For my James….
a second version…for all us aging Rockers!!!
https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-21917
Category: Generations
Ambience for WPC
Ahh, to be thirteen again…and to be given complete freedom to decorate my own room. My Dad did that for me so I painted my room white and then, with a pencil, traced circles around plates, cups, and saucers all over my walls. I filled them in with pastel pink, yellow and blue enamel paint. (I also made striped curtains in the same colors.) I loved my room. It was such a peaceful haven in an otherwise tumultuous household. I could shift my mood by closing my door and immersing myself in the ambience I had been allowed to create.
When my son and grandsons moved back in with me I really wanted the boys to feel at home and so of course, passed on the traditional “freedom” to decorate their space.
Here’s a slideshow of how the oldest (13) chose to set up his room. It is filled with the dichotomies of his age and individual personality. I LOVE it! Enjoy the song below while viewing the show. (It reminds me of my Junior High/High school boyfriend, David Taylor!)
My first reaction to some of his belongings was apprehension. His Dad (my son) was never allowed weapons of any kind, not even toy guns. That really backfired as a parenting stance. But I am not too worried about my grandson. His “weapons” are mostly decorative, and are nicely balanced with his other collections (Pez dispensers, sports stuff, art, guitars, etc.)
Oh and his “stuffies”, many from his babyhood.
My grandson posed in this photo…can you see him?
More to honor MLK
I believe we need this theme more than ever these days. I never want to forget, even though the process might seem to be in the “one step back” mode right now…
A Swing and a Miss!!
OK you win some and you lose some. I get that. But it is so much harder to lose when you have been absolutely convinced that THIS time, it would be a WINNER for SURE!!
I believe that my duties as a grandmother are specifically limited. I do NOT get to “parent” my two amazing grandsons. Julius, who is 13 and Luca, 10 (for another week) depend on me to be that other adult in their lives that has the luxury of coming closer to unconditional love than either of their parents do. Even though they live with their father in my home, I do not have to crack the “do your homework” or “clean your room” whips. That’s their Dad’s job.
My self-imposed duties are clear to me though. I get to love them. I get to watch out for their safety. And my favorite, I get to teach them stuff, especially about our family’s history and traditions…
At Christmas time, it is not part of my job to be the one to give the “big” present each year. Again, that’s my son’s place and I never want to compete or even accidentally outshine him with his boys.
So I go for obscure, non-traditional gifts (no video games) and whenever possible, non-material. Gifts from Gramma are unexpected (sometimes unwanted) and always a bit weird. That’s OK with me. And I know some will land and some will fail! But most will be remembered.
Examples:
3 years ago, I made each a personal (Shutterfly) photo book of their lives so far. I think it got about a C+/B- grade from the boys.
2 years ago, I made them personalized “treasure boxes”. (They’ve always liked that concept). These boxes contained charms and totems and stickers that represented events in their lives. Each box also had a tiny tablet and mini pencil so they could guess, and then write down, what each token in and on their box signified. There was a prize for whoever guessed the most symbols. (Hey, do I know how to harness sibling rivalry or what??)
Last year, I gave them (all of us really) a family outing to a very cool local place. Maybe you have something like this in your area. It’s called the Boarding House. I have to admit I have some pretty strong judgments about how inundated our children are these days with all things electronic and technical…especially the whole video gaming addiction…so when I discovered the Boarding House, I was thrilled. It is a store/restaurant that sells almost every “board game” ever invented…not a single electronic game in the place! You can even go in and pick some games to try out at your table while enjoying a damn good meal. (Think the highest class “tavern food” EVER!)
This gift was NOT a hit because when they opened it, they had no idea what it was. They could not even grasp the concept of a game store without their coveted new video games for sale. (not an addiction, my ass!) It took 10 months for them to finally be willing to use their hefty Gramma gift certificate for dinner and games at the Boarding House. I’d say, eventually, this gift earned approximately a B-…but it was like pulling teeth.
This year, I thought I might finally earn an “A”. Oh well, best laid plans and all.
My son likes to expose the boys to a variety of different and special experiences in their lives. Wild and different restaurants. And last year, he bought them 3 piece suits and took them to the SYMPHONY!
Remember I said it was my self-imposed duty to teach them about Family Traditions? So, I combined my son’s determination to expose them to new things, and my childhood (and then Michael’s) tradition of weird food in our Christmas stockings, to provide a Christmas morning experience like no other. I knew it would be a HIT!! The boys love all the survival-type tv shows, especially when eating gross stuff is involved. So I did a lot of googling, shopped around, prepared a breakfast table, with a specific food challenge for each! (No crickets or ants involved…we are a Bug Household after all!) see
Here’s what they arrived to find for breakfast.
The deal was, they had to read the research I printed about their given fruit, take at least one bite and then go back to the printed material to find a clue for a treasure hunt to their real present. A gift card to their favorite place to shop hidden around the house.
