♫ ♪Music, Window to the Soul?? ♪ ♫

Sometimes I just can’t help myself – the bear pit is just SOOO inviting.  Some things I read and it’s like dangling salmon on a string in front of a hungry bear.  Looks like I’ve taken the bait again.

Now, “bear”  in mind, that everything I write is JUST MY OPINION and you are certainly entitled to your own.  I don’t say things to intentionally rile anyone up but sometimes I just like to jump in with my own thoughts.

There have been a couple of posts lately about old music.  Jerry had one last night and Al has mentioned more than once how much he appreciates the old tunes.  He even made a comment to that effect on Jerry’s blog last nigh along with a few other commenters.  Now Rick, (ya know I love ya!), had a somewhat different take on the subject and summarized his feelings with a succinct “Phewey”.

Rick goes on to say, “You, Jerry, and a few of your 'commenters' are once again stuck in 'things were better in the old days mythology'.”  Well, since I was one of those other commenters I guess I was included in that group so I just HAFTA get in a rebuttal.

First of all, I don’t think there is a mythology of “things were better in the old days” – some things actually WERE better and some things were not as good.  Music is the only one I will address tonight as that is my theme.  You don’t want to get me started on the rest!
 
As far back as Biblical times, music was used to soothe and calm a troubled soul.  In 1697, William Congreve, in The Mourning Bride, coined the phrase,

“Music has charm to soothe a savage beast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”

An article by NPR, dated June 1, 2011, states that, “Science all but confirms that humans are hard-wired to respond to music.”  Read the short but interesting article here.  There is much more than that one article that has been written regarding the power of music if you care to do the research.

My point is that music has an entrée into the human psyche that is like nothing else.  It seeps into your very being and finds residence in the deepest chamber of your soul.  What you listen to affects how you think, feel, and remember.

That music has changed and will continue to change is inevitable.  That parents of each new generation decry the new “modern” music is indisputable.  However, I do not agree that the music our generation listened to was in any way, shape, or form, comparable to what the kids are listening to today.
 
I DO enjoy some of the modern songs; specifically some modern country or pop tunes, but it is the cesspool of some forms of rock that I am concerned about.  I am talking about hard rock, heavy metal, black rock, whatever it is called nowadays.  This is not a declaration that all young kids are evil or drug addicts or anything else.  It is simply that more kids that you may want to realize are exposed to this kind of negative input from modern musicians on a daily basis, and I believe it is damaging in a viscereal way that the music of our generation never was.

One has only to go to the FB page of a young person involved in this type of music to understand what I am talking about.  That is precisely what I did to research some of the lyrics to songs this young person was listening to and recommending.  Here’s a sample of what I found on my young relative's page (and NOT the worst ones I read – those I will not give screen time to):

Thorns In The Planet's Side

I am a destroyer, a channel of satanic wrath.
My brothers are me, and I am them.
I stick thorns in the planet's side.
Planet of pestilence, refuge for the weak.
Kneel before satanic might!
With dishonor - there is only one way out.

The Suffering Of Others

The suffering of others is not the goal but simply a means to an end.
Although, it certainly brings temporary pleasure into my soul as well.

And here’s a little gem that I would not print the words to but you can check it out for yourself.  Rollin Balls  Can anyone honestly call this “MUSIC?”

Contrast that with the words to one of the songs I loved as a teenager:

Theme From a Summer Place

There's a summer place
Where it may rain or storm
Yet I'm safe and warm
For within that summer place
Your arms reach out to me
And my heart is free from all care

Which words do you prefer?

Of course we had nonsense songs too…who can forget “Alley OOP?” or “Papa OOO Mow-Mow” or “Flying Purple People Eater”?  But the songs I remember did not glorify murder, rape, drugs, and all manner of filth.  I wonder what it will be like in another 30 years.  What is left to desecrate?

This change in words and melody did not happen overnight.  It is like playing “Limbo”…the bar gradually gets set lower and lower until soon listening to that crap is like mud wrestling with pigs – Pretty soon the pigs aren’t the only ones covered with filth!
 
So I say, AND IT’S JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION, listen to what you want but just the fact that I appreciate old music with good words and melodic tunes, does not mean I am stuck in the dark ages,  nor does it mean I abhor all things modern, nor does it make me an old fogey.  Nostalgia can be a good thing and the memories of young love and a simpler time can be comforting.  There is NOTHING wrong with that.

