Music that highlights the Holiday Season

My musical senses tend to heighten when I listen to PBS this Christmas time of the year.   Melodies I've heard played over the years bring joy once again into my life as I lovingly recall this group playing and singing the sweet strains of familiar lyrics, digging deep into the recesses of feelings buried deep within my heart...American Folk Music..

Although she's not with us any longer, I just watched a nostalgic rerun of Peter, Paul and Mary singing one of their very favorites and mine too...Puff the Magic Dragon.  Most of their music had a distinct message of human kindness and giving....and causes, not just empty words.

This trio used to glue our little family together as we watched the two guitarists singing, playing along with Mary who was tall and stately...as the years passed, she got heavier and bigger but her voice never changed, nor did her smile.

In the decades prior to the '60s, through the work of such avatars as Woody Guthrie, the Weavers and Pete Seeger, folk music had become identified with sociopolitical commentary, but the idiom had been forced underground in the Senator Joe McCarthy witch-hunting era of the late '50s. By the time Peter, Paul and Mary arrived on the scene, for the majority of America, folk was viewed merely as a side-bar to pop music which employed acoustic instruments. At this critical historic juncture, with the nation still recovering from the McCarthy era, the Civil Rights Movement taking shape, the Cold War heating up and a nascent spirit of activism in the air, Peter Yarrow, Noel (Paul) Stookey and Mary Travers came together to juxtapose these cross currents and thus to reclaim folk's potency as a social, cultural and political force. But few at the time could have realized how fervently and pervasively the group's message of humanity, hope and activism would be embraced. Having their music associated with causes and solutions is as natural as breathing for Peter, Paul and Mary. The music they purvey and the action it generates are equally important to them and lie at the heart of their story. Most recently, their individual and collective efforts have focused on such crucial issues as gun violence against children, the rights and organizing efforts of strawberry pickers in California, homelessness and world hunger. "We've always been involved with issues that deal with the fundamental human rights of people, whether that means the right to political freedom or the right to breathe air that's clean," Travers points out. No American folk group has lasted longer or amassed a more loyal following than Peter, Paul and Mary

They invited the listening audience to sing along with them...and I DID.

Great fantastic memories to cling to.

Paul Burger and the Wizard of Oz

Thoughts from Hilda

These are my thoughts, during average days of my life. They're probably not of any interest to anyone other than my dear friends, my children, my nephews, grandnephews, and other people who have passed through my life.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

If I was on the debate team, I would simplify things a lot.   I would say...folks, none of us really knows how much a trillions dollars is...not even a billion....but maybe, just maybe if we brought it down to millions, we could kind of relate to it.

We could really understand what the two candidates are talking about...because right now, it's going over most of our heads.

We think in dollars..and not even cents anymore.   And why do we need to borrow from China...can't we just add  more gold mints in Fort Knox, Kentucky.    Everybody I know owns something that is gold...so why such a big attraction to it.

What we all do know...and we were all taught in the most basic way that you can't spend more money than you have.

And that is what our country is doing.   So Countrymen...stop it!!!!!!!   Stay within your budget, that is if we can ever get back on track.

I guess that's why nobody has asked me to debate!

This is a P.S. on information I received from Paul my nephew about gold and the Wizard of Oz.

Editor's Note: Here is the extraordinary story behind the extraordinary story of'TheWonderfulWizard of Oz'.  Most of us have seen the movie version of this allegorical tale, but few of us are aware of what the various characters, places and things represented in the mind of Frank Baum, the tale's author. Professor Quentin Taylor of Rogers State University invitingly titles the piece presented below 'Money and Politics in the Land of Oz'.  Though 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was written over 100 years ago, the themes will be recongizable to those with an interest in golden matters. While many today consider gold an instrument of financial and personal freedom, in Baum's tale, it is painted as a villain -- the tool of oppression. So, as you are about to see, we have come full circle, and gold has travelled a yellow brick road of its own

My precious little guy

:

 The youngest of our generation came to visit for 3 days, along with his mom and dad, Becky and Eric, both carved out for parenthood..
 

This new little soul, just 9 months old, already exhibits such charm, personality and lovableness that I fell uncontrollably in love with him on sight.
 

Skype is great, but this was the real thing.  This precious  little being was holding my hand, smiling,  and I watched as his whole face turned into a beautiful smile which lit up his entire face and room in fact.  Happiness seeped into me as I stared at baby Shane.
 

Through darling Shane's eyes, he sees a world that is so new to him he's totally focused on everyone, and I feel sure that these sights and smells  find a place in his tiny brain that buries itself  in many compartments of his mind.
  He drinks it all in.
 

No exhibition of crying on his part, only the most pleasantness of smiles in his still toothless mouth that is eager to taste all foods, and many to his liking.   He lets us know by eagerly opening his mouth for the next bite.

Small bites of various food  assortments are placed on his high chair tray as we watch anxiously for the expression on his face as he samples each  morsel.    Almost like feeding a little bird seeds as he takes one by one.
 

I am the great grand aunt of Shane and he follows us around like a little puppy.   As he crawls along the floor, his little tushie moves back and forth and he either gently  lowers himself to the floor again  or he will find a piece of furniture to stand and hold onto.
 