Great idea, eh? Expose them to something new. Teach them something old. I was so sure….
I think I earned maybe a D- !!
Oh well. The hidden $50 Amazon cards went some distance to save the day…
Which Way Challenge from CWW, 11/16
Tiny is Relative by ChosenPerspectives for WPC
Obscure background music provided for your pleasure while viewing photographic examples of TINY!
Ask yourself, while viewing, TINY? Compared to what?
This small exercise in the magical practice of deciding how to see something is provided by ChosenPerspectives…
Lyrics for Compared to What!
Les McCann and Eddie Harris 1969
I love to lie and lie to love
I’m hangin’ on they push and shove
Possession is the motivation
That is hangin’ up the goddamn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut
Everybody now
Tryin’ to make it real compared to what
Slaughterhouse is killin’ hogs
Twisted children killin’ frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin’ logs
Tired old ladies kissin’ dogs
I hate the human love of that stinking mutt
I can’t use it
Tryin’ to make it real compared to what
President he’s got his war
Folks don’t know just what it’s for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt they call it treason
We’re chicken feathers
All without one nut goddamn it
Tryin’ to make it real compared to what
Church on Sunday sleep and nod
Tryin’ to duck the wrath of God
Preachers fillin’ us with fright
They all tryin’ to teach us what they think is right
They really got to be some kind of nut
I can’t use it
Tryin’ to make it real compared to what
Where’s that bee and where’s that honey
Where’s my God and where’s my money
Unreal values a crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind old young King Tut
He did it now
Tried to make it real compared to what
Tryin’ to make it real compared to what
Written by Eugene Mcdaniels • Copyright © Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Would love to know what you think. Make a comment, would you?
Transformation by ChosenPerspectives
This is my second post for this challenge. Pauses and Clicks reminded me this morning of the whole challenge. Before I had focused mainly on the “strange and grotesque” part.
This series of photos I’ve been taking of Hydrangeas best captures the week’s theme for me but it wasn’t until reading the above post that I got how truly beautiful this amazing plant and it’s blossoms are….until their very end.
How in the world does THIS…
…Become THIS???
The “Transformation” is both invisibly slow, as well as lightning fast. I took these pictures from April to June!
Here is a Transformation slideshow.
But for me, the lesson didn’t stop there. I had planned on showing the photos of Hydrangeas at the end of their life to demonstrate how something so lovely can transform into “ugly”…but I read her post this morning and it completely changed my perspective.
NOW, I can see how the Hydrangea becomes MORE beautiful as it ages, stunning even…
And, since I’m always looking at life through the lens of Generations, look what else I found!
Multi-Generational Living at it’s finest!!!
Thanks Pauses and Clicks!
(Now if I can just apply this lesson the next time I look in a mirror!)
PS Today is November 4th, 2016 and when I walked outside, here’s what greeted me!
Song
“Tell us about a piece of music that stayed with you.”
I love that Word Press gives us all these challenges! Not because I can’t think of anything to write about, but because it helps me narrow topics down!
The first time I heard the song A Life Uncommon by Jewel, I was moved to tears.
(small disclaimer…the last few seconds of wording on this particular youtube are about Christianity and though I consider myself part Christian, I am also part Hindu, part Buddhist, part Jewish, part Unitarian Universalist and part “still working it all out”.)
I loved the song and could not stop thinking about it!
Such inspirational lyrics!
Don’t worry mother, it’ll be alright
And don’t worry sister, say your prayers and sleep tight
It’ll be fine lover of mine
It’ll be just fine
Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a life uncommon
I’ve heard your anguish
I’ve heard your hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren’t worn out
Set down your chains, until only faith remains
Set down your chains
And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lent your strength to that
Which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear our voices ring out clear
With sounds of freedom
Sounds of freedom
Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
There is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live
And lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead…
Lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend our strength to that which we wish to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon
Written by Jewel Kilcher • Copyright © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
“No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from.” WOW!
Then I heard the song at the Unity church by this wonderful duo, Garnett and Beverly. Oh man, can these two SING!!! http://www.garnettandbeverly.com/
After hearing them sing it, I decided I wanted to EARN having this very song be performed at the party I want folks to have when I die!!
But there is another chapter.
Many years ago now, I had the miraculous experience of reuniting with my daughter, Pamela, having given her up to be raised by the most wonderful parents. As I was getting to know her, I did what many of us do when we first fall in love, and boy, did I ever fall. I made her a playlist of all my favorite songs…songs that I hoped would tell her about me. (Pam is truly amazing, and a talented singer herself, so I thought music would be a great connection!!)
The song, Life Uncommon, was the first and most important song on that playlist, with the disclaimer that I was still learning to live this way.
Three generations…my mother, my daughter, Pamela, and me, all around the same age. I couldn’t see any resemblance between my daughter and me but could see it between Pam and my mother.
![DSC03569[2]](https://i0.wp.com/chosenperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/dsc035692.jpg?resize=475%2C356&ssl=1)
Me and my birth daughter!
