Month: September 2016

Song Lyric Sunday, 9-11-16

I couldn’t write this on Sunday. I couldn’t even think about it on Sunday. I do not understand why the anniversary THIS year would be any more difficult than all the other years but finally realized, for 13 of the last 15 years since it happened, I have done something on the anniversary with all that grief. I have connected with others and we have used our grief to express gratitude, mostly to our local first responders, in honor of their brothers and sisters lost on September 11th, 2001.

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We got up to 55 dozen cookies a couple of years ago…had to borrow neighbors’ stoves, had several cars full of moms and kids delivering cookies, etc.. There are 11 firehouses in our city and we made sure each got plenty of thank you cookies (Grandma’s chocolate chip recipe). Even made some gluten free options!

The kids also made thank you cards and we made old school Music CD’s with all the 9/11 songs we could find.

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Our local fire fighters and EMT’s were so grateful and gave the kids such wonderful tours and attention!

Anyway, when I was trying to come up with a song for

Our theme for Song Lyric Sunday is to post a song that refers to a city/state/town.

I could not pick one place so here’s the song I decided on.

It did affect us ALL, everywhere!!!

(I very much prefer this song performed by my dear friends Riley and Maloney but couldn’t find a video of them.)

Be sure to listen until the song really takes off!

As for credit, here’s what Wikipedia says:

“I’ve Been Everywhere” is a song which was written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and made popular by Lucky Starr in 1962.

The song as originally written listed Australian towns. It was later adapted by Canadian Hank Snow for North American (predominantly United States)toponyms, by Australian singer Rolf Harris with English and Scottish toponyms (1963),[1] and by John Hore (later known as John Grenell) with New Zealandtoponyms (1966).

 

https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-91116/

ChosenPerspective on Edge for WPC

 

Edge

I take a lot of “perspective” photos but the word this week brought up a completely different image for me.

Most animal people have that one special relationship, that stays with them forever…a “heart pet”…sort of an animal “soulmate”.

For many years, mine was an animal I won at a Saturday afternoon matinee. It was close to Easter and there was a drawing for a baby bunny, a tiny chick and a duckling. My ticket stub was the winning number for my very own DUCK!! I raised that duck in my bedroom, even “house broke” her. I was nine years old and simply didn’t know that was impossible to do.

Many animal friends later, I had a huge, beautiful purebred German Shepherd named Joy. Another heart animal for me….She lived until she was sixteen years old!

I’ve written about that amazing dog many times.

Here’s an example about Joy.

Partners from ChosenPerspectives

But then we come to Zorro.

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I have never been so in sync, so bonded, so in love with an animal before. He is 16 years old now himself and has his own long story. I treasure every single day with him. I am very clingy with the Big Z right now, but Zorro is not the focus of this week’s post so back to the theme for the week.

“Edge” is the name of my daughter’s most beloved cat. Edge only very recently left, after too short an illness for my daughter to prepare herself at all. A quick trip to the Vet, lots of tests and boom, he was gone. This loss completely broke her heart.

I have often thought that sometimes the loss of a pet can hit us even harder than when a human loved one dies, in part because we can love our pets from such an innocent, child-like place in our hearts.

And really, what human in our adult lives can love us as unconditionally as our heart- animals do?

Edge’s sudden departure and my daughter’s devastation are why poor Zorro is getting smothered these days. I know when I lose Zorro, I will undoubtedly be a nine year old, inconsolable child for quite a long while.

Below is my daughter’s story about her sweet “Edge”. She took this picture.

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I met Edge on Valentines Day in 2003 at the animal shelter.  He’d been abandoned at 6 months old and all 4 paws were severely frostbitten as it was -20º outside here in Minnesota.  It was love at first sight. I didn’t claim him as much as he claimed me. He had gigantic, long white whiskers and his face had odd splatters of white, making him look like he’d been in a paint fight. I named him The Edge on the way home in the car after the U2 guitarist. Some of my favorite things about him – when I’d come home from work and open the front door, he’d be on the stairs waiting but would act startled and then hop sideways with his hackles up back up the stairs.  It made me laugh every time.  He also would flop on my head whenever possible, whether I was sleeping, doing yoga, reading, he didn’t care.  If my head was accessible, he was on it. From the time I got him, he made a loud, rattling noise when he breathed, like a 90 year old man, which had limited charm when he camped on my head.   When Sarah would come over to visit, I’d let Edge out the door and he would run down the corridor meowing to greet her. He knew how to open the medicine chest in the bathroom and if he felt ignored, he’d open it and knock everything off the shelves and into the sink. He was such a good companion, loved to be picked up and hang out with me on the patio.  This is one of my favorite photo’s from my patio a few years back. I love how crazy his whiskers are, how happy he looks and how much we enjoyed hanging out in the sunshine together.

Mirror/Selfie? for WPC

Mirror

This is about as close as I ever get to a “selfie”!

(seriously, who first coined that word???)

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Photographing my bugs as the late afternoon sun hits their terrarium.

Song Lyric Sunday 9-4-16 HOME

Home by Phillip Phillips

Lyrics

Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Written by Andrew Pearson, Greg Holden • Copyright © Cypmp, Warner Chappell Music Inc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoRkntoHkIE

I fell in love with this song the instant I heard it. I guess I really am connected to the masses because I have a fairly good record for predicting a catchy tune that will become a major hit (or be used for a national commercial within minutes of its release!!)

I mean seriously, can you sit still with this one cranked up loud?? It is an upbeat, driving, fear combatting love song!

But the backstory of what this song means to me is what I want to share.

When James and I first got together, I was in the middle a long fight to hold on to my house (my son’s childhood home). Just a few years before, I had lost absolutely everything except my house but had found creative (though stressful) ways to hang onto it (for dear life!)  I had sort of “built” many parts of this amazing and weird house with my own hands. It had become my only legacy and I wanted to be able to leave it for Michael.

I’ve started writing the history of our home here:

My House as a Life Chapter One

James has his own home, an amazing Mountain Retreat that he built, literally, from the foundation up. (The picture above!) He is so generous that he did exactly what this song says. Not only did he hand over HIS home to me as my own, so I could relax about losing mine. He has also fixed and saved and corrected and remodeled and added onto MINE so much that I’ve had a place to work (a huge office and Group Therapy room) and plenty of room for my family to move in with us! In other words, he has made sure we have TWO homes!!

Just love my guy. It’s as if he wrote and sang this very song for me!

https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2016/09/03/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-9416/

PS For another song about “Home” read

Song Lyric Sunday 7-17-16 theme-Someone you Love