His language of cooing is very understandable.  His parents know exactly what he craves.   He definitely communicates.  When he's had his fill of food, he takes his little hand and bangs on the table....reminding me of Krushav when he came to visit from Russia.
 

I live in South Florida where there's an abundance of senior citizens.   When we took Shane to a restaurant, everyone made a big fuss over him.  Not a person passed by who didn't smile, and that made me feel so good.  They were delighted to see a very young face.
 

I know I'm bragging but Shane was such a model diner, sitting in his highchair and being grateful for any bits of food his parents thought he could handle at this age.

I was amazed at his good manners because I've been in restaurants where screaming children were intolerable.
 

Playtime for this little fellow  is holding his blocks in two hands, stacking them  and then knocking them down again and we all applaud.
 

 But most of all, he's happiest when his  mother takes out his books, right before he goes to sleep at night and reads to him.  She puts him in a quiet sleep mode.

 He sits so still listening and looking at the pages.  Becky also acts them out...hot and cold...loud and soft...in and out....big  and small..and baby Shane listens and looks,  and I know he's absorbing.
 

Eric worries constantly that he might not be getting enough nourishment  because he's so tiny, but he needn't be concerned because this baby lets you know exactly what he wants.

Their visit is over!   Now I am left with wonderful thoughts and memories...and these I will always cherish!
 

Thank you, my grandchildren of my sister, for visiting.   If there is a heaven, I'm sure that my sister Elayne and  her husband Leonard, were watching and enjoying with me

Nature letting us know who's in charge!

 

Friday, September 11, 2009

Cutting back before a hurricane! Sounds  alerted me to something going on in my backyard.

I peeked through my verticals anxious to see what was happening and  I watched. 

  It wasn't just entertainment!  Three treemen ,  working very hard,  hacking at my tree that was 20 times higher than they were tall.

It was a 'happening' all right. The 'tree clipper people' were outside my window  with a large saw  cutting down a  huge branch of a gigantic  tree in my backyard that must have been young about 50 years ago.  I could tell by the markings on the trunk that it went through many seasons even if this is Florida..

Now this wasn't just any branch. It was part of the tree...but almost as big as the tree trunk itself...and should there be torrential rains and wildly gusting winds, this could find its way right through my window.
So interesting to watch. They worked very hard with not a movement being wasted.

  These men, who could speak no English, were in complete control of chopping my tree in the event of a hurricane.

 I remembered my camera sitting on top of my desk...and this is the picture  I captured  through my  window.  In spite of  the black bars, I was able to put into focus, these eager Haitian workmen.

 Our condo being  alert to our weather predictions  gives me a feeling of  protectiveness.

  In the meantime, I've stocked up on all kinds of boxed and tinned  foods and  know I would be able to  survive a month without starving, even having company over who didn't think ahead to bother shopping.  I was like a little chipmunk storing all kinds of goodies.

Most of all I detested the night when it was pitchblack and I would sing...

'hello darkness my old friend...I've come to be with you again

 I own one of the first hand held transistor radios, and amazingly it still plays.  What a gadget.   This little radio is over 30 years old and requires one 9 volt battery and is the best company I could want.

   This is how I occupied myself, listening to people call in to the "talk shows", which gave me a feeling of being  part of the world.   Each caller had a different story to tell.

  Some callers  would say they're stuck in a 6 story condo and the elevators, of course, weren't working, and what should they do...how could they get help.   They needed their medications.   I became very involved in the outside world, unable to do anything but listen and hope they would be able to get some help.

Then I'd go into a troubled sleep...but the very next morning...the sun was brightly shining...and all was right with the world.

Replaying in my head!

Hiding from one's shadow is an impossible task...as hard as  trying to escape from one's thoughts, being as they're not channeled in any particular direction, but floating uncontrollably out into the world, only to be thought by me. 

Shadows and thoughts are a part of us that have  nothing to do with one another, except they're attached to us.   Memories may fade and shadows may alter, but they're always there.   My thoughts have been taking over my subconscious making me aware of how many people used to be an active part of my life.

Little by little, as I age, I'm losing my friendships.  These ladies have moved into retirement homes to be cared for...having  their meals cooked and served to them,  and reminding them to take their medications, and making sure they're using their  walkers, canes or wheel chairs.

My innermost thoughts are always there, swaying  and crawling to a place that only I can reach, and  enhancing  images in my mind that tend to enter and leave at random.....   coming and going on and on!

I can no more control what I'm thinking than I can of breathing.

Was it always this way, or am I just by myself so much that I'm living within my consciousness.

Am I reliving my life to make sure I remember, or these so-called thoughts just keep tumbling out, causing me to have too much time and not enough to occupy me.

Now it's time for me to take charge and get rid of all this foolishness.    Yes, indeed I can, and I will!    I'm enrolling at our Palm Beach Public Library, where they're offering a course helping seniors cast their hand at creative writing.

This way, I can focus on what's really important to keep my memories alive.

 I'll take a few of my blogs to be shown the way to improve my writing so  more people might want to visit my site..

 My blog is about my best friend.   I confide all kinds of quirky things about me in it and I do laugh at my own shortcomings.

My grown-up children have no idea what they created  when they suggested my writing a blog that it would be such an important part of my life.