Old News, hardly a scoop…

I didn’t give enough space to our local birthday party, celebrating Samantha’s 7th and my 69th birthdays. Here’s a little montage of that day, February 19th…

I have now officially ridden Every Ride in the Walt Disney World parks, knocking out my last two at Animal Kingdom. I had put off the Rite of Passage ride when I was having some back problems several years ago and I wish I’d ridden earlier! It is now my Favorite Ride! We were pretty chill after our early mornings and spent a lot of time hanging out at pool bars (and pools) around the resort. I marked off “visit Nomad Lounge” from my must-do list, too. We had perfect weather…

Spring greeted us when we arrived back here at Sonnystone, and it was so beautiful last week that we were outside cleaning up and planning this year’s gardens. It’s time to start seeds inside, we plant our peas and potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day and I am impatient, as usual. I hope to start a Gardening Series on Thursdays and keep you up to date on how the garden is growing.

I used the nice weather as an excuse to procrastinate finishing up my Ancestry to 1945. I’m really going to get it written this week, I tell myself. I’m very ready to wind up that blog and spend more time here at the Acres providing you with plenty of Blather and Balderdash.

Peace

Let the Wild Rumpus begin!

Birthday Week started off Grandly yesterday with Miss Samantha and me making Wishes as we blew out our Encanto candles.

Today we’re cruising through Georgia — even Atlanta — on our way to celebrate with Mickey and the gang.

It’s been 2 years since my last Birthday trip to WDW and so much has changed and then changed again.

One thing is certain: we’re gonna have a Good Time! I will be reporting in all week, so stay tuned.

Peace

Weekly Wrap-up

I would say that this has been the Best Birthday Week Ever, but I’ve had some pretty good Birthday Weeks so I’ll simply say that I’ve had Another Best Birthday Week.  Starting on the 23rd  with the Monorail Crawl (going from the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian to the Contemporary stopping for Rum Drinks and Birthday wishes), and ending up on  the evening of the 28th riding the Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge, it has been charmed.

Oh, the weather was cold and windy, but we Laugh in the face of Weather.

While we were in central Florida we visited Aunt Shirley in Melbourne, staying the night with Cousin Kim.  I want to visit them every month or so now, though their weather was no better.

I was thinking about all the different Jos I’ve been–a different person every year celebrating Birthdays 1-67.  Not all of mySelves were Great, but each one brought its own gift.   You couldn’t pay me to be 20 again…but 40 was nice…  Oh, well, she’s in here somewhere..

We cruised on home yesterday, already thinking about going back.  I haven’t gone through all of the pictures of the trip yet, so I’ll do a Travelogue-type post later this week.

Peace

Wrapping it All Up

It’s been a fun week of daily blogging here at The News.  I’m ready now to get back over to my ancestry blog and write about some of the research I’ve been doing, but I want to share one more ghost-post…

First posted February 24, 2014…

Or so it seems…

We had a great birthday week-end.  Thanks for your kind wishes.  Many of you are like me, scratching your head and asking, “where have the years gone?”  This poem says it better than I can…

Time Enough

The tally of years
added up so rapidly
it appeared I had
been short-changed,
tricked by sleight
of hand, fallen victim
to false bookkeeping.

Yet when I checked
my records, each
and every year had
been accounted for,
down to the last day,
and could be audited
against old diary entries
(client briefings,
dental check-ups,
parent-teacher meetings,
wedding anniversaries),
verified with credit
card statements
(multi-trip insurance,
antibiotics, concert bookings,
mobile top-ups).

And, although
nagging doubts
remained—an
inkling that I had
been ripped off
in some way,
given short shrift,
made to live at an
accelerated pace,
rushed through
my routines with
unseemly haste—
nothing could be proved,
no hard and fast
statistics adduced.

I had, it seems,
unknown to me,
been living my
life to the full.

“Time Enough” by Dennis O’Driscoll, from Dear Life. © Copper Canyon Press. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Onward to Spring..it’s only 24 days away!!

