All this rain we’ve had reminds me of when I lived on Cape Cod one summer.
It was a different kind of humidity, but vexing all the same. Towels never got a chance to dry out before you had to use them again. Doors and windows swelled stuck.
Here in East Tennessee, little puddles have grown and gained permanency to the point where you could more properly call them ponds. And of course, the mosquitoes have had a field day. The little stinkers are thick this year! Note to self: see about investing in “OFF!”
I don’t know the statistics, but I’d bet the local fair-weather industries like car washes and construction have sadly seen less business this summer.
Prolonged periods of precipitation depress some people. Ever felt like you’d just about sell your soul to see a blue sky?
There’s a short story by Ray Bradbury called “The Long Rain” that has stayed with me for years. The hellish plot involves some astronauts who are stranded on a planet where it never stops raining and there is no shelter. I personally have traveled thousands of miles in an effort to get away from rain and be someplace where I could feel the sun on my skin. Oh, and maybe hear some seagulls calling and waves crashing. But I digress. …
There are upsides, though, to our damp summer (Knoxville’s 10th wettest on record). Grassy lawns that are usually dead, stubbly beige by now are still green. The impatiens we planted back in May are still abloom. And we’ve had a bumper crop of pecans, so the squirrels are happy.
A mild summer and moist soil content should contribute to a more lengthy and intense period of fall foliage this autumn. Which brings us to my favorite time of year: October and “sweater weather” with that cool nip in the air. The smell of wood fires and hot apple cider. You know, after you’ve put your shorts and T-shirts in storage, but before you have to start scraping the frost off the windshield.
Has the summer rain been good or bad? Depends who you talk to. Like Shakespeare wrote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” We can talk about it, worry about it and prepare for it. But the weather is going to do what it wants regardless. Maybe that’s why we’re so in awe of it – there are so few things left in this world over which we have so little control.
As for me, I’m just going to sit and listen to the raindrops and know that this, too, shall pass.
Playlist:
1. September in the Rain — Frank Sinatra
2. Rain — The Beatles
3. Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again — The Fortunes
4. Baby the Rain Must Fall — Glenn Yarbrough
5. Don’t Rain on My Parade — Barbra Streisand
6. Flood — Jars of Clay
7. The Rain Song — Led Zeppelin
8. Rainy Day Man — James Taylor
9. Kentucky Rain — Elvis Presley
10. Who’ll Stop the Rain? — CCR
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A Day at the Fair
What a time I had at the Tennessee Valley Fair! It’s such a visceral experience. In this age of “virtual reality” (ironically meaning just the opposite), it’s nice to participate up close and in person, using all your five senses. Some highlights I couldn’t have enjoyed near as much if I’d had to rely on YouTube:
* The serious and determined look of a small child trying to pick out which merry-go-round horse he was going to ride. This was a big decision!
* Livestock exhibitions. For a city gal like me, it’s a thrill to see live animals besides cats or dogs. You can even get close enough to touch some of them. The odors just remind me of the real, backbreaking work involved in caring for these creatures! From the complacent cattle to the achingly adorable bunnies, it’s a labor of love. And oh, I never knew roosters had such a varied and interesting repertoire of crows!
* It was a feast for the eyes as I drank in exhibits by skilled artists and crafters young and old: photography, book-making, quilting, carving, watercolors and so much more.
* The sound of music. With a nice variety of different kinds of live music entertainment, there’s always something going on so you can rest a spell, have a listen, tap your toes, get up and dance or sing along!
* The mouth-watering smell of a dizzying array of food choices: hot dogs, corn dogs, hamburgers, barbecue, Philly cheese steaks, chicken kebabs, tacos, egg rolls, gyros, fries, onion rings. What you need to do is come to the fair hungry, that’s for sure.
* I finally settled on the good ol’ reliable funnel cake. It tasted as comfortingly good as the first one I ever had.
Maybe that’s the real and enduring draw of the fair. It’s a window to our past, a time to stop and say howdy to neighbors and to appreciate the way things used to be. Many East Tennesseans remember the Tennessee Valley Fair from decades ago, and there’s a lot that hasn’t changed since then. It’s still makes a great family outing. And there’s nothing like it for down-home fun. I had a blast!
