Saturday, October 27, 2012

Real Country Music

Mr. Jukebox, Ernest Tubb. This one really grabbed me this morning, courtesy of Jivin' Johnny Etheredge on KRVM. Lines such as:

The jukebox just told my life story 
told it in the words of a song
So I'll have another drink to the jukebox and one to the man that wrote the song

So here Mr Jukebox please take my last dime
Tell me the story of my life one more time
Bring back the mem'ries of the past that was wrong
Here's another drink to you and the man who wrote the song
[ guitar ]
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/mr-jukebox-lyrics-ernest-tubb.html ]
So here Mr Jukebox please take my last dime
Tell me the story of my life one more time
Bring back the mem'ries of the past that was wrong
Here's my last drink to you then goodnight and so long





 
 Does it get any better? A crisp fall morning in suburbia. Martial Arts, swim workout, soccer, yarn workout, brunch for four, and gazing out the window at brilliant oranges and browns and a yellow maple that stuns the eyes. How do we keep our memories alive? How do we keep the memories of eternity alive? Nan says it's in the handwriting, others say fragrance. Music, obviously, is as evocative as it gets. Once, on a Saturday a few years ago I was driving around with Dad. I had the KRVM Country Clasic show on, and Dad, a long-time country-western listener/dancer, wondered aloud what in the world we were hearing. I answered, it's a show called "Country Classic", also known as "Country before it was cool". Dad chuckled, "I don't like real Country music!" I just had to laugh! What in the world could this ancient music have reminded him, of, after all? Wasn't he getting away from this stuff when he bucked the trend and went to college and joined a Fraternity, lived on side-walked streets for the rest of his days, watched TV, wore clean shirts and ties and read the newspaper every day?

March, 2012.
 The beauty of nostalgia, for folks like me, is that we buff it and spit on it and shine it 'til it looks just like the thing that we wish it would be and know that we'll never have to make it be. Fantasy, heck yeah! But today, OK, everyday, I'll take it!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Adorn thyself....musings of a yarn-madwoman.

Political junkies and sports fans, I know you've got your plate full and all, but the Unencumbered is All Too Aware of the pitfalls of relying on the actions of others to deliver us from insanity. And so it goes.  Bedtime for this woman when the talking heads start to grind away.  What else is there?  Why, calm and quiet, of course!
But wait, there's more! It's fall in the Northern Hemisphere and everything is aglow!  Time to whip out some crafty projects and not a minute too soon!  Sore back, sore knee, sore lip...I need to exercise those sedentary muscles.  Polishing off a watch cap and matching fingerless mittens.  LOVE!  Photos, courtesy of Ashby.  I'll take the phenomenal weather and breathe it all in.

watchcap series: Mom's 60s magazine collection.

add a styling' vest from the beautiful friends...good to go.

catch the leaves, girl!

I LOVE FALL> I LOVE THIS WEATHER> I LOVE ME> I LOVE YARN>

catch the maple tree. for real!

I bow down to the beauties and wonder of mother nature and all that this planet has delivered us.

Oh my god.  So many of these people totally don't see things the way I see them!!! Arg!!!!! Read an article for cryin' out  loud!!!!
But can we agree on this? Autumn is Amazing. Hobbies are good. Yarn is soft.  People who make things are working on keeping the planet working in a good direction.  Make things, admire that which is around you.  Adorn thyself.
Sublime. Simple. 

for those who need to know: Mother's Day: September 1965

Yarnage? :extra fine merino, silk, cashmere.  yummmm!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

While I was away...

Seems that I can't find much of anything to say. Not that I'm not thinking...but...hey....can't always say something! So here's a video clip from not so many days ago near Florence, Oregon. Enjoy, LF!!!


Heceta Beach, Florence, OR from karen steward-nolan on Vimeo.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Pie, Pie, Pie!!!!!Pie Time!!!!!

I may have mentioned a cooking fest during my recent visit to Oregon.  Well, we were so busy eating and cooking I forgot to mention the pumpkin pie I made using brother's CSA local organic pumpkin!
Pumpkin, plus maple syrup, cream, eggs, spice, flour, butter. YUM!
Neighbor Dolores receiving squash soup--pie tomorrow if we don't eat it all!
 Poor Dolores, she was offered pie after she praised the soup I made.  It was gone before I could say "fresh whipped cream!". And as you might imagine, LF, I raced back home to take care of business. Back and forth, we go! What an age of travel, really?  A gal might wear herself down, unless she's eating lots of great food! And eat she does!

My return to Oak Park was enhanced by the knowledge that I was carrying fresh picked huckleberries from the Oregon Coast.  It's not easy to gather enough of these little suckers to cook anything more than huckleberry pancakes, but I gave harvest time a good ninety minutes or so and with delightful results.  I was complaining, while picking, that our little community has been over-pruned to the extent that available berries are disappearing each season. But I wandered around our neighborhood, and sauntered onto the main road.  Berries were found. The tiny little things are about an eighth of the size of a medium blueberry, but if you're serious about your berries, you will not be disappointed, boy oh boy!!!!
The huckleberry pie--disappeared quickly.
The day after I returned home I was pretty wiped out.  Faced with difficult news about Dad, saying goodbye, the whole affair can really deplete a soul. So it was to bed for the better part of a day, "Bring me my coffee, please?!"  And so it went, until the family danced off for soccer match or the like and I was left to my own devices in the kitchen.  What time is it? Yes! It's Pie Time!
LF, you might wonder what the point is of baking a berry pie without opening it for photos, but holy moly, by the time we cut into the thing and broke out the camera, the baby was gone!
Yum. Yum. Yum.


But there's More!  Our share here in OP had delivered us a truckload of Yams. So, yes...you know it!
Sweet Potato Pie!!! This time we were so deep in the thralls of other-world-drama that we completely forgot the camera and just ate ate ate.  Pure pleasure. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.  Now it's Wednesday, and there's no pie to be found (except for the delightful quiche that a friend delivered last night).

*********************************************************************************

So the pie fortified us through a week of work, school, activities, and finally, acceptance of the news that after a few days of hospice Dad finally let go.  We're so relieved that he went as peacefully as possible.  And now, naturally, we prepare to go to Oregon again.  I took a few minutes at work to remember Dad to my students.  I shared a historic photo from his childhood, and a favorite book that we read together, Watty Piper's The Little Engine That Could.This was a delightful day at work.  Reading a book with such a simple message ("I think I can") over and over, well, I couldn't think of anything better to do to celebrate my Dad.
"I'm not very big," said the Little Blue Engine...


Dad's the one with the ears and the height


And there I go again!  Off on another trip, but not a minute too soon to catch about a million hugs, which are awesome.  More hugs! More hugs!!!

Fortified by extra hugs, smiles and sunshine readily available!!!
You probably wonder what the Unencumbered Woman does next. How can I top this?  Oh, shucks, I don't know. But tomorrow I drag my teenager and my pipsqueak cutie pie to jump onto a plane and do it all.  Celebrate? Commemorate? Breathe? Rest? Reunion? Drown in a heap of anxiety & sadness?
 It's all in the works, and there may even be a few huckleberries left on the roadside.  If so, we'll have to elbow a few black bears aside, with a wink and a nod...Dontcha remember the guy who used to pick berries on this bush?  He was about so-tall, and he had grey hair and glasses, and he'd come out and only pick the ripe ones...the ones that would be perfect for a jam that his wife would make or some pancakes his daughter would make, or just to throw some on vanilla ice cream. Remember? They're wild here, and there the best, richest, wildest tasting berries you'll find.