………

We’re going to uncover the travel trailer, aka Sonnystone2, this week.  Current plans are to leave for Florida in two weeks, which seems pretty soon, don’t you think?  On the other hand, it doesn’t seem soon enough to escape the dreary cold we’ve been experiencing.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes!

age2

Peace

Ghosts of birthdays Past — 1974

It’s the stuff of legend…in my mind, anyway.

Don’t even ask me how I got there, or why, but on the eve of my 21st birthday I was living in San Jose, California with Dee and Dennis Costello, their daughter, Cindee, and my boyfriend.  Dennis was a drummer and and he had a gig that night over at a bar over somewhere.  The whole gang was there and the music was fine.  We closed the bar down at 3am, packed everything into the cars, and came back to Dee’s,  to wind down.  I was pulling some of the gear out of the car when I spotted a little flyer…almost missed it..  Grateful Dead were playing a 3-day show at Winterland up in San Francisco.

I was an avowed Dead Head, memorized all their records, playing all instruments…  I’d received the album Europe ’72 for my 20th birthday, so this was obviously a sign that I needed to see them Live for my 21st birthday…

Denny’s band was a kind of R&B horn-laced jazz fusion…Miles Davis was a friend, Billy Cobham was his idol and Tower of Power was a staple on the record player.  The guys were definitely Not dead heads, but they thought I was kind of country-cute in my blue suede boots and hip-hugger bell-bottoms, so they chipped in and gifted me enough money for tickets and some grub, Happy Birthday…!

One of the guys in the band drove us most of the way to SF (about 60 miles north) and we hitch-hiked the rest.  They were, inevitably, sold out.  But they had tickets for the next day!  We bought them, figuring we’d head home (get some sleep!!) and come back the next evening.

It was already a circus around Winterland that afternoon and we hung around until dusk before starting down to the freeway ramp to hitch a ride.  The couple that stopped to pick us up were headed to Berkeley for a party…we chatted…it just so happened that it was the woman’s birthday, too, her 29th!   We immediately bonded, what with the whole Pisces thing and all.  When she heard my story, that we had tickets for the next night’s concert, she insisted that we come with them to the party and spend the night at their apartment.

These people were obviously rich, well-dressed, educated…I was feeling pretty much like a dirty little hippie, but they acted as if we were just like them.  I choked down some Irish coffee at one of their friends’ house that had a wall that revolved…I’m not kidding, it was fabulous.  The place where the party was happening had 3 floors, belly dancers, hookahs, palm-readers, hippies and freaks…  The cover of the Doors Strange Days album?  Kind of like that…only with a smattering of academia types…

We crashed back with the couple whose name I don’t remember; the next morning they fixed us breakfast and sent us on our way…  I am so grateful for all the humans, like them, who helped me get down the road.

Anyway, we spent a beautiful day wandering around Golden Gate Park, strolling and lolling from one end to the next, stopping and sleeping for a couple of hours in the sun.

When it was time, we headed over to Winterland, where Bill Graham  introduced the Grateful Dead…  I remember dream-like Dancers, melting during  Candyman, psychedelic strobe, smoky apparitions, trippy music that played me…  I don’t know, maybe it was the roses…

!!!  Lo and behold, thanks to the Superlative Family of Dead Heads, that concert is available for our listening pleasure…I’ve been having flashbacks ever since I discovered it….  It lasts 3 hours 42 minutes and I’ve got it going on a loop…  Just in case you’re interested, this is the link (Melissa and Eric)…

Grateful Dead February 24, 1974 Winterland Ballroom

Here’s a couple of pictures from that week-end, courtesy of the archive at Dead.net:

garcia

bobby.jpg

When it was all over, we just kind of sat staring until we realized the cops were dragging out people who were just sitting staring.  They would prop them up against the wall outside the door, though, and we walked by a row of starers, unsure which way to go.  We walked for what seemed like a couple of hours, up and down hills, talking about the concert, singing, wondering if we were lost….  We wound our way back to Winterland and the place was pretty well emptied out.