One final thought on ages past…who would you rather your daughter or grand daughter emulate….

Random Thoughts and Pictures

 
 (Click on any photo to enlarge)

We’ve only been home for less than a week and already I am remembering the places we have been in years past and the places that we will visit in the years to come.



I’ve been going through my photo files trying to organize the older ones and delete those that are never going to be useful.  Does anyone else have problems deleting photos?  Even if they are blurry or lack artistic composition, it’s like throwing away one of your kids!  Silly, especially with the type of pictures that I take.



I think it is like so many other things in life.  It is not the picture, but the memory that the picture evokes that makes me want to keep each one.  Every image is associated with a certain feeling at a certain point in time and I want to hang on to  every wonderful second.  I read a poem that says in part:

“We cannot go back to a happier moment

We cannot recapture a day

For time passes by us and then it is over

Relentlessly going its way.”

I guess I realize the preciousness of each passing moment and the photos, good and bad, remind of those times.  But I also treasure those memories in my heart.  The photo is just the reminder of precious moments, and there's no way around it - some of them have to go!



I woke up the other night feeling too warm.  In that fuzzy state between being asleep and being fully awake, my first thought was I needed to open the roof vents and get the Fantastic Fans going.  Problem was I was in my house!  Do you think I am getting used to being in Therapy?

Disney Dreams Don't Die

I admit it, I am a big fan of everything Disney.  I grew up in So. Cal and can remember the excitement when Disneyland first opened.  It was quite a bit different from what it is now but to a young school girl, the magic was bigger than life.



Growing up and even as an adult, I loved every Disney program that came out on television, from Mickey Mouse Club to Wonderful World of Disney.  Annette was my idol and Frankie – WOW – he was hot!



I have never completely outgrown my love of Disney, so I was so pleased to see Kate’s (Cholula Red) blog today.  Kate recently visited the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.  She writes a very descriptive post about her visit to the museum and to San Francisco.  I love that she included a link to a You Tube video of a Disney classic:  Wally Boag and Betty Taylor in Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue.  If you want some good entertainment, hop on over to Kate’s blog and be sure and view that video before you leave.

Disneyland with the

Krecklows, circa 1978

Don’t you just love all the plaid pants?  Remember this was 1978!!

As for me…I did nothing today except shop and cook and do laundry (boring!).  I spent some time reading some great blogs and I hope ya’ll do the same.  Have you visited Jerry’s new photo blog?  He has some great photos there.  John is still trying to rescue his airplane from the Plane-eating Tree.  So far it is Tree 3, John 0.  And Al has a soap opera going on tonight!

So there you have it…my day was boring but it seems lots of other folks had some good fun going on.  See ya later.

FAUXtography- just for kicks

Yesterday, Al, of Bayfield Bunch, had one of the best articles I have ever read on the art of photography and developing that photographer’s eye.  If you haven’t read that particular post, I highly recommend it.  I think we can all agree that Al has the “eye” and his photographs are a joy to behold.

I have also been enjoying John’s photos at Connected to the Vine.  And as always, Judy’s bird photos are not to be missed.  There are so many great photographers out there that I could spend a whole blog just naming them…but I do have to mention just two three more:  Rick always has wonderful pictures of his beautiful Vancouver Island, Sue has photos that for some reason just touch my heart, and Erin’s photos from all over the world are just spectacular.  Oh and Malone has had some wonderful ones from Alaska…okay I better stop.  If I didn’t name you, it isn’t that I don’t like your pictures…I am just running out of room!!  Just one more…Laurie – great photographer.   I just love looking at all the great photos and the different perspective each one presents.
 
I, on the other hand, aspire to dreams of Great Moments of Photographic Genius, but alas, so far have failed to reach my aspirations.  I’ve gotten a pretty good bug picture now and again but that’s about the limit of my photographic prowess.





So I am inspired by Al’s comments to quit fooling around and start paying attention to what I see everyday.  In the meantime, just for fun, I’m going to share a bit of what I call Fauxtography.  You see, I just can’t seem to get it right the first time.  My computer and I have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” relationship with regard to my photos.  I like the editing part and if no one knows any better, I’m certainly not going to tell them (until now)!!


