got for the Weekly Words Challenge with “R” (things that begin with the letter R) and angry:

I was too busy to post on Tuesday because I was hanging out with 2 busloads of 3rd graders, assorted teachers & parent chaperones, and a Ranger.

It was probably a Regulation for these markers to be placed along the trail.

Looking down at the mouth of Antietam Creek where it meets the Potomac River. Historians say this body of water ran Red with the blood of Civil War soldiers after the battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg, if you are a true Southerner). There were nearly 23,000 casualties in that single day battle; over 3,650 soldiers died and another 17,000+ were wounded.

SnakeMaster wanted to sleep outside on Tuesday night, even though I warned him about a possible thunderstorm and showers expected off and on for the next few days. Sure enough, he woke up at 6 AM Wednesday morning with Rain on his face. He left his tent and got ready for school. It wasn’t until after school that I realized he had left all of his bedding in the tent… 2 cushions, 2 pillows, and 4 blankets. I wasn’t angry, but everything was soaking wet.

______________________________________________

The words for next week are:
Bokeh (Definition HERE)
and
Heart

Sheesh! Angry was such a difficult word for me that I didn’t even provide a picture (hence the dollar short comment above) — and now Tink wants bokeh! That will certainly stretch my photography skills.

Blog? What blog?

Last night was starry and clear, and the weather report gave our area a freeze warning.

But now? Here is our forecast, from tonight and beyond:

Tonight
Apr 24

Mostly Clear

79°
59°

—————————–

Sat
Apr 25

Isolated T-Storms

92°
64°

———————————–

Sun
Apr 26

Mostly Sunny

92°
63°

————————————

Mon
Apr 27

Sunny

91°
63°

————————————–

Tue
Apr 28

Partly Cloudy

88°
61°

————————————–

I might be absent from the blogsphere for a few days…

Here’s what’s on my mind…

Open Secrets

Words by Neil Peart
music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
from the HOLD YOUR FIRE cd

It went right by me --
At the time it went over my head
I was looking out the window
I should have looked
At your face instead

It went right by me --
Just another wall
There should have been a moment
When we let our barriers fall
I never meant
What you’re thinking --
That is not what I meant at all...

Well I guess we all
Have these feelings
We can’t leave unreconciled
Some of them burned on our ceilings
Some of them learned as a child

The things that we’re concealing
Will never let us grow
Time will do it’s healing
You’ve got to let it go

Closed for my protection --
Open to your scorn
Between these two directions
My heart is sometimes torn

I lie awake with my secrets
Spinning around my head
Something that somehow
Escaped me --
Something you shouldn’t have said
I was looking out the window
I should have looked
At your face instead...

I find no absolution
In my rational point of view
Maybe some things are instinctive
But there’s one thing you could do
You could try to understand me --
I could try to understand you...

Earth Day Birthday

My firstborn son…

SuperDad with MusicMan, April 1991

has become a man…

last October (SuperDad was not wearing shoes)

MusicMan is 18 years old today!

WWC #81: Door and Home

In the absence of the vacationing Tink, Jay hosted the Weekly Words Challenge last week and gave us our words for this week: DOOR and HOME (or things that remind us of home).

Yes, I’ve used this picture before (it’s from May 2008) but I absolutely love this door. A couple of longtime friends & I get together each Spring for a girls’ weekend, and this was the front door from the house we rented last year.

Changing seasons bring different decorations…
This is my front door in Autumn.

treehouse DOOR

[not ours]

Front DOOR and temporary HOME for one year (SuperDad took this photo, as I did not accompany him there).

They share a name 🙂

Family makes me think of HOME. This photo of EB with his great-uncle was taken at my in-laws’ home — one of my favorite vacation spots!

What makes you think of home?

______________________________________

A list of regular WWC participants can be found here.

And even though I’m not good about posting my pics on flickr {something to do with not paying for a pro account}, we do have a WWC flickr group.

Thematic Photographic #45: Floral

Floral was the theme this week (the Thematic Photographic week runs from Wednesday evening to Wednesday evening). The crocus blooms are just now popping up in Ontario, but here we are at the tail end of the daffodils and into the tulips.

Literally into the tulips!

Just when we were despairing of having any at all, the apple blossoms have burst forth.

The blossoms blowing off of the neighbor’s tree looked like a flurry of snowflakes. The grass was dusted with pink blossoms (and a few dandelions).

A small garden in front of our house is currently carpeted with Creeping Phlox in pinks and purples.

These delicate blossoms are called “bleeding heart.”

_______________________________________________

Want to play along? Carmi explains how it’s done here.

————————–

Come back tomorrow for the Weekly Words Challenge. The words are DOOR and HOME (or anything that reminds you of home).

_______________________________________________

Who am I?

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours

Not because of who I am
But because of what You’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
‘Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

 

song & lyrics by Casting Crowns

Ramblings of an old lady

My high school reunion is coming up in 15 more weeks. #25. Some of my old classmates have been busy pre-partying and the pics are up on facebook. All of my old classmates look better than me (this from the delusional woman who can look in a mirror and still see a thin person peering back at her). And yet… some of the pictures show them clinging to youth with drunken abandon. And I think, “Who would want those particular pictures out there on the internet for your children/boss/co-workers/pastor/you-name-it to see?” This alone puts me in the “mature woman” category — not because I am mature and they aren’t, but because I am talking like an old lady… and I’m a little concerned about tagged photos of me showing up in August.

I started rounding my age up in my early 30’s. Many women I admired were older by a few years and I wanted to be in their age bracket, so for a few years I was 35, and then I spent 4 years being 40. In some ways, this kept a new decade from being a shock. (I’d been saying I was that old for 4 years, after all!) After 40, my husband asked me to only age one year at a time. (male ego, much?)

I suspect that your “worst” decade is the one where you have the greatest stresses happening all at once. In my case, this decade began a few months prior to my 35th birthday — which means my decade is going to last longer than a decade, because really? How can I end the worst decade and begin a new & better one with my firstborn off at college, the next one a high school senior, the third child a high school freshman, and my baby in his last year of grade school? This sounds like crisis mode to me! Not to mention (but I am) my husband threatening to retire at this very same point and throwing my life into more change and upheaval. Oh, wait… did someone say the word CHANGE in regards to a middle-aged woman? I’ve got a hot flash for you: Happy Pills can’t even begin to touch this scenario. Trust me, I’ve tried.

“Cool”

Last August, our high school marching band received their new T-shirts for the school year. On the back is a list of dates they will be playing and where, which I find incredibly helpful. I’ve taken a picture each fall so I can just check my computer if I have a question.

Yeah, I’m a little bit of a geek that way — I also take a picture of the map at the zoo. Digital cameras rock!

The design theme always corresponds with the set of music they play at half-time shows and competitions throughout the fall marching season. I think we all spent the autumn months singing songs in our heads from “West Side Story.”

What the T-shirt doesn’t include is the annual Spring Trip, which isn’t decided upon until after the school year is underway. But guess where Music Man is right now? 😀