Just across the street was an overhead camper truck, you know the kind?  As we discussed how to proceed, the guy driving the camper came up and said, hey, you need a ride?  Unbelievable.  His camper was laid, with a great stereo and all the amenities. We talked about the concert, we sang to more Dead, and finally crashed,  parked right there.  The next morning, he drove us back to our place in San Jose.  Don’t remember his name, either, but thanks, Buddy.

Everything was charmed on that birthday.  I enjoyed it while it lasted.  As I look back at all my birthdays, indeed, all 66 of my birthday-years, I shake my head in wonder…

Sometimes the Light’s all shinin’ on me,

Other times I can barely see.

Lately it occurs to me

what a Long Strange Trip it’s been…

It’s somebody else’s 74th birthday today, and I wonder if she ever remembers picking up those hitch-hikers on their way to a Dead concert…

Peace

Ghosts of birthdays Past — 2015

It was actually my birthday-eve, 4 years ago today, that my fourth grand-daughter was born.  You know Samantha, she’s the little red-haired girl who hangs out with me a lot.  You’ve probably seen her flying by on her Magic Carpet…with JoJo right behind her…

Birth!

1 year

age 2

3 years old!

Ghosts of birthdays Past — 2005+2007

The first birthday that I blogged was in 2005, when I visited NYC to experience the Christo and Jeanne-Claude exhibit, The Gates.. The exhibit ran from February 12, 2005 through February 27, 2005.  According to Christo’s web site, all told, 7,503 individual gates were installed.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime…  We had been to see Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill perform on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville the night before I flew out.  While in New York, I was feted with Magnolia cupcakes and a trip to the Metropolitan Opera…

 

I have shared that year with you before, but no one read it…  Looking back on the old blog posts from the 2004-2009 Primitive Platform, I cringe.  I apologize for not capitalizing.  The pictures are dark and I can’t zoom on them.  But it’s what we’ve got..

The old Sonnystone chronicled a 2007 birthday party that I had with my sister, her kids, and grandkids and my cousin, her daughter and grand-daughter…

First posted February 23, 2007…

54 and there’s so much more….

— TheBug @ 9:09 pm

it was a rainy, thundery, gloomy day outside, but inside it was warm and fun, even funny, thanks to my wonderful family.  my camera seems to give everybody “devil” eyes, but we’re really more angelic than we look in these pictures.

we finished with a rousing game of “stick the tail on the donkey” and everyone won!

thanks again…i love you all.

 

———

That’s the kind of birthday party I’m planning for “our burday” on Saturday with Samantha.  I still have the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game!  Ariel and the Little Mermaid is our theme and we have hats for everyone!

Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghosts of birthdays Past — 2012

 I have always thought that the -9’s are the toughest: 39, facing 40; 49, facing 50…etc.  This blog, from my 59th birthday, when I should have been singing the bridge song, I was bummed to the core.  I had just noticed that decades were only lasting about, oh a year, maybe two…

First posted February 23, 2012 

birthday…

Posted in Uncategorized ¶ Leave a comment ¶ Edit

nothin’ to it, ya know?  add just one (1) and what’s the difference…really?  i’ve been doin’ it for years now…one more and grateful for it…glad to have my health…there’s a little bitta sag goin’ on, but i look goood for my age…lotsa people would want to be in my shape (so they tell me at walmart, driving the little scooters)…wouldn’t change a thing…glad to be so Wise…doesn’t Bother me AT ALL…

>sob<

First birthdays first…

I planned to start Blogging Birthday Week yesterday in my Usual Sunday Wrap-up.  A beautiful oops! occurred and I ended up spending the day playing with Samantha while her Mom, Dad, and Sis worked a Girl Scout cookie booth over at Rural King.  We rode our Magic Carpets to Disney World using our maps.  She was full of music and wrote several songs, accompanying herself on the piano….I especially enjoyed “Do you wish you had red hair like me?”

We watched The Little Mermaid because Samantha had never seen it before and we are using Ariel as her birthday-party theme.  She took the phone on a picture-taking adventure around the house and she’s a pretty good little photographer.  I love seeing things from 3-feet-tall perspective.

Michael told me that when she got home she went straight to her room, lay down and took a nap!!  I did, too!!