Playlist:
1. A Most Unusual Day — June Christy
2. State Fair — Los Straitjackets
3. Got To Be There — Michael Jackson
4. Little Red Rooster — Howlin’ Wolf
5. Moving Pictures — The Kinks
6. Sideshow — Blue Magic
7. Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk — Frank Sinatra
8. Deep Fried Twinkies — Terry Hanck
9. Old Folks — Lou Rawls
10. The Good Life — Tony Bennett
* The serious and determined look of a small child trying to pick out which merry-go-round horse he was going to ride. This was a big decision!
* Livestock exhibitions. For a city gal like me, it’s a thrill to see live animals besides cats or dogs. You can even get close enough to touch some of them. The odors just remind me of the real, backbreaking work involved in caring for these creatures! From the complacent cattle to the achingly adorable bunnies, it’s a labor of love. And oh, I never knew roosters had such a varied and interesting repertoire of crows!
* It was a feast for the eyes as I drank in exhibits by skilled artists and crafters young and old: photography, book-making, quilting, carving, watercolors and so much more.
* The sound of music. With a nice variety of different kinds of live music entertainment, there’s always something going on so you can rest a spell, have a listen, tap your toes, get up and dance or sing along!
* The mouth-watering smell of a dizzying array of food choices: hot dogs, corn dogs, hamburgers, barbecue, Philly cheese steaks, chicken kebabs, tacos, egg rolls, gyros, fries, onion rings. What you need to do is come to the fair hungry, that’s for sure.
* I finally settled on the good ol’ reliable funnel cake. It tasted as comfortingly good as the first one I ever had.
Maybe that’s the real and enduring draw of the fair. It’s a window to our past, a time to stop and say howdy to neighbors and to appreciate the way things used to be. Many East Tennesseans remember the Tennessee Valley Fair from decades ago, and there’s a lot that hasn’t changed since then. It’s still makes a great family outing. And there’s nothing like it for down-home fun. I had a blast!
Playlist:
1. A Most Unusual Day — June Christy
2. State Fair — Los Straitjackets
3. Got To Be There — Michael Jackson
4. Little Red Rooster — Howlin’ Wolf
5. Moving Pictures — The Kinks
6. Sideshow — Blue Magic
7. Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk — Frank Sinatra
8. Deep Fried Twinkies — Terry Hanck
9. Old Folks — Lou Rawls
10. The Good Life — Tony Bennett
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sound and Fury
I’m a patient woman. I usually weigh the consequences before doing anything. Will my plan injure anyone? Will it improve anything?
Regardless, there comes a time when you have to take a stand to maintain your sanity.
Noise pollution is common in my neighborhood. Garbage trucks bang Dumpsters, tractor-trailers squeal to a halt and clank up through their gears to regain speed, and motorcyclists treat my street like a drag strip.
Lawn mowers, weed-eaters, leaf-blowers and chain saws all punctuate the underlying din. And I’m never far away from an intrusive car stereo blaring out some horrible thumping noise.
But these are nothing compared to the mystery alarm.
A nearby alarm had been going off intermittently for what seemed like a year. Sometimes at dusk, sometimes at 3 a.m., sometimes when the weather changed, sometimes when it didn’t. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. And since it only lasted 10 minutes or so (just enough to ruin a good night’s sleep), I was never able to get up, get dressed and try to pinpoint its source before it stopped. I tried questioning some area businesses, and people looked at me like I was crazy.
You’re probably saying to yourself, “Just get over it!” But you have to understand – this was no ordinary alarm. It sounded like a feral cat’s tail was being squashed repeatedly in front of amplifiers big enough to blast through Thompson-Boling Arena. This alarm penetrated my ear plugs like a battering ram through drywall. This alarm made you wonder if we weren’t being alerted to foreign invasion. This alarm had a soul, and it was evil.
