(This is the front of our house, near the street)
(And this one is our front door...with Sassy wagging her tail of course)!
Dear Stephen,
I have spent my day adding more Halloween stuff to the front of our house...in the first photo, I've added the big pumpkin on the left, (it's a costume, I just put it over a stool), a large white ghost (attached to a shepherd's hook), some smaller scarecrows, a banner in front, with some lanterns on either side of it, and my mom found a devil mask and a kid's skeleton costume at a yard sale so she wanted me to put that out, and then I erected a "mural" (which is from the dollar store, one piece of plastic that has ghosts on it), again on a shepherd's hook with some dowel's on either side to keep the plastic spread out.
Actually, I'm kinda uncomfortable with it, (even though while I was out there putting this stuff up, several cars slowed down to say, "Looks cute," or "Great job," or just honked and gave me a thumb's up....but it makes me feel awkward, because it's starting to remind me of some white-trash trailer park sort of thing. But I guess I can live with it a few weeks until Halloween is over. Screw it. Sometimes I am guilty of overkill, and it just looks like too much clutter, ya know?
Well anyway, That is the retaining wall on the left side of our driveway, it's like a wooden box really, with a few bushes planted in it. Rather plain and boring, I thought, so it's now going to become my holiday diorama project. (At least, I think it will).
I also decorated our front door area...I think it turned out rather nice, and it feels warm & welcoming.
But, this is what PETE wants to do for Christmas:
So, I don't know which is worse, really.......the obnoxious lights with loud music so that people with Epilepsy will have spasms and freak out as they drive by, and the neighbors will all hate our guts.....or me, with my cheap little silly holiday decorations. I guess both are rather lame, in their own way, huh?
Ah well. Hey, have you ever heard of Joan Armatrading? I LOVE HER. Today on Facebook, my friend Nancy from high school announced that she just got a new kitty, and named it WILLOW. I wrote to her and said, "That's one of my all-time favorite songs..." and then I put the video of it there as a link....do you know it? Here it is, just in case you've never heard of this....(you probably have though)...
That song just haunts me. She has a rather sad voice, a genuine voice...one that just makes you feel somewhat happy, but also somewhat melancholy....it sticks in my head all day long, and it makes me feel like listening to it over and over again....it just has an odd feeling to it, that I love hearing...I don't know how to explain it. I have been listening to it over and over today, I guess it's just one of those comforting songs that you love to hear...the words are so nice...they are like a hug from a stranger in a way. "Willing to be a shelter in a storm...Your Willow...Willow...when the sun is out..." I just LOVE THAT. It is so good, I bought the whole CD. I don't know much about her, but I just react so differently to her voice, it makes me feel a happy somber hug or something. I've always loved weeping willow trees too. They also have a similar feeling to them, like this song does....they have a slow moving breezy feeling, enveloping all who stand near it, hugging them in nature, protecting all those who live in and around it.
I like that kind of song. It has poetry to it. (Not rhyming stuff...just a real, genuine poetry).
Write a few of those kinds of songs, my friend, and I'll betcha you'll be famous. (HA!!) *wink*
Well, those are just some miscellaneous things that have occupied my time today that I thought I'd toss over your way, just for the heck of it. No big whoop.
I'm now starting to read about the study of Kabbalah, (Jewish religious stuff), which is really fascinating to me. I've also enjoyed the Florence Melton class about it, as well, but I only finished the first year. It was a 2 year program, but I moved on to a different job and could no longer make the class fit into my schedule. If I had continued with it, and finished the class, I would have been going to Israel with the rest of the students. That would have been AWESOME! But, alas, it was not meant to be.
So, I am reading about being a caregiver, and how it kills a person's soul, very slowly; then I'm still finishing The Secret Gift by Ted Gup, and now I'm embarking on the Kabbalah. Sheesh. Weird, I know. But, that's just me. Too many interests to just read one book at a time!!
Let's talk about my favorite music........one of my closest friends, Charles, lives in Memphis. He's a struggling jazz musician, he plays every instrument you can imagine, he's very talented, and I love him dearly. He and I dated when I was in my mid-20's, and I fell head over heels in love with him. But, he didn't want to be tied down because he wanted to go after his dream of being a jazz musician. So he moved to Memphis, and he inspired me to go for it and move myself to DC to work at the Museum. We've been close friends since then, but never really got to hook up....he tells me he loves me more than any other friend he's ever had, though, and that's something special that I don't take for granted.
He tells me this all the time: "You have the heart and the soul of a black woman, but you've got the SKIN that gets you IN." He's African American, and we discovered that we both love the same artists and music---he's like a soulmate of sorts, I guess you could say....a kindred musical spirit, if nothing else. He introduced me to Sade...and then he told me to go seek out Shirley Horn's "Here's To Life." Oh my GAWD, that song....that song just kills me....I love it so much....that's another one that haunts me. It just has a "noir" type of feeling to it, and such an awesome message...a sadness, with a positive spin...I don't know how to explain it really. It's just a song that sticks with you after you hear it a few times, y'know? Go listen to it, if you've never heard it before.....come on, you HAVE TO know it, unless you've lived under a ROCK...
So, I love music by these artists, in no particular order......Ray Charles (my grandpa got me interested in jazz and loved him the most), Dizzy Gillespie, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holliday, Sade, Brian McKnight, Luther VanDross, Barry White, (who doesn't love Barry White?!), Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, ETTA JAMES (my all-time favorite), and so many more....I can't even think of all the music and people I love---classic artists...it makes my head spin....but I love all that stuff. Charles has even toured with Bobby McPheron before, AND played a concert with LIONEL friggin' HAMPTON!!! That just blew me away when he told me.
Anyway, so I'm in a rather melancholy musical mood tonight, it's nearly midnight and I'm tired, but I think I'll listen to one or two more songs that I love, and then hit the hay. Hope you enjoyed your weekend, and I know it HAD to be more interesting than MINE was....but, it wasn't a bad one, the weather was great, nice and sunny and warm...we got a lot of things done around the house, and so now it's time for me to bid you a fond "so long" until next time.
Love you........more than you'll ever know.
Rebecca
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