On June 5: National Doughnut Day in the U.S.: Labor Day in the Bahamas
June’s flower is the rose or honeysuckle. It’s gem is the pearl, the moonston,e or Alexandrite. Both stand for health and longevity.
June is of course the month of: graduations, marriages, Flag Day- D-Day Father’s Day, CBA Fathers Day Festival, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ for Catholics, LGBT &Pride, National Smile month in the UK and National Oceans month in the U.S.
June also shares the astrological sign of Gemini and Cancer. Being a Cancer the Crab or Moon Child I revel in the powers of the moon.Think of the tides, think of the full moon and think of the word lunacy. Think also of T.S. Eliot, also a Cancer penning in the “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
“I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” To add meaning to your life I would suggest you read this national treasure.
Two more facts about June. June 30 marks the end of the United States fiscal year and of course June 30,1948 is my day of birth. It’s funny. At my age I have lost 75% of my sense of smell, 81% of my sense of taste, 60% of my sense of hearing, 49% of my sense of sight, but I have retained 100% of my keen, mental, acute ability to reason and have more than retained my outrageously good looks. As I fact check these last two statements I realize maybe my ability to distinguish reality from fiction has suffered more than I care to admit to. Well I can dream can’t I?
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind ,flight to the imagination,and life to everything.”.. PLATO..
We have been sharing what keeps us occupied during these Pandemic times. My sister Maria introduced me to Spotify. I can now pick all my favorite songs, and create my own set lists to enjoy on my Kindle. I have discovered a whole new world out there.
My niece Megan set me up with my first list of songs I sent her to “Spottify.” for me Thank you Megan. She entitled them “Uncle Grumpy’s Favorite Hits” and they make for satisfying listening.
An observation. Listening to music without ear buds is like viewing a beautiful green forest from about 50 yards away. Viewing the forest is attractive, soothing but you don’t really feel part of it. Plug in a set of ear buds and you are quickly transported into the forest itself. Each tree holds a new auditory sensation for you.
Listen to Beatles song, any Beatles song. Stand close to one tree and you can hear Paul Mc Cartney’s clean bass lines. Move over to another tree and you can hear John’s smooth rhythm guitar and actually see the chord changes among the leaves. Take a few steps over and you’re standing next to George and his 12 string Rickenbacker guitar as he plays a clean sharp riff. Then of course there is old Lefty himself,Ringo, keeping a complicated beat that is necessary for many of the more sophisticated Beatles tunes. Over there is a small group of trees that house the vocals and harmonies. All can be visited at your leisure.
You want some bluegrass? Listen to Chubby Wise play his fiddle on “How Great Thou Art “.You actually become part of each note as it sails serenely out of his fiddle like a billowing cloud into your mind. Click on” Kentucky” by the Osborne Brothers and enjoy the harmonizing of Bobby and Sonny. Each note is pure and clean and their voices almost angelic in their purity. I am not ashamed to tell you it brings tears to my eyes listening to them. Hell you don’t even have to eat a magical brownie or sip a little tea with Goldie to experience this joyful sound. The whole experience transforms music from black and white into a vibrant palate or musical colors.
My big sister Maria is trying to cope like everyone else during our national lock down. It is a bit harder for her. I figured that during an average 30 day month Maria is home basically about 11 1/2 hours. That means she spends a lot of time either on the road or up in the air on her favorite airline Southwest flying to some major league city to see a ball game,flying to visit Megan in Tennessee, jetting to the Azores to visit Pico, on to New York to see a few shows on Broadway or taking nieces and nephews to Hawaii or Las Vegas for birthdays etc.
Maria has told me that bookings for her two blue grass groups had to be cancelled and she is now working daily trying to get them re booked, On a similar note I had to cancel various trips to Costco and Raleys.
Personal note. I have the same four twenty dollar bills in my wallet since the quarantine started about 85 days ago.The moths are still alive though.
Isn’t it time CBA folks begin writing songs about what is going on and sharing them with the rest of us shut ins? If I had the talent, I certainly would. So let’s get some “Stay at home no good virus blues “lyrics and melodies started. If you do I will share the most intimate details of March 1967 when Rick C. and I entered into a Chabot JC sort of sponsored “‘Who wants to be a Chabot Chippendale “? That should get some of your creative juices flowing.
Well until Friday July 3 one day before our nation’s birthday:
Read a book, hug a child, pet a dog, stroke a cat, eat a box of Sees candy and IKIRU!