Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

The Sound of Sunshine



Music is proof that God loves us.
~ My friend Stephanie

A few short weeks ago
my pal Stephanie 
shared this thought with
our yoga group as we
walked our dogs on a
local trail, sunshine on
our faces, sneaker-clad
feet crunching over leaves.




This quote floated to
the surface of my mind
today as I listened to my
son practicing his trumpet
for the here-before-you-
know-it Christmas band
concert at school.




Appreciating his renditions 
of Angels we Have Heard
on High or The Dance
of the Sugarplum Fairy
instantly put me in a
very festive mood.
{Yes, even hearing it
played by a second
year trumpet student!}

Which got me 
thinking about how
music serves as the
backdrop to our lives.




When I hear an old
song on the radio, it
instantly carries me
back to a time or a
place in my life.  I can
remember how old I
was and where I was
living.....Sometimes my
heart even aches if the
song is attached to a
former relationship or a 
chapter of my life
that has ended.




Just last week
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
came on the radio ~
the oldies station ~
and I was back in
my grama's kitchen,
watching her do a
little two-step.  She
adored that song!


Rain Drops Keep
Falling on My Head
always reminds me
of my little brother
and the short time
we shared the same
roof and the same lives.


My little brother, today!

Dan Fogelberg's
Longer takes me right
back to high school and a
certain sweet boy
who had captured my heart.
{I wonder if he remembers
me when he hears it, too?}

When my son was
small he was crazy for 
Love Shack by the
B-52s and while it
was new to him, it
ferried me through time
and I was once again 
a newlywed.


My son, back in his B-52 days.
Not usually this serious!
My kids have their own
songs intertwined in the 
 fiber of their blossoming 
lives.  My family enjoys music 
so much that if one of us says
 something that is similar to a
 song lyric, we will sing it!

Okay, we are silly.



With the advent of
i-tunes and You-Tube,
there are more avenues
than ever leading us to new
 musical talent.  I am introduced 
to many new voices as I visit
 your blogs.  I love that.


How I feel when I hear my favorite songs!
I have added a song
to this post that instantly
brightens my mood.
I think it is fitting
given the stormy nature
of my last post : )
Be sure to un-mute your
speakers and see what I mean!
{Update:  Click HERE to listen.}

What songs instantly
transport you back to
another time or place
in your life?

xx
Suzanne

PS:  Thank you for all
of your wonderful comments
It meant the world to
me that you understood.
You always do.


images:
all except family from flickr;
click each for attribution



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The Good Life

Oh, this has gotta be the good life
this has gotta be the good life
this could really be a good life, good life.

~ song by OneRepublic



My son loves this song and
plays it, often while in his room,
digging into his homework.

And this mom has to smile
at his 12-nearly-13 croaky voice
belting out these words.

I'm glad he sings.

I'm glad he feels he has a
good, good life.



I'm happy that it is a sunny 
Thursday morning as I write and he 
and his sister are home with me 
for a two-day fall school break.

There was frost on the ground
when I took Gracie out first thing
this morning.  Frost on the pumpkins,
I declared as she sniffed the ground.

Except we don't have any pumpkins,
{outdoors} yet.  I am one of those
hold outs that doesn't get pumpkins
for the front steps until it's closer 
to the big night.



Frost means it's close enough.

At our house, that big night is
preceded by another big night,
which is my son's birthday.  No
matter what the festivities entail,
October 30th is always capped 
off with pumpkin carving.

I hope that ritual will always  
be a part of his good, good life.



It's almost noon and we are
still slogging around in our pj's,
 thinking ahead to the evening and
what movies are on at the theater.



If my son didn't have a guitar
lesson this afternoon and if we
didn't need milk, eggs and
bananas from the store, I'd be
happy to hunker down right
where we are for the day.



But my boy needs his guitar
lesson to learn his songs and the
 bigger boy {aka Mr. Privet}
needs his bananas, so off we
will go.

If this is what that older
crooner, Tony Bennett, meant
by his song The Good Life,
then I'll take it.



What are you up to this
weekend in your own

good
good
life?

xx
Suzanne



Linking here with gratitude









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Do YOU Remember?


If someone
were to ask you
What was the
best summer of
your life?
Could you unlock 
that memory?
Was it this summer
last summer
ten summers before
or longer....?
Perhaps your best
summer is
yet
to
be?
This summer I
read the delightful
memoir by
Marjorie Hart,
Summer At Tiffany.


Summer At Tiffany
tells the story
of two Iowa sorority
sisters and best friends,
 Marjorie and Marty, 
who jump on a 
 train with dreams
of living and working in
New York City.....
during the WWII summer
of 1945.

M and M
Although they
plan to land jobs
at one of the big
department stores,
through a twist of events,
 they are hired by
Tiffany and Company
as pages and
become the first
women ~ ever ~
to work on the
sales floor at this
venerable retail
establishment.


They have adventures...
From night clubs
to the Automat ~





celebrity sightings
at Tiffany to
dating dashing
midshipman....




Celebrating V-J
Day in Times Square


to the sheer magic
of being young
and single and
full of energy in
the Big Apple.

Marjorie Hart 1945
At the very 
very end of the book,
 after the
epilogue and interview,
Harper Collins
{the publisher}
asks readers to
 to share memories
of the best summer
of their lives via e-mail.

So.....
I did.

Imagine my
surprise when
the author,
Marjorie Hart
herself, wrote me
back.  Little old me!
She liked my story
and wanted to send
me a signed copy 
of this lovely book.

And.....
she did.


The uber-talented
Marjorie Hart wrote
SAT over a period
of ten years, taking
writing breaks along
the way.  Originally
written for her
grandchildren, the story
 was discovered by an
editor in 2005 and
 published in 2007.

Marjorie today
But, writing was not
Ms. Hart's first love ~
it was music.  An accomplished 
cellist, she played professionally
with operas, symphonies and
 classic musicians of the 1950's,
like Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole,
Liberace and Sammy Davis Jr.


As a young mother of
four, she earned her masters in 
music in 1965 from San Diego State 
University, joining the music faculty.
Marjorie retired on her
birthday in 1993 as professor 
emerita after serving 15
years as the Department of 
Fine Arts chairperson.

Although retired from
professional cello performing
in 2004 she still plays
 three to four times a week 
with several string quartets.

Marjorie and family after her retirement birthday concert
Widowed in 1981, Marjorie
married again in 1986.
With her second husband,
Peter, she is a grandmother to
nine and step-grandmother
to five.  

Did I mention that she
has a MySpace page?
Did I mention that 
she is
86?!
Which means she
had her first book published
at age 83 : )

The July day I 
found my own copy
in the mailbox,
wrapped and addressed
by Marjorie herself,
I nearly floated back
into the house.

Inside, this is
what she'd written.....

To Suzanne:  Treasure all of your summers!
So,
do you remember
the best summer
of your life?

It would be
such a gift
if you'd share
it
with
me.



[images: 1, 8 google
2-7, 9-11,12-14 my space
13, 16 flickr {click for attribution}
15 P&H]






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