Peace (Taylor Swift)

[see first Feel Good Friday note below for attribution]

To quote the beginning of the song Satisfied in Hamilton:  "rewind... rewind... rewind".  I know today is Saturday but, for all practical purposes, this is my Feel Good Friday post... because I was with my grandbaby all day and most of the evening yesterday and didn't have the opportunity to post.

Wow, did I need that day with my sweet Colin, just the two of us, to re-bond.  Most of our time together is with Sarah as well, always lovely, but he obviously defers to her, so this one-on-one time was much appreciated and cherished.  Dance, Lala! Come, Lala! (upon handing me my shoes so we could go to the park), Can I please have a cookie, Lala? Tickle back, Lala! His wish is my command... 💞  He looked up at me, at least 10 times, to say, "Hi, Lala!" and "I love you, Lala!". We hugged and snuggled and talked.  He understands the concept of *both*, which I think is pretty amazing for not-yet-three.  

Colin is obsessed with the zoo and has an assortment of of molded plastic animals,  so we played with them most of the day, him doling out to me which *one* I could be... sometimes the zebra, sometimes the cheetah, sometimes the giraffe (but never the lion; he *always* gets to be the lion(s)... 😄 )

As is tradition, our Word(s) of the Day:  Adventure (because we visited a new-to-us park, with lots of trees, some winding paths, and a giant playground, some of which is too advanced for him, but gives him something to grow into)... and Asparagus (because there were lots of chopped-up raw pieces in the salad I brought for lunch, which I shared with Colin, who pronounced them yuck!).

A heart- and spirit-refilling day that was important for us both.  See what I did there?... 👵👶

After he went to bed (since I don't get Disney+ at home), I finished watching the Taylor Swift documentary that we started New Year's Eve.  Well-done (and now I want to view it all over again).

As promised, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy! 

~ Dad Creates Honest Comics About The World And Kindness:  For years, Christopher Grady has been drawing his experiences as a dad-of-two and sharing them through a project called Lunarbaboon. He started this endeavor to combat anxiety and depression, focusing on life-affirming aspects of everyday life. So it doesn't matter if a particular strip revolves around a not-so-pesky spider or teaching your son to respect women, Grady tries his best to infuse it with love and empathy. And it works.

~ Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen team up for new Renegades: Born in the USA podcast:  Former President Barack Obama and legendary singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen are known for their power on the mic. And today, the two have released their very own podcast: Renegades: Born in the USA. The eight-episode series (of which the first two episodes are out now) features the duo in dialogue about everything from their similar childhoods as "outsiders" to being role models to how to approach the divided state of America today.

~ Michelle Obama Befriends Foodie Puppets in ‘Waffles + Mochi’ Trailer:  The former First Lady stars as a supermarket owner who hires Waffles and Mochi, two puppets who dream of being chefs. Obama helps the duo embark on a global adventure, using a flying shopping cart as their guide. They visit restaurants, kitchens, and farms around the world — riding in gondolas in Italy and llamas in Peru, out March 16 on Netflix.

~ The Soothing, Digital Rooms of YouTube:  Welcome to the world of so-called ambience videos, a genre of YouTube video that pairs relaxing soundscapes with animated scenery in order to make viewers feel immersed in specific spaces, like a jazz bar in Paris or a swamp populated with trilling wildlife.

~ Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co.:  Rediscover... The Tea from Here.  American Roots, A Different Leaf, A Better Tea. (thanks to my dear friend LO for the variety pack that arrived on my doorstep yesterday... 💖)

NR:  No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (Part One had me befuddled, Part Two completely engaged as well as ugly-crying.  Her memoir Priestdaddy is next in my queue.)

SONG:  Peace by Taylor Swift

BOOK:  365 Days of Peace: Benedictions to End Your Day in Gentleness and Hope by Jessica Kantrowitz

POEM:  Acceptance Speech for Winning the Nobel Peace Prize by Peter Davis

First off, most importantly, I’d like to thank war

for making peace so valuable. We should be willing to thank

the bad for making the good possible. I say, “I would never

know the moon without night.”

However, we all know the black tar of violence

sticks to the machines and they don’t work right.

We’ve all seen an arrow through a bloody heart.

We all know whose heart it is.

I’d like to praise doctors and nurses for caring for wounds.

It is a dirty business.

I prefer to not have wounds, and yet I know this award

is like a metal-plated wound on my heart.

… The sacrifice of waterfalls, the terrific flight of a seagull,

the hanging of vines and leaves from trees, the insects,

the crayfish and miniscule snails, the small canyons

and the man-made tunnels under roads …

I cannot swallow these things out of my chest.

