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Sunday, August 28, 2016

The next exciting installment

I'll  bet you are just waiting for the next exciting installment of this blog, aren't you? As you probably already guessed excitement is not my middle name. It's not that I don't get excited about things now and then, or that nothing ever happens, but for the most part I'm just trying to get by on a day to day basis.

This past week was busy at work, which left me more tired than usual, although I only needed one after work nap. I got new cross country skis with bindings, boots, and poles yesterday in hopes to get out when the snow starts to ease my S.A.D. issues. They have come a long way since my wooden skis and three pin bindings. At the pre-season deal they were 50% off and maybe I can not gain weight through the winter. Of course, I can only use them on weekends until the days get longer because, you know, the job thing. My knee Doc said it was okay to do this.

Today I was mowing one of the ungrazed pastures mostly to keep the forest at bay. Almost everything (grasses) has gone to seed and clouds of seeds were all around me. I came to a section that had a lot of goldenrod and other flowering plants as well as some deer beds and decided not to mow that part. Besides, there were bees there and I don't need to add to their troubles. I've had to let that section go before because it had bee activity.

Speaking of pollinators, I have been wearing a red bandana on my head while my scalp heals.  If I stand in one place for more than five seconds I get hummingbirds hovering around my head deciding whether or not to shove their beaks into my ears looking for nectar and insects. I would be embarrassed if they found either. Well, wouldn't you? Of course it might tickle as long as they don't puncture my ear drum or something silly. Try to explain THAT to the ER personnel.

This week's "Music in my Head" have been story songs. The Red Clay Ramblers song When the Goldenrod is Blooming Once Again is about a young couple who have to part when the guy has to go off and "seek his fortune in some foreign land." He said he would be back in September (but not which year) and she promised to wait for him and whispered  "I will be yours dear when the golden rod is blooming once again." Years passed by and still she waited for him until one bright September day he came home and they lived happily ever after. I couldn't find it on YouTube, but it's on the Hard Times album.

The other story song is from my favorite Canadian singer, Stan Rogers.  This is a story of the Mary Ellen Carter, a sunken ship that her crew decides to salvage. They feel they owe it to her and do everything possible in the face of adversity to bring her back to the surface. I have loved Stan and his voice since I first heard him back in the late 70's. He started before that, but being south of the border we get things a little late here in the States.  The last verses kind of give you the courage to fight when everything is against you and they go like this:
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again—though your heart it be broken
Or life about to end.
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Here is the whole thing introduced by a shipwrecked sailor who sang it to stay alive.
 The story is in this article in Wikipedia under this:

Connection to the sinking of the Marine Electric

Enjoy!

24 comments:

  1. Love the introduction to that song.
    Oh the power of music, and words...

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  2. The hummingbirds think you're a big, tasty flower? Cool.

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  3. goldenrod - ACHOO!

    have you started to see fall changes yet in your state?

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  4. LOVE Stan Rogers! And buy a blue bandana!

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  5. I've never even seen a hummingbird except in pictures :( You lucky beast.

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  6. I feel like a swine never having listened to Stan Rogers before, considering his connection to our region. I do remember when he died in 1983. So thank you for introducing me to his music. Such a moving story in the introduction of the video.

    How is your head doing? How long will you have to beat off the hummingbirds? Or have they migrated now that they've seen your skis?

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  7. His voice reminds me--I think I'm remembering it correctly--of Tom Paxton's voice.

    Thanks for the link. I can never have enough folk music...

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  8. I saw a hummingbird hovering around hibiscus flowers beside my friend's pool yesterday (we were swimming). I wish I had put up feeders for them this year. I'm not sure why I didn't. And now it's too late. What kind of hummers to you see? We only get Red Throats on the East coast.

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  9. Music has power to change the moods
    Moods which decide the patterns of our moments and shape of personality

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  10. I think we lost Stan Rogers way too soon. I enjoy his music.
    Take good care of you, Jono!