Last Saturday, I was reading on my back porch when it reared its ugly head again, and after awhile I thought, “This is it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
I frantically grabbed my keys, got in the car and went flying down the road trying to catch it in the act. Making some wrong turns, I got closer and closer to the source of the deafening noise.
Mystery solved: it was a church! Call me feisty, but I didn’t care if it was the Notre Dame cathedral, I was going to try and get someone to stop that alarm before I got a shotgun and did it myself!
I found the church’s Web site and looked up the pastor’s home number. I left a message. Then I reached the associate minister, letting him listen to the alarm through the phone. He agreed it was pretty annoying and vowed to look into it.
I haven't heard it since. Keep your fingers crossed. For now, at least, I’m enjoying the divine sound of silence.
Playlist:
1. Rock n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution — AC/DC
2. Ring the Alarm — Beyoncé
3. Make It Stop — Soulphonic Soundsystem
4. Don’t Bother Me — The Beatles
5. Hush — Deep Purple
6. God Give Me Strength — Elvis Costello
7. On The Road to Find Out — Cat Stevens
8. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars — Andy Williams
9. You Don’t Have to Cry — Crosby Stills & Nash
10. The Sound of Silence — Simon and Garfunkel
Regardless, there comes a time when you have to take a stand to maintain your sanity.
Noise pollution is common in my neighborhood. Garbage trucks bang Dumpsters, tractor-trailers squeal to a halt and clank up through their gears to regain speed, and motorcyclists treat my street like a drag strip.
Lawn mowers, weed-eaters, leaf-blowers and chain saws all punctuate the underlying din. And I’m never far away from an intrusive car stereo blaring out some horrible thumping noise.
But these are nothing compared to the mystery alarm.
A nearby alarm had been going off intermittently for what seemed like a year. Sometimes at dusk, sometimes at 3 a.m., sometimes when the weather changed, sometimes when it didn’t. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. And since it only lasted 10 minutes or so (just enough to ruin a good night’s sleep), I was never able to get up, get dressed and try to pinpoint its source before it stopped. I tried questioning some area businesses, and people looked at me like I was crazy.
You’re probably saying to yourself, “Just get over it!” But you have to understand – this was no ordinary alarm. It sounded like a feral cat’s tail was being squashed repeatedly in front of amplifiers big enough to blast through Thompson-Boling Arena. This alarm penetrated my ear plugs like a battering ram through drywall. This alarm made you wonder if we weren’t being alerted to foreign invasion. This alarm had a soul, and it was evil.
Last Saturday, I was reading on my back porch when it reared its ugly head again, and after awhile I thought, “This is it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
I frantically grabbed my keys, got in the car and went flying down the road trying to catch it in the act. Making some wrong turns, I got closer and closer to the source of the deafening noise.
Mystery solved: it was a church! Call me feisty, but I didn’t care if it was the Notre Dame cathedral, I was going to try and get someone to stop that alarm before I got a shotgun and did it myself!
I found the church’s Web site and looked up the pastor’s home number. I left a message. Then I reached the associate minister, letting him listen to the alarm through the phone. He agreed it was pretty annoying and vowed to look into it.
I haven't heard it since. Keep your fingers crossed. For now, at least, I’m enjoying the divine sound of silence.
Playlist:
1. Rock n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution — AC/DC
2. Ring the Alarm — Beyoncé
3. Make It Stop — Soulphonic Soundsystem
4. Don’t Bother Me — The Beatles
5. Hush — Deep Purple
6. God Give Me Strength — Elvis Costello
7. On The Road to Find Out — Cat Stevens
8. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars — Andy Williams
9. You Don’t Have to Cry — Crosby Stills & Nash
10. The Sound of Silence — Simon and Garfunkel
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Mad about "Mad Men"
I’m a big fan of the TV drama “Mad Men.” And since I sometimes run across those tacky pop-culture magazines and entertainment blogs, I not only know the latest earth-shatteringly important activities of Kenny Chesney and Paula Abdul, I also know that I’m one of nearly 3 million people who are glued to the set every week to luxuriate in the stylish AMC original series.
