A Valentine's Day Wish from Valerie

Smiles to you from Darling Val

Dear Readers:

Five years ago today, I found a new home. I had a real home once before, but I can hardly remember it now. I do recall, however, that I became lost and some people found me and locked me in a cage in a big room with other dogs in cages. I was scared and wanted to go home.

Then a nice lady came and took me away to a doctor, where I was poked and prodded. Then I was bathed and brushed and my hair was trimmed. I caught an image of myself in the mirror and I thought I looked pretty. I thought they might take me home now.

But the nice lady took me to yet another place. While I was comfortable and safe, I still had to stay inside a cage. She fed me, and played with me occasionally when I was allowed outside, but I was quite lonely. And scared.

One day soon after, she and another lady placed me in a vehicle and we went on a long car trip -- maybe for an hour or two.

When I was finally removed from the car, I was led along a sidewalk. I sniffed but nothing smelled familiar.

We entered through an unfamiliar door. Two strange people were standing there and I could tell by their voices they were friendly. But I was scared. So many changes over the past few days had upset me and I just didn't know what to do. 

The four people sat down, and since there was space on the sofa between where the two new people were sitting, I hopped up. They didn't seem to mind, and both started touching me and speaking in soothing voices.

I think I fell asleep for a long time, because when I awoke the two ladies who had brought me were gone. Throughout the day the new people sat beside me and hugged me.

They took me outside but never ventured far away. I liked that. They fed me but mostly they let me sleep.

I slept on that sofa for the better part of three days. I think I needed the time to heal myself of the mental trauma I had endured.

When I recovered from my healing rest, I woke up and knew I'd finally found my way home. My forever home.

Life is good. And I hope your Valentine's Day is as good as mine was five years ago.

P.S. My brother Kris became very jealous (that's his nature) when he learned I am wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day. He's a "me-too" kind of guy so I asked Mom to include a photo of him so he won't be harass me the rest of the day:

He can be so silly at times. Like this morning when he rolled around in the snow!

*******

When she was rescued from the pound by the Golden Retriever Rescue group, she was given a name. Introduced to us as Valerie, and we didn't see fit to rename her, as she had experienced quite enough changes over the past weeks. And besides, it seemed such an appropriate name, since she came to be a member of our family on Valentine's Day.

A Poem

Author Unknown

When God had made the earth and sky, the flowers and the trees.

He then made all the animals and all the birds and bees.

And then His work was finished, and not one was quite the same

He said I'll walk this earth of mine and give each one a name.

And so he traveled land and sea, and everywhere He went

a little creature following him, until its strength was spent.

When all were named upon the Earth, and in the sky and sea,

A little creature said, Dear Lord, there's not one left for me.

The Father smiled and softly said, I've left you to the end,

I've turned my own name back to front

and called you "Dog" my friend.


Happy Valentine's Day from Valerie

Two Years of Blogging, a Hat for Katie and Snow

This post was to have appeared yesterday but was prevented due to computer updates in progress.

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Two years ago I posted my first blog. Has it really been that long since I began this journey?

Writing this blog has been, and continues to be, a rewarding pleasure. Sharing my interests, passions and opinions has been an outlet for me and a way of connecting with like-minded people.

Thanks to those who have chosen to follow me, to those who regularly or occasionally read my posts and especially to those who engage in a two-way dialogue. I feel I have come to know you and I do appreciate and enjoy the friendships that have ensued.

A glance at the stats provided by Blogger reveal:

Here are posts that have received the most page views (all time history):

Who knows why some posts more viewed than others?

But on other topics.

As mentioned previously, I've been knitting. I made a hat and two headbands for Katie:

This was my first attempt at making a hat and the first baby item I've ever knitted. I'll definitely be doing more! They take so little time compared to knitting for adults. I have started a little sweater, but have had to put it aside for a few days due to soreness that developed in my right arm. Sitting for too long and performing repetitive movements has caused pain and inflammation. Have you ever had a similar problem?

And the weather! This is a view at the back of the house yesterday.

It snow melted by midday yesterday but much more was predicted last night and today. It didn't arrive until late this afternoon and it's still falling. I expect I'll have nice snow pictures to post tomorrow.

I hope you are having a good week. All comments are appreciated!

The Old Homeplace

Sorting through old pictures, I found a photographic print of a painting done a few decades ago of my grandparents' house. The oil painting was reproduced onto postcard-size photo paper and given to family members.

I had actually forgotten I had this and am so very glad to find it.

It's not the place where my father and his siblings grew up. The house and surrounding acres were purchased after my grandparents' children had gone on to establish their own lives with wives, husbands and children.