![DSC03582[1]](https://i0.wp.com/chosenperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/dsc035821.jpg?resize=479%2C639&ssl=1)
Cousins, their first visit…Pamela’s daughter and Michael’s son. How cute are they? watching something on TV that has Julius feeling protective…
![DSC03572[1]](https://i0.wp.com/chosenperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/dsc035721.jpg?resize=479%2C360&ssl=1)
Me with my son and his sister together, a dream come true!
And giving me….a life uncommon….
Cee’s Share Your World – 2016 Week 42
https://ceenphotography.com/2016/10/17/share-your-world-2016-week-42/
This is my first time sharing my world. Does this mean I have to make up for the whole 42 weeks I missed??
Anyway, here are the questions we are to answer.
If you wanted to de-clutter where you live, what room / space would you start with? (And why, if you’re feel like admitting to it.)
I’d start with the “living room”. It used to be the only guaranteed “clean” room in the house…my pretty blue and white oriental rug, all my Cobalt glass, nice furniture to sit on for guests. But now, with our packed household (son, two grandsons, two men renting rooms, and 3 indoor cats who have had their cavorting space dramatically reduced), James pretty much has his “office” and sports/TV viewing area in our living room…and all that cat hair drives me crazy!
If you want to remember something important, how do you do it (sticky note on the fridge, string around your finger, etc.), and does it work?
I keep running lists, in categories like errands, phone calls, sessions, books and music to remember, etc. (still on paper because if I write it down it helps kinesthetically, better than a phone app or computer calendar!) But the absolutely Must Remember things go on a sticky note in the center of my computer screen.
If you could create a one room retreat just for yourself, what would be the most important sense to emphasize: sight (bright natural light, dim light, etc.), hearing (silence, music, fountain, etc.), smell (candles, incense, etc), touch (wood, stone, soft fabrics, etc.), or taste (herbal tea, fresh fruit, etc.)?
My current sanctuary…my office/group room. It has all the above listed elements. I wrote about it here in a post called
If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask?
Her last name was “Young”, as in Brigham Young, but I can never remember what her wife-number was. She was one of 16 or 26 or 55 wives, depending on where you read about Latter Day Saints history. I was NOT raised Mormon so my information is mostly from Google, but one story I heard from older relatives was that she was married to Mr. Young, after he married her sister, and I believe their name was Decker. If I could speak to her, I wouldn’t ask her about polygamy because I think I mostly understand the beliefs they held at the time, but I am definitely curious about actual sisters (not “sister wives”) being married to the same man.
And I would ask if she could tell me anything about all the lace doilies and hankies I have used in the decorating of my room (referred to above)…if she made any of them herself…
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am surprisingly grateful for all these great men I live with, especially my number one guy! (Michael and James, you can duke it out to decide who you think that is! This is really just a test to see if you actually read my blog!)
I enjoyed their passion yesterday over the bizarre ending to the Seahawks football game.
But that was also a LOT of angry yelling and testosterone in my precious blue and white living room…I think I may need to smudge with some sage today…
This week I am blank as to looking forward. The here and now is really pulling at me.
(Photo at the top is of our hand-made Sock Monkeys that James and I take turns positioning to demonstrate our current experience of our relationship. They live in the Living Room, amongst all the blue and white…and I had to train the cats to not stalk them as prey!)
Sunday Song Lyrics 9/25/16
I assumed for years that Kenny Wayne Shepherd was a country singer…down just a ways on my list of favorite kinds of music so I never listened to him, but then we saw him in an amazing concert in a small venue. It was a tour where he was honoring all the old blues guys he could bring along. It was part of the project written about below, and was totally amazing.
From Wikipedia
“In 2007, he released a critically acclaimed and two time Grammy nominated DVD–CD project, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians. As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams at Lead Belly‘s grave), B. B. King, blues harp master Jerry “Boogie” McCain, Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, Henry Townsend with Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf‘s bands, including luminaries such as Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and Pinetop Perkins.
https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-92516/
Lyrics from Google Play
Night
Falls and I’am alone
Skin
Yeah chilled me to the bone
You
Turned and you ran
Oh yea
Oh slipped
Right from my hand
Blue on black
Tears on a river
Push on a shove
It don’t mean much
Joker on jack
Match on a fire
Cold on ice
As a dead man’s touch
Whisper on a scream
Doesn’t change a thing
Doesn’t bring you back
Blue on black
Blind
Oh now I see
Truth
Lies and in between
Wrong
Can’t be undone
Slipped
From the tip of your tongue
Blue on black
Tears on a river
Push on a shove
It don’t mean much
Joker on jack
Match on a fire
Cold on ice
As a dead man’s touch
Whisper on a scream
Doesn’t change a thing
Doesn’t bring you back
Blue on black
Written by Tia Sillers, Mark Selby, Kenny Shepherd • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group