When I checked my email post-nap, I got a notice from Ancestry.  I guess I didn’t put my Mom’s year of death on my tree.  They sent a “Happy Birthday to Ruby Mayne!” congratulating her on her 88th birthday, February 18, 2019… It kind of shocked me to see that she would be only 88.  I want to live to be 90 or so and by my way of thinking, she should still be here.  Her birthdays stopped at 71, not so far from my age, and I try not to think about that.  But I did think about it and it made me moody…and broody…and not at all inspired to write…

When I pulled out this picture, I thought of Samantha’s song… Mom’s hair never turned gray, staying a lovely strawberry blonde without any help from Clairol.  I think she would have joined right in singing, “Don’t you wish you had red hair like me”…

This was probably a birthday celebration with her Bridge Club. From l-r Marlene, Mom, Millie. I have no idea which birthday!!!

…I miss her every day…

So I didn’t get the Grand Opening of the 66th Birthday Celebration Week blogged, but it does seem appropriate to start the Week with a Celebration of Mom’s Life, too.  Here’s my 2013 post Happy Birthday, Mom…    

This week I will be re-blogging Past Birthdays, culminating in our Party on Saturday.  I hope you’ll enjoy these Blasts from the Past…

Peace

When I’m 64…the Birthday Message

Who’d a thunk I’d be this old this soon?  Ya’ll know it, if you’re anywhere near my age, that inside there’s still the same curious spirit, present ever since I can remember.  The body..meh…but it still works, saggier and slower, but still able.

Words cannot express my gratitude for my life, for every day that was and is, and for the Presence that guides me from this Now to the next.  So many wonderful people have helped me, so many kind people have seen me through, many of them no longer here, many still out there, still listening.  Thanks from the depths of my soul to all, even the folks who stepped over me, turned their backs and walked away.  That, too, was for good.  Thanks to my kids, and their kids, who cover me with Love even when we’re apart.  Thanks for a happy marriage and a husband who is my Best Friend.  There’s all the material stuff–beautiful home, travel trailer, enough money to pay the bills, manicures, pedicures, and shopping.   I truly appreciate it All…

Here’s the Birthday Poem for this year, by Dorianne Laux…chosen last week…

 

Antilamentation
by Dorianne Laux

Listen Online

Regret nothing. Not the cruel novels you read
to the end just to find out who killed the cook.
Not the insipid movies that made you cry in the dark,
in spite of your intelligence, your sophistication.
Not the lover you left quivering in a hotel parking lot,
the one you beat to the punchline, the door, or the one
who left you in your red dress and shoes, the ones
that crimped your toes, don’t regret those.
Not the nights you called god names and cursed
your mother, sunk like a dog in the livingroom couch,
chewing your nails and crushed by loneliness.
You were meant to inhale those smoky nights
over a bottle of flat beer, to sweep stuck onion rings
across the dirty restaurant floor, to wear the frayed
coat with its loose buttons, its pockets full of struck matches.
You’ve walked those streets a thousand times and still
you end up here. Regret none of it, not one
of the wasted days you wanted to know nothing,
when the lights from the carnival rides
were the only stars you believed in, loving them
for their uselessness, not wanting to be saved.
You’ve traveled this far on the back of every mistake,
ridden in dark-eyed and morose but calm as a house
after the TV set has been pitched out the upstairs
window. Harmless as a broken ax. Emptied
of expectation. Relax. Don’t bother remembering
any of it. Let’s stop here, under the lit sign
on the corner, and watch all the people walk by.
“Antilamentation” by Dorianne Laux from The Book of Men. © W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

I love that one, but this morning’s was appropriate, too…by Kirsten Dierking…

Lucky
by Kirsten Dierking

Listen Online

All this time,
the life you were
supposed to live
has been rising around you
like the walls of a house
designed with warm
harmonious lines.

As if you had actually
planned it that way.

As if you had
stacked up bricks
at random,
and built by mistake
a lucky star.
“Lucky” by Kirsten Dierking from Northern Oracle. © Spout Press, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Yes, 64 is a little like that…No regrets, plus a lucky star…

Peace

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