But it's the house known to their grandchildren as we grew up. My grandmother died in 1960, my grandfather in 1963. Our maiden aunt lived on in the house until she moved into an assisted living high-rise in town at an advanced age. The house was sold and eventually torn down to make way for an apartment complex.

I often drive by where the old home place once stood and try to picture it in my mind's eye. If perchance I stopped and and listened carefully, I might hear again the sound of squealing children in the yard, or through an open window, my aunt and grandmother talking or arguing in the kitchen as they jointly prepared the midday meal -- the good cooking smells drifting out the open windows.

Going deeper and further back in my memory bank, the wicked chuckle of my grandfather resonates as he jokes with his grandchildren. A witty Irishman to the core -- tall, slim, and a full head of red hair that didn't gray until he was a very old man -- he liked nothing more than to tease his grandchildren. In a kindly, grandfatherly way of course.

I remember the time he gave me a plug of tobacco and encouraged me to chew it. I was about 5 years old at the time. My mother was not amused.

Or when I was 14, he teased and embarrassed me by saying the retarded boy in the village was my "boyfriend." Oh, he really got a rise out of me on that one!

He did love his chewing tobacco and I have a picture in my mind of him and grandmother sitting before the coal-burning fireplace in winter, he chewing his tobacco, she dipping her snuff or alternately, chewing Wrigley's Spearmint gum, which she adored.

Our gatherings there on Christmas Eve are a large part of my memories of Christmas Past. The feast on the long dining room table, the buffet full of delicacies such as fresh coconut cake, banana pudding and pecan pie. The cedar tree in the front room, bedecked with blue lights and silver tinsel and waiting for the gift exchange. Millinea leading the group in a round of Christmas carols after gifts were opened. Uncle James handing out sparklers and firecrackers to the children for entertainment on a cold winter's Christmas Eve. The ride home with Sugar Plums dancing in my head knowing that Santa Claus would soon arrive.

 I also found this photo made one Christmas. That's my sister and me on the back row.  Front row, from left, are cousins Debbie, Renae and Jeannie. That's David Earl trying to hide behind Jeannie.

In case you're thinking the above should have been part of a blog post at Christmas, I'll now reveal that summers there were best. 

The deeply shaded porch was a respite from the heat where we could lounge and read a book while beans were snapped by the adults. Or we might go to the gnarled old pear tree that stood at the back of the house and eat the juicy fruit until our hearts were content. 
If I linger long enough there on a summer day, I'll see Grandaddy sitting on the front porch, legs propped up on a red brick column, tobacco spit can nearby. 

The old dinner bell just outside the kitchen door once alerted field workers that it was dinnertime, but it was no longer in use during our childhood. Instead, granddaddy would call us to march inside the cool, dark house that always had a slightly musty smell to sit down and eat the big midday dinner Lela and Grandmother had prepared.

My little picture reminds me of all these things, and I cherish it.

Feb. 7, 1964 – The Day the 60s Began

Fifty years ago today, on Feb. 7, 1964, the British rock group the Beatles arrived in New York City for their first visit to the U.S.

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They were greeted at the airport by 3,000 screaming teenagers, and their two-week stay in America would change rock music forever.

The band from Liverpool had been gathering momentum in the UK and other European countries for several years and they were featured on package tours across England. They caught fire in the UK in 1963 with their first album. “Please Please Me.”

However, their hits in Britain had tanked in the U.S. Their arrival in America on Feb. 7 would change that. 

The Kennedy assassination a mere eleven weeks earlier left young Americans hungry for something to feel good about. And we got with those four lovable, witty mopheads whose British accent sounded so good to our ears. And they were so cute!

As John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr stepped off the plane that day, they likely had no idea they would change popular culture forever.

I think of the Beatles’ arrival in America as the day the first of the Baby Boomers officially came of age; when the 60’s officially began.

Their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show two days after their arrival has been called "a night that changed the course of American culture." More than seventy million television viewers - the largest-ever audience for an entertainment show - watched the Beatles' performance.

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They performed the songs All My Loving, 

Till There Was You, 

She Loves You, 

I Saw Her Standing There and

 I Want To Hold Your Hand 

during their first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The band appeared twice in two weeks on the Ed Sullivan Show and their performances still rate as the second and third most-watched programs in the history of US TV, surpassed only in 1983 when the  final episode of the Korean war comedy MASH aired.

Reportedly, their performances led to a dip in the crime rate to a 50-year low, as 73 million people or 40% of Americans tuned in to watch.

They also performed in concerts in New York and Washington, D.C.

At the time, newsmen (and yes, at the time they all were men) dismissed the group and their music as a fad. But teenagers knew better.

