Music and Memory...

Evening has come and it's still above 100 degrees, so I'm sitting in my air conditioned family room listening to YouTube videos. Darius Rucker and Adele singing Need You Now, Allison Krauss and Jerry Douglas performing a tribute to James Taylor with Carolina in My Mind, Emeli Sande singing Breathing Underwater, Cece Winans with Blessed Assurance...

It brings to mind how much music has shaped my life. There are songs that bring me to tears, some that make my heart laugh, those that make me want to dance, and songs that make my heart rejoice and worship.

Just the beginning chords of a song can transport me back to a particular moment in time. Music wields a unique power to stir emotion and memory. It touches the soul like nothing else does.

And with that, I'll sign off for now. Wishing you a good night...

© 19JUL2018 ajjahner

Feelings...

I don't even know what I want to write about. My mind is so wrapped up in things I must do, I'm not finding time for things I dream of doing. While I sit here typing, I'm listening to an episode of The Voice from a few nights ago. There are some amazing singers this season. They're singing some of my old favorites, opening up emotions I haven't felt in a long while.

There's nothing like music to take you swiftly back in time. It's 1977. I can almost feel the hot summer air, smell the fresh cut grass and the fading roses. Life seemed like it stretched before me in a beautiful, endless road. While the road looks different to me, all these years later, it's still filled with beauty.


© 13Apr2016 ajj

A Few Brief Thoughts...

I don't have a lot to share, but I wanted to list some random thoughts...

It's mom's birthday, as always I'm thinking of her and remembering her with love.

I'm enjoying having both sons here for spring break. They bring so much laughter and fun into our lives. They are each such a gift and blessing to me.

My hyacinths have blossomed. They always smell so sweet! Some of the tulips have bloomed as well.

Spent yesterday with my little sis. Out to breakfast, and on to the Antique Mall to purchase more family photos. Then we wandered, just looking at all the other fun things for sale. I bought a Kenyan hand carved stone egg for $4.00, just in time to add it to my Easter decorations.

We had a whopper of a thunderstorm yesterday. Rain pelted the house, then turned into hail for a bit, wind roared, lightening striking all around. March has been mild this year, but yesterday it was a lion!

I'm getting ready to watch an episode of The Voice which I recorded earlier. I've been avoiding all the news of the world. I just needed a little oasis of peace today. Music always soothes the soul.

Wishing you Peace, sprinkled with a huge dose of Joy!

Not Quite Ready...

Six days into December, and I don't have my Christmas tree up!  We can't decide on a natural tree or a new artificial one this year.  If we go artificial, I want a tall, skinny one that will take up less floor space, and I want it to already have lights installed.  Our existing lights are very old, and should be replaced anyway.  My husband looked at artificial trees on sale, but they were sold out of the skinny ones.  I guess we should have started earlier.  Looks like a natural tree may win by default!

Before I go, here are some music videos that I love.  They may help you greet this Christmas season with a little more peace, hope, and joy.

I Heard the Bells

One Holy Night

And... Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel

I Heard the Bells is one of my all-time favorites, One Holy Night is a beautiful original composition, and Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel is so poignant and beautiful, with a gorgeous cello part that I love.  Laurie Roberts is my cousin, and Tammy is her cousin (she feels like mine, though technically she's not). The selections are from an album they made last year.  There are a few more of their songs on Laurie's YouTube page.  Please feel free to share with your friends on your blogs, Facebook pages, or wherever.  Laurie's blog is SingTeachRun, and Tammy's is Forever in First: A First Grade Blog.  I hope you enjoy the music and the blogs.  Blessings my friends!

Day 25 - Beginnings, My Love of Vinyl Records

You already know I'm one of those people that likes to keep everything.  That includes vinyl records!  A few years ago, I made myself sell a bunch of my old favorites at a yard sale.  Mistake!  I miss those albums, and they didn't take up much space.  Some have never been released on CD, so that music is just gone.

Do you remember your first record album?  Mine was one by the Chipmunks.  Later on, I was given a storybook album of "Goldilocks & The Three Bears" and a Perry Como Christmas album.  I still love Perry Como!  My mom gave me a stack of 45's when I was about 8 or 9.  My favorite of those was the Kingston Trio "It Takes A Worried Man".  My sis and I used to play it on all the different speeds, trying to sing it hyper fast and high pitched or very slow with deep bass voices.  Often our cousins were over to join in on the singing.  We knew how to create our own fun!  Pause my playlist (over on the sidebar), and have a listen to this old favorite of mine!

Over the years my collection grew to include Fleetwood Mac, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, Barbra Streisand, Emmylou Harris, The Gatlins, The BeeGees, Heart, Nat King Cole, James Taylor... I could go on and on.  I loved music.  I had everything from rock to country to gospel, and it all started with that first Chipmunks album.


© 25JAN12 ajj

Crying In The Rain...

This is my niece singing a cover, "Crying In The Rain"...  Be sure to pause my music selections above before hitting play.  I hope you love it as much as I do...

Monday, Monday...

It's been a long Monday. It started out this morning, when I glanced out the kitchen window to see if the bus had picked up Lucky 13. I was just in time to see a car racing toward him, slam on the brakes, he jumped forward... Heart felt like it stopped! Then he got on the bus. The bus driver had been honking the whole time, trying to get the attention of the driver. Later on, my son told me the driver's windshield had been dirty. This was in a lighted intersection, bus lights flashing, some boys crossing just ahead of my son. He said he had one of those "hair on the back of the neck" feelings, heard a whirring that he realized was tires, saw the light from the headlights coming up fast and he jumped forward. She was within a couple inches of hitting him. After Lucky 13 got on the bus, his driver continued lecturing her out the window. Huge scare for all of us. We were very blessed that it was just a scare and not a trip to the hospital!

The rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep, filling a box for donation to the ARC, taking Lucky 13 to his follow-up doctor appointment... more tests. I didn't get much done this evening other than watch Dancing With the Stars. Then I decided to check my email.

There was a note from my niece, Nicole. She got three of her songs placed on YouTube. I'm very excited for her. She's a wonderful singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianist. Multi-talented! Here is a sample of her work.



Original song, Come Back Tomorrow.
Acoustic demo recorded in Seattle WA 2009.
Words and Music by Nicole Peoples (c) 2004
----------------------------------------

I've got the slippers on my feet, broomstick in hand
You say I'll understand; "Come back tomorrow"
It's always tomorrow
But I've followed this road for too long now
That I cant turn around, and go back now

I'm on a road, signs leading nowhere
It's gotta end somewhere
Only I just don't know
And I've followed this road for so long now
I wont turn around and go back now, anymore

Turn out the lights, lock up the door
Pull out the drive, hop on I-84
And I know I'm not coming back anymore
No, you wont see me around
You wont see me around

The freeway is quiet, this time of night
Scattered and sparse are the on-coming lights
The slower cars better keep to the right
cause I won't wait for anyone
I won't wait for anyone

Oh my! It's as if I've waited my entire life
Caught inside a stained glass bottle fermented in wine
But it's more than just a state of mind I'm in
More than just a state of mind, my friend

The Concert

The Eagle Chamber Orchestra concert, we attended last evening, was wonderful! I had high expectations, but they were greatly exceeded. I have always loved the selections from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. They were beautifully done. Every piece of music performed, from the soloists to the entire orchestra, was excellent.

My son was given the opportunity to learn the cello beginning in 6th grade orchestra. We had not been able to afford private music lessons, and except for a few months during his 8th grade year, all his training has been through the public school music program. In a time when programs are being cut, I pray that the arts and music programs will be able to survive in public schools. The discipline it takes to learn to read and interpret music, as well as actually mastering the instrument, only enhances all other areas of learning.

I was so proud watching my son play. There is something very special about seeing your child excel at something he loves to do. I don't really have the words. I sat there mesmerized, at times wiping away tears, as the music flowed around me and through me. What a blessing!

Music... and stuff

It's been a busy time at my home. PJ has been painting the exterior over the past two weeks. He's getting very close to being done. I have about 50 other projects lined up that I'd love to have done... garden, repair and paint fence, repaint all the metal lawn furniture and decor, have a new cover over our back patio (before the old one comes down on our heads), clean and repair my birdhouses... then we go inside for paint, carpet, linolium... like I said the list goes on and on. It's shocking how much piles up after years and years of living in the same home. When did everything get so old and rickety... when did I?!?

With everything that's been going on, I haven't written as much as I'd like to. I did spend some time adding tunes to my blog. If you hate reading with music on... or just dislike my choices, you can press the pause button, switch song selection, or just turn your computer volume down.

I enjoy hearing other peoples music choices. It seems like an extra little window into their world. I only have about a 39 second bit of Mahalia Jackson singing one of my favorite songs... it's all I could find. I have been a fan of hers since I was a small child. My grandmother would put on her album and we'd sing along. Hearing Mahalia's voice is much like hearing my grandma's... familiar, uplifting, and full of feeling.

I hope your day has been filled with blessings. Mine has. Each moment is a blessing.

Music, Books and Memories

That's my little Sis and I sitting at the organ in our home on N. Meridian Road. We called it the "White House" because the former owner was named White.

I began my piano lessons on this organ. Then a family loaned us a piano for a couple of years until my mom bought us one. It was a huge, heavy Oak upright that has traveled everywhere I've gone. I'm sitting at my desk, right next to it, as I type this.

The first song I remember learning on the organ was Long, Long Ago and oddly enough, it was in an old song book I acquired recently.

"Tell me the tales that to me were so dear. Long, long ago... long, long ago. Sing me the songs I delighted to hear. Long, long ago, long ago..."

I have been traveling back in time, seeing long forgotten images. Grandma sitting in an old metal lawn chair with my little sis on one knee, and I am sitting in the grass, with my head resting on her other knee. She is reading "I Like Kindergarten". Sis and I loved that book.

I loved any books that were read to me or that I could read. I scoured the bookshelves at our house. My grandparents had an odd assortment of books. A lot of religious books, a copy of The Yearling, Cross Creek, two Dana Girl Mysteries that had belonged to our aunt, and our set of Childcraft Encylopedias. Sis and I had several Golden Books, Dr. Suess books and a small selection received as gifts; Daddy Long Legs, Dear Enemy, and the Bobbsey Twins, to name a few.

As I grew older, books were added to my collection through the school's Scholastic Book Club. I loved that little newsletter with all the colorful book covers and descriptions. I would study it from front to back, carefully making my selection. "Run Wild, Run Free, White Fang, Misty of Chincoteague, Ring of Bright Water, The Incredible Journey, David Copperfield, Anne of Green Gables.

I still have a tremendous love of music and books. I listen more than play these days, but I still spend a great deal of time reading. Books can take you away from yourself, and sometimes they can help you find out who you really are.