It’s gotten to the place where Russ, who does have a good but sometimes lazy eye, doesn’t worry about telephone poles, power lines, etc. in his photos.  “You can just take them out,” he says to me!!  Now I know a real artist takes a good picture the first time, and I swear I am going to learn to do that, but in the meantime, just for giggles, let’s see what a little digital enhancement can do.

These are just for fun and certainly not done with a professional’s attention to detail but they work for family archives.  Russ and I travel with just the two of us most of the time and that leaves us with a dilemma when it comes to photos.  With no one there to take a snapshot of the two of us, how are we going to both get in the picture?  This is how.  Can you tell which one was in the original photo and which one was added (of COURSE you can if you look closely enough LOL).

No, Poppy did not travel with us to Point Roberts where this photo was taken.



And we were the only ones at this look out point when we visited the Grand Canyon.  My hand was originally resting on the upper rail like Russ’s but I couldn’t get the two photos to line up so I had to improvise.


The two of us (one at a time) at the Sinagua Ruins in AZ.


And on board the ship during our 2006 Alaska cruise.



It was a bit chilly in Glacier Bay but we kept each other warm.



And we enjoyed the totem poles at the visitors center in Sitka.

You were introduced to my BIL Brian a few blogs ago.  He’s the one with the hare-brained idea of the Handicapped Parking Plank – come on, admit it, it was funny!  He makes a great foil for my sense of humor so I have to pick on him a bit.  Brian has always wanted to climb a mountain but at his age the best he can do is leap from a riverside path and hope he can grab the rock on the other side of the water.

Take a gander at that look of terror on his face.

Brian also has a degree in archeology and he loves to go on “digs”.  This is one of his finest.



And last but not least, they say that when you have been married for a LOOONG time, you start to look like your spouse.  Well, Russ and I recently celebrated our 38th anniversary and I am afraid that dire prediction has come true. 

LORD, HELP ME!

Hat Creek–coming and going

As is our tradition, we stopped at Hat creek on our way to Reno last week.  After sweltering in Reno for two days, we returned to Hat Creek for a couple of cooler days along the water at Hat Creek Resort.  In order to alleviate the boredom that would result from two such similar posts, I am going to combine those visits into one post.

The drive through the forests along CA89 is always a nice one.  This year was especially beautiful.  Normally in mid-July the underbrush is dry and brown and McCoy and Hog Flat reservoirs are almost empty.  The forest floor last week was lush and green and the reservoirs were full.



For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored of creeks, brooks, streams, whatever you want to call them.  Let me sit by a creek and eat a simple sandwich any day rather than sit in a stuffy restaurant and eat a gourmet meal.  And so we had our sandwiches creekside on the way to Reno.



We took the time to play around the creek and watch the fishermen.













Our stay at Hat Creek Resort, on a different segment of the creek, was equally enjoyable.  Brian and Laila had one of the large motel rooms and we stayed in the MH.  This resort offers a variety of accommodations from camping spaces to yurts, to cabins, to motel rooms.  Something for everyone yet it still maintains the peaceful feeling that defines Hat Creek.







I was sharing my thoughts with Russ about why I enjoy our Therapy so much.  As I have shared before, Russ and I had a ready made family when we were first married.  When we combined our households, we sold our separate homes and bought one large enough to hold four kids, a dog, and two grown-ups.  I told Russ that Therapy is like that first little apartment we missed out on having together.  Just the two of us in our own small, easy to take care of space.  Russ agreed that it was much like a little starter home…”Just start ‘er up and away we go,” was his response.  EXACTLY!!

Plink, Plunk, PLANK!

Okay, one more activity we did while in Reno.  I only heard about this fad/craze a few days ago and then Nellie had some photos of her Dad participating in said activity, and so I was able to convince my compadres to join in the fun.  This game is called planking. 

Here’s the deal, you find some outrageous spot to lie flat on your face with your arms at your sides, stiff as a board (plank), and someone takes your picture.  Then you post that picture in a public place so you get as many people as possible to think you’re an idiot!  There is a good explanation of this phenomena here but the author also talks about “Owling” and I have no idea what that is!  I managed to escape involvement in the actual posing by being the official photographer.

It started at breakfast when I told my sis and her husband about this new game.  They were skeptical at first but soon the ideas were just rolling out of their twisted little heads.  I followed along with the camera ready to distract Security as these old fogeys ran rampant through the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV. 