What is it about this show that makes middle-class baby-boomers like me go gaga?
* Where the Boys Are: It’s about a fictitious Manhattan ad agency in the early 1960s. It’s got the most gorgeous art direction this mid-century Modern junkie has ever seen. Every detail is spot-on. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to a Heaven full of Eames chairs and George Nelson credenzas.
* Baby, It’s You: If the look of the sets isn’t enough, you can always feast your eyes on the gorgeous cast that populates them. Never mind that the awkwardly-cadenced dialogue wanders a bit aimlessly sometimes. Not since the fins on a 1960 Eldorado has something looked so good while making so little sense.
* This Magic Moment: Watching “Mad Men” reminds us of our childhoods. It’s as if the feel of the era has been washed clean with a kind of sophisticated sentimentality. And yet the mood of the show is very dark. In reality, conversations weren’t so curt and straightforward; putting a good face on everything was the rule of the day. Some hot-button issues are touched on, but never enough to make you forget that the series is essentially “Peyton Place” redux.
* Wonderful World: The series is a love letter to a time when Americans were riding the crest of a wave of innocence that would never return.
All the mistakes we were making hadn’t caught up to us yet.
There’s rampant sexism, the nonstop omnipresence of cigarettes and alcohol – but these only seem to harken back to a time when everything was just much simpler.
Truth is, that era was no better than any other. It’s just that we boomers were there, so it touches a nerve. Tune in to this dreamy hit show on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on AMC. It’s replete with images both rose-colored and sinister, as our memories often are.
Playlist:
1. Mad Mad Me — Maria Muldaur
2. The Way We Were — Barbra Streisand
3. Lush Life — Nat “King” Cole
4. Pretty In Pink — The Psychedelic Furs
5. Rose-Colored Glasses — John Conlee
6. The Look of Love — Dusty Springfield
7. The Times of Your Life — Paul Anka
8. People Are Strange — The Doors
9. This is the Beginning of the End — Frank Sinatra
10. It’s All Over Now — The Rolling Stones
What is it about this show that makes middle-class baby-boomers like me go gaga?
* Where the Boys Are: It’s about a fictitious Manhattan ad agency in the early 1960s. It’s got the most gorgeous art direction this mid-century Modern junkie has ever seen. Every detail is spot-on. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to a Heaven full of Eames chairs and George Nelson credenzas.
* Baby, It’s You: If the look of the sets isn’t enough, you can always feast your eyes on the gorgeous cast that populates them. Never mind that the awkwardly-cadenced dialogue wanders a bit aimlessly sometimes. Not since the fins on a 1960 Eldorado has something looked so good while making so little sense.
* This Magic Moment: Watching “Mad Men” reminds us of our childhoods. It’s as if the feel of the era has been washed clean with a kind of sophisticated sentimentality. And yet the mood of the show is very dark. In reality, conversations weren’t so curt and straightforward; putting a good face on everything was the rule of the day. Some hot-button issues are touched on, but never enough to make you forget that the series is essentially “Peyton Place” redux.
* Wonderful World: The series is a love letter to a time when Americans were riding the crest of a wave of innocence that would never return.
All the mistakes we were making hadn’t caught up to us yet.
There’s rampant sexism, the nonstop omnipresence of cigarettes and alcohol – but these only seem to harken back to a time when everything was just much simpler.
Truth is, that era was no better than any other. It’s just that we boomers were there, so it touches a nerve. Tune in to this dreamy hit show on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on AMC. It’s replete with images both rose-colored and sinister, as our memories often are.
Playlist:
1. Mad Mad Me — Maria Muldaur
2. The Way We Were — Barbra Streisand
3. Lush Life — Nat “King” Cole
4. Pretty In Pink — The Psychedelic Furs
5. Rose-Colored Glasses — John Conlee
6. The Look of Love — Dusty Springfield
7. The Times of Your Life — Paul Anka
8. People Are Strange — The Doors
9. This is the Beginning of the End — Frank Sinatra
10. It’s All Over Now — The Rolling Stones