I cannot digest butterflies or sharp knives.

There is no part of me that smells a soup from our

broth of intolerance and one-sidedness.

Thank you for giving me something

to remember the sadness of my life by. My life is a religion

of sadness and I only wish that others would join me

and reach out because they are sad too.

I would love to wake up one morning and find hands,

some up to the elbow, coming out of my lawn.

[Peter Davis: “I’m a guy who lives with my wife and son in Muncie, Indiana. I have doubts about myself as a poet and teacher. I do the best I can. That’s why I write poems: because I try. I mean, essentially, I’m hopeful. It’s not very cynical and heartless at its core. It’s not very punk.”]

QUOTE:  “I don't write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don't, everything feels even worse.” ~ Lily King, Writers & Lovers

Sloop John B (Bahamian folk song, covered by The Beach Boys and The Kingston Trio, among so many others)

[The Clearwater launches in Maine on May 17, 1969. From left: Maine Governor Kenneth Curtis, Clearwater Captain Allan Aunapu, and Pete Seeger... 😍 ]

Last Saturday I logged back on to Facebook for about 24 hours to watch the virtual South Florida Folk Festival.  During the running chat, my friend LisaL shared that Allan Aunapu, a long-time South Florida folk community friend/musician had been tragically killed in a bicycle accident the day before.  He would have been 80 years old next month... 💔

The first time I met Allan was over twenty years ago, when he came to one of my Broward Folk Club songswaps; I traditionally hosted June every year.  In strides this guy in tie-dyed overalls, with crazy Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd's character in Back to the Future) hair, twinkling eyes, a captivating grin, and joy that emanated from every pore.  Let's face it; every organization (church/book club/music gathering) has their share of wackadoos, and I just lovingly chalked him up to "one of us".  Off-shoot conversations revealed him to be the original captain of The Clearwater, Pete Seeger's sailing sloop.  Are you f*cking kidding me?!?

As if I weren't already charmed, when it was his turn, he sang Zombie Jamboree (one of my favorite songs that I'd heard covered by the a capella group Rockapella).  Had the good fortune to chat with him later, and was delighted to find out how intelligent he was.  He also had that rare gift of being engaging without flirty (well, maybe a little bit flirty... 😄 )

I was lucky to cross paths with Allan many times over the years, and he was of course in his glory for the various Pete Seeger birthday tributes/celebrations sponsored by/presented at the Labyrinth Cafe (the concert series I coordinated from 2005-2018)... still wearing those tie-dyed overalls, I might add!   Despite being a national celebrity, Allan shone as a local treasure, always lending his voice, spirit, and humor in cooperation and community.

Allan called me "darling young girl" and all his e-mails to me were signed "your fan".  He always said I was one of his favorite people, but I believe he told that to everyone, and I am sure he felt both were true.  He was most certainly one of *my* cherished peeps, and I will miss him very much... 💖

You can Google him, but here are some highlights:

Clearwater Mourns the Loss of First Sloop Captain, Allan Aunapu

Remembering Allan Aunapu, the first Captain of the sloop Clearwater

Sailing The Sloop With Seeger: A Local Remembers

First captain of Pete Seeger's sloop Clearwater, Allan Aunapu

Clearwater Captain Accused Of Taking Shower in Public

Pete Seeger at 100: How the Folk Legend Built a Sailboat to Help Revive the Hudson River

SONG:  Sloop John B (Bahamian folk song, covered by Pete Seeger/The Weavers, The Beach Boys, and The Kingston Trio, among so many others)

BOOK:  Hudson River Sloop CLEARWATER - The First Five Years: an experiment in social change by Joseph Haneti, Zhou Wenjing (Contributor), Mead Hill (Contributor), Photos courtesy of Hudson River Sloop Restoration (Contributor), special thanks: Hal Cohen (Contributor)

POEM(S):  My Bed Is a Boat by Robert Louis Stevenson

My bed is like a little boat;

Nurse helps me in when I embark;

She girds me in my sailor's coat

And starts me in the dark.

At night, I go on board and say

Good night to all my friends on shore;

I shut my eyes and sail away

And see and hear no more.

And sometimes things to bed I take,

As prudent sailors have to do;

Perhaps a slice of wedding cake,

Perhaps a toy or two.

All night across the dark we steer;

But when the day returns at last,

Safe in my room, beside the pier,

I find my vessel fast.

Boats by Cyril Wong

You and your photographs of boats;

that repeated metaphor for departure,

or simply the possibility of a voyage?