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This photo of  teenage girls watching the Beatles during their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show says it all!

Today, the Beatles are considered the most influential band in the history of popular music, having sold more albums than any other artist on the planet. Their music transcends generations, with young fans jamming along to Beatles, and both rock bands and contemporary artists covering their classics.

Their arrival in the U.S. fifty years ago was a pretty big deal. And it feels like it was only Yesterday (written by McCartney and one of the Beatles biggest hits). The song has been covered by other artists more than 3,000 times, the most covered song in history.

Angel and Furry Friends Art

Here’s a little watercolor/collage print by Patricia Eldridge, a gift from a cousin at our annual reunion last November.

The print immediately appealed to me, with its angel/moon/stars motif.

After a bit of research on the artist, I found out some interesting background on this local artist.

Phantom's Guardian Angel illustration, "Angels Unaware"
by Patricia Eldridge

Eldridge’s illustrations are included in “Phantom's Guardian Angel,”  a children's book about animal rescue. The artist’s website states the purpose of the book is “to teach kids how to treat animals with kindness.” Most of the proceeds from book sales are donated to animal charities.

What a great combination, beautiful art that benefits four-legged creatures and teaches children how to respect them!

A series of her prints depict Guardian Angels with different dog breeds. A large portion of the proceeds of each print are donated to the different breed rescue groups.

Aren't these just the sweetest ever?

Black Lab
by Patricia Eldridge

Multiple Cats
by Patricia Eldridge

Blonde Cocker Spaniel
by Patricia Eldridge

 Dachshund
by Patricia Eldridge
(This one's for you, Judith)

Golden Retriever
by Patricia Eldridge 

Chocolate Lab
by Patricia Eldridge
(A Big Ben dog, Sissy!)

Yellow Lab
by Patricia Eldridge
(And this one's for Darry)

See prints of all breeds here

Learn more about the artist here

I'm off to get my little print framed. It will occupy a special place in my house.

Morning Music

Early today, as I was listening to the Symphony Hall channel on Sirius, the haunting notes of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto for piano and orchestra stopped my coffee cup dead on its path to my mouth.

The second concerto has a wealth of melodies and is one of the most beautiful compositions ever written, in my opinion. Its musical architecture, its effortless unfolding, its sincerity makes it the favorite among many discerning listeners.. 

While the beautiful melody so effortlessly unfolded, it struck a chord deep within myself that I had some personal connection with the piece.

Then I remembered I once played the concerto's closing theme in the last piano recital in which I ever participated, when I was about 15. After that, I gave up piano lessons, a decision I have lived to regret.

I still have the sheet music. Note the price: 40 cents!

But my association with the concerto doesn't end there. When I was a college sophomore, my Music Appreciation class professor informed students they could be exempt from the class final exam by performing before the class -- either singing or playing a musical instrument.

I was game! I'll play the Rachmaninoff Second, I naively thought. Never mind it had been years since I'd even touched a piano. But since the announcement came at the beginning of the quarter, I had weeks to prepare.

I dug out the sheet music and several time each week I'd stay on campus after classes to practice in the music room. It was tough going, but persistence paid off.

On the day I was to perform in front of about 50 fellow students, I was as nervous as a mouse in a barn full of cats.

But play it I did. I wasn't altogether happy with my performance, and I once "messed up" but quickly recovered.

There was the requisite amount of polite applause after I was finished. But hey, I got an A in the class so it ended well.

If you aren't that familiar with the Rachmaninoff 2nd Concerto, do visit You Tube and listen to the complete piece. I think you'll love.

*****

The song "All by Myself," a ballad written and performed by Eric Carmen in 1975, is based on the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto. The song also was covered by Celine Dione in 2008.

Life is full of associations with music? What are some of yours?

One Down, Eleven to Go

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Where did it go? The first month of 2014 is now in the history books.

I don't make New Year Resolutions, but I do set goals - albeit "loose" ones - for myself. Sometimes I commit them to paper, sometimes not.

You know, the "I'll exercise more, eat healthy food, read more, complete unfinished projects, do more for others" kind of thing. Check. I've done quite well on these goals.

These are the five books I've read in January. All images from Amazon.com.

I've even taken my sterling silver charm bracelet, purchased almost one year ago, to the jewelry store to have charms I've purchased attached.

I want to fill up the bracelet up with things I love - a Golden Retriever, cats, charms to signify cooking, gardening, knitting, a piano -- well, you get the idea.

Then there are the things I want to accomplish that seem to evade me -- Yoga, regular journal entries, listening to quality music.

But there are 11 months left in the year. I'm working on them!

How was your January? Do you feel good about what you accomplshed?