They started mild…


…and quickly escalated into wild…


Yes, Sharon and David…that is YOUR sister stretched out on the bar in the middle of the Grand Sierra Resort.  The bar was not open yet but Laila was never one to be stopped by a velvet rope.  I fully expected security to come around the corner at any moment.  I quickly snapped the photos from a safe angle and beat a hasty retreat, deserting my dear and crazy sis in the process.

Not to be outdone, Brian defeated his own velvet rope and made his way onstage.  After a quick bit of karaoke without the music, he planked the stage at Grand Sierra Resort.



Before we got out of the lobby, the ideas were flowing fast and furious.  Brian decided to try the lobby waterfall…the one surrounded by a ledge about 6 inches wide. 

That looks kinda like flames but it is only water cascading down a glass sheet.

Well, ya’ll know that Russ could not resist forever and he soon found his own planking post in front of the central lobby sculpture.  Note that his plank was completed on a soft and raised surface.



And Laila on another bench.


Outside, it just did not quit.  Another horse sculpture called to Russ and duty demanded that he respond.


And then he tried a vertical plank.


But the idea of the day came from Brian.  “I know,” says the oldest and wisest member of our group.  “We all have handicap parking permits, let’s do a handicap parking plank.”  Didn’t anyone ever tell these crazy people that asphalt in Reno in the summer is HOT???  But did that stop them…NO. 



I snapped the picture quickly before any cars came and then had to help each one of these feeble minded bodied people to their feet.  They all assured me that the tiny rocks and melted asphalt embedded in their knees was not at all painful.  In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that we only had one parking permit with us and it was not utilized in the original photo.  A little digital magic and we're in business.

We ended the day by having dinner with my brother David, his wife Linda, and one of their children, Alycia and Alycia’s boy David.  Little David is in first grade and is the cutest, sweetest, most well-behaved child I have ever seen.  We love spending time with him.  My brother on the other hand....


Now I don’t know how the subject came up, I swear I don’t, but somehow the talk at dinner turned to planking.  Some photos were shared and as we left, I managed to convince this sweet little boy that he needed to plank.  He took to it like a champ.



And so ends the planking adventures of the old folks in Reno.  I have a feeling this was a once in a lifetime adventure…at least I hope it was.  The funniest part was, after I had taken all those pictures inside the Grand Sierra, I told Brian and Laila that I had made the whole thing up!  Wish I had a picture of their faces…but I corrected myself and we all had a great time.

Next up…in a few days probably…Hat Creek.

July 21, 1973

Yup!  That’s us, 38 years ago today.  We were married at Chapel of the Bells, in Reno, NV., by Reverend Huckleberry (seriously!).  The good Reverend is long gone but the memories linger on.  Yesterday we re-visited some of those old familiar places.  If you care to know more of our back story, read the link on the left side bar called The Story of Russ and Donna.  Don’t want to bore you with it here!

THEN…

…and NOW

Oh GOOD GRIEF…can those really be the same two people?  Yes, the backdrop may have changed somewhat but that is the same Chapel and those are the same two people who stood there 38 years ago today and pledged their lives one to the other.

We even visited the courthouse where we got our marriage license.

And of course, since we had traveling companions this time, we had to get them in the pictures as well.

 

And, just for good measure, one more of us…




We have been back to Reno many times since that day in 1973.  Each time things have changed, everything is a little older, the casinos change, the storefronts change, the hotels change.

This time I was especially struck by how old Reno looks.  Like a glitzy lady who has shed her gold and diamonds and now has only pot metal and rhinestones to offer.  The hotels are looking worn, the facades in need of paint and updating.  Graffiti adorns many surfaces which were once clean and new.  Carpets are faded and wrinkled and banisters need a good polish.

I guess that’s one reason I was so happy to see that our little Chapel, like us, still stands.  In a world of easy divorce and limited commitment, I am so grateful to my husband and to God that we have stood the test of time.  Like the city in which we were married, we are a little worse for wear, but we are still standing,  We have been through the fire and survived, even though sometimes it would have been easier not to.  To walk away is easy, to stay takes a lot of work.

Thank you, Russ, for thirty eight memorable years.  Here’s hoping we make it to Fifty – and if we do I expect another cruise and another renewal of vows!