What you cannot tell me, you tell me

with a vessel and its single passenger,

eyes fixed on some sky-lit conclusion.

Set apart and starkly upon a canvas

of tractable waves, brought to still

by the trigger-click of your camera,

like the sound a key makes when it

releases the lock. Your heart became

that lock; these images are how you have

always articulated distance, a withdrawal.

Darling, there are just as many ways

of saying goodbye as there are ways

of letting you go. The boat is narrow

like the width of my heart after

impossible loss, cruel resignation;

this heart you ride in. Love, if this is how

you choose to leave me, let me let you.

QUOTE(S):  "I try to look at this music career thing as the means to an end. And really, at the end of it, I see myself on a sailboat, sailing off the edge of the world." ~ Michelle Shocked

"E.B. White's essays are the best things I've read about Maine - especially the one in which he's not sure if he can go out sailing any more in his sloop." ~ Nicholson Baker

If Tomorrow Never Comes (Todd Snider)

It has been an insanely long time since I last posted (almost a month?!? - yikes!).  Reasons, but really no good reasons.  I have three blog posts in draft form that I've been working on, and then something (whether meaningful or meaningless) comes along and I allow myself to get sidetracked.  Hey, I can do it tomorrow... or the next day... or the day after that.  I'm still walking, still doing yoga, still reading like a motherf*cker, in the condo pool (heated) a few times a week to stretch, still eating nutritiously, my vision has come back 100% after last month's health scare, my husband is loving, we've had both vaccines (blog post on that coming soon), my kids are well, my grandson is perfect, I do the NYT Mini-Crossword and Spelling Bee every morning to start my day, I switched from Brown Sadness Water to caffeinated coffee, and I am watching the news again because I *trust* this administration to tell the truth.  Considering the circumstances, life is pretty d*mn good... 💗

On the flip side, I am well aware of the extreme weather conditions in Texas, the fact that we will soon be hitting 500,000 (half a million) COVID deaths, children across the nation are still doing online learning, today’s Republican Party is less concerned with national public opinion than it used to be, etc.  However, since January 21, it feels like a kinder, gentler, more equitable nation with swift as well as measured responses to ongoing problems or, as MSNBC correspondent Brian Williams accurately described this evening:  "back to a standard, traditionally-operating White House with rigor and expertise and order and schedules and process."

Our country feels safe(r) again.

I haven't offered up a Feel Good Friday post in a while.  Attempting to resurrect this tradition:  five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy! 

Promotions for Female Generals Were Delayed Over Fears of Trump’s Reaction:  Under a Biden administration, the nominations are expected to go from the Pentagon to the White House within weeks and then to the Senate for approval.

Alex Trebek’s Wardrobe Is Donated to Formerly Incarcerated Men:  The gift, which will also benefit formerly homeless men, was in keeping with an appeal that the host of “Jeopardy!” had made when he asked viewers to “build a gentler, kinder society.”

Why 'A Case Of You' Is The Best Love Song Of All Time:  Sometimes a once-beloved work feels like a relic, like a junior high yearbook autographed with the names of people I no longer remember. Other times, I find myself understanding and appreciating it in new ways.

Feed families, spread kindness, strengthen communities:  When you become a part of Lasagna Love, you’re joining a movement full of people who want to weave kindness back into the fabric of our everyday lives. (thanks to MicheleW for the heads-up!)

Gwyneth Paltrow Is Selling Vibrators:  The Goop founder also talks about sexual wellness and how she contracted Covid-19 a year ago, probably in Paris.

NR:  Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy (exquisite... 💞)

SONG:  If Tomorrow Never Comes by Todd Snider ("if worms had daggers,

birds wouldn't f*ck with them"... 😄 )

BOOK:  The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

POEM:  Wild Thing by Judith Viorst

I went for a walk in the sun without wearing my sunscreen.

I went out of town without making a reservation.

I placed my mouth directly upon a public drinking fountain, and took a sip.

I didn't bother flossing my teeth before bedtime.

I pumped my own gasoline at a self-service station.

I ate the deviled egg instead of the cauliflower with low-fat yogurt dip.

I bought, without reading Consumer Reports, a new dryer.

I left my checking account unreconciled.

I know that the consequences could be dire,

But sometimes a woman simply has to run wild.

QUOTE:  “There’s a particular feeling in your body when something goes right after a long time of things going wrong.  It feels warm and sweet and loose… For a moment all my bees have turned to honey.” ~ Lily King, Writers & Lovers