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  11. I love a good story song, especially like the first one (I'm a sucker for that kind of romance). It's a lost art, I think. Nowadays most people have a hard time waiting a few weeks, much less years. If it were written today, it'd be a rap song and the dude would come home to his chick already married to someone else with 4 kids on her hip ("4 kids? How! I was only gone 3 years!").

    Also, I love Stan Rogers' Mary Ellen Carter, but haven't ever seen that intro. Really dig it.

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  12. Elephant's Child, Powerful stuff, indeed, and even more so from Stan Rogers.

    Ahab, It's a strange and a little unnerving feeling when something that weighs 4 grams looks at something weighing 200 pounds as a snack.

    anne marie, Yes, there are leaves beginning to "mature" and turn color. The animals are fattening up for the coming migration or hibernation. I wish I had a choice to do either of those things. Not the fattening up part.

    Debra, They make bandanas in blue? Whodda thunk? It's good to have a fashionista on my side. As you know plaid is my favorite color.

    Bill the Butcher, You know if those little suckers weighed about 20 pounds they might be deadly, but they are amazing little beasts.

    jenny_o, Stan's brother, Garnet, still tours doing much of the same type of music. The head is healing nicely and the hummers are fattening up for a quick exit in a week or so. They often double their weight before migrating.

    Sioux, Stan was a giant talent who died much too young, but his legend lives on.

    Jennifer, The only species of hummer we get is the ruby-throated. The females are a bit larger and, therefore, lower in pitch so you can tell which is which with your eyes closed.

    baili, I depend on music to either savor my moods or change them. It is very powerful stuff.

    Dixie, I love Barret's Privateers and Northwest Passage among all his other works, but yes, too soon gone.

    ABFTS, Like Max Klinger once said, "All I know is torch songs." I'm a sucker for a tear jerker story. 4 Kids? Maybe a set of twins in the litter. True stories are often the best. Check out "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos if you want an amazing story.


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  13. You have a good life. Enjoy this season of the year.
    the Ol'Buzzard

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  14. Thanks for the introduction to Stan Rogers!

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  15. I cannot WAIT until I no longer have to cut the grass.
    Then, I'll have a brief respite before I need to...
    shovel the driveway and sidewalk.
    At which time I'll yearn for the warm days when I can once again mow the lawn.
    It's a vicious cycle.

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  16. He's energetic - I really like this Rise Again song.

    As far as the other song, I hope the lady had access to other rods. She wanted a long time for those goldenrods to return.

    Be well and keep healing smoothly, Jono.

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  17. I for one was waiting for the next exciting installment! :) love the idea of CC skiing to keep the blues at bay.

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  18. Ol'Buzzard, Yeah, things could be a lot worse.

    Agi Tater, You're welcome. He was a terrific singer and story teller.

    Al P., I'm the same way. Why is that?

    Robyn, I'm sure there were lots of rods blooming, but she waited anyway. Just change to a smaller bandage!

    Dawn, It helps me laugh in the face of adversity.

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  19. I love your blog postings! I'm not at all surprised you attract hummingbirds. :)

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  20. Great song! Sounds like the kinda stuff I used to sing back in my hootenanny days.

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  21. ...because, you know, the job thing... That thing seems to get in the way of a lot of fun stuff! Hrmmpf.

    Glad you told us about Stan Rogers - now I have to look up other stuff from him, too.

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  22. Donna, Thanks! I miss your postings and stories.

    Susan, I remember those days quite well. Lots of happy times to take a break from the not so happy times.

    Pixel Peeper, We should have all been born rich instead of smart and good looking. Stan was a rare talent. His brother Garnet still tours.

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  23. Sorry I'm so late to the party - life has been a bit busy for me lately! Love the song, and the story that goes with it! I'd never heard it before, so thanks for introducing me to another great Canadian export. :-)

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  24. We lost Stan Rogers way too soon. And Harry Chapin, too.

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