To Whomever Is In Charge

of the universe:

Where there is any pain, hurt, upset, bad things happening, broken hearts, loss, grief, and all the other terrible stuff humans must endure, let there be music. Specifically, let there be people who play music for their audiences who love what they do, who understand how important their job is. All the hope, healing, and positivity I needed were served up family style last night at Sumter Theater. It was a very hard week with a perfect ending.

Mark Irwin, you were wonderful. The folks around us were talkers, so we couldn’t hear all of your stories, but did glean your story about your last son being born, and that you are going to the studio and record again. I have yet to introduce myself to you, but plan to some day. Our fathers were best of friends when they both worked at the Omaha World Herald for a lifetime each. My dad’s been gone for 34 years, and yours for ten. As you stood talking to someone before you were set up to perform, I had a sort of flashback. You stood with your hands on your hips, talking. In that instant, I saw your dad standing there. No, I’m not a weirdo. Your posture reminded me of him the very few times I ever saw him as a child. I thought you’d like to know that. My dad had so much respect for him.

Let these people gather to teach children their skills and their joy with music, let the children learn and be confident to be onstage at a young age, say 14 1/2, and have the knowledge they can play a Clapton song, and do it darned well. Great job, Ciaran McGuigan. Your skills amaze me, and I cannot wait to see how you progress. Max Meyer, well done! Not only your playing onstage, but you are imparting your knowledge to kids who act as sponges to absorb it all. How awesome!

Evelyn Hill not only belts out a song with a gigantic voice, she dances across the stage to show you she means business! I love to see you perform with the group, wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. Go see her, folks. She’ll knock your socks off.

The sax section was even choreographed a little, good job, guys. The strings! Oh my, both of these sections are what these songs need to be heard as their creators intended. All the sounds help draw out all the feelings the musicians have and can play; and the audience feels it.

Ryan McGuigan, you are always a presence onstage, and last night was no exception. Your performance had not only your usual, but you have a bounce to your step, and an extra happy smile these days. Life must be treating you well. You deserve that.

Matthew McGuigan, your arranging and composition of a new intro for Billy’s song about Cartney was on fire. It had quite a kick to it, and you made all of those songs sound like they should. I love your singing, you should do more!

Billy announced they had an all girl stage crew! Girl Power! Those ladies knew what they were about, and they did it all in fine fashion. Cartney McGuigan managing backstage, Kate, Carly, and the other young lady (so sorry, I didn’t retain your name), you were always right on, in addition to taking care of merch ahead of the show. They all were having a blast, too.

The drummer (another name I didn’t catch) is top-shelf. He rocks it out like no one I’ve seen before. Look forward to seeing you perform again.

Kathy Kersey, Kate, it was good to talk briefly with you, too. You both add a lot to all that goes on there. Thanks for all you do.

And Billy. Once again, you delivered in a huge way. Your music made life brighter and more positive last night. Keep on doing what you’re doing. You keep getting better at it, and I don’t know how. It’s a gift. It’s also a lot of hard work. No one gave this all to you. You, Ryan, and Matthew have worked harder than anyone realizes to be where you are today. And you’re going to keep soaring. And thanks for all you do. Until the next time. Rock On!

Saturday. Reflecting and Remembering.

So, a year ago, this happened. I forgot about it yesterday, but the header photo is of something I have on my window sill above the sink. It’s my reminder of Lenny and Kris and of happier times.

It occurred to me, a year from now, all those grieving the loss of someone right now will be in a different place. The tricky thing is to not let grief make you bitter, retreat into yourself, or worse yet, never speak of your loved one. Mom didn’t want to hear us talk about Dad when she was around. She became angry. We knew Dad wasn’t a saint, but we were not allowed to grieve as a family. It was eye opening when we finally figured it out.

Another thing that helps me heal from anything is music. It heals my soul, which is improving daily. I’ll go back and forth, it’s normal. Some days you feel relief they’re not suffering anymore, some days you’re sad you can’t see them anymore. Let your good memories get you through. And music.

Janet was in the choir at Immaculate Conception Church. She enjoyed that, and said, “My mom always told me singing in church meant you prayed twice.” That was long after I left the area. I believe the words to songs can be prayers for your healing. It’s why I listen sometimes all day long. If I’m low on energy, the Music Channel folks have such variety, I like Jazz or Smooth Jazz. It is usually rock and roll, classic R & R or local artists.

How lucky, the Babe and I have tickets to another Billy McGuigan show, this one: Pop Rock Orchestra. Remember, back in the day? You could hear the orchestra in the background of most songs. Strings and horns add so much to guitars, keyboards, and drums. Try it, you’ll love it! I know a lot of great music will envelop me tonight, like a giant hug, and I’ll feel better. The hard week we just finished will be a distant memory, and we’ll be stronger again. We’ll have new things to tackle this week. Music is the cure for much of what ails us. C’mon down to Sumter Amphitheater tonight. Starts @7:30 p.m.

Have a lovely evening, I know I will! See you tomorrow.

It’s Thursday Again

I’m amazed at the number of “elderly” (our age) people who tell us their kids won’t let them leave the house. What? They don’t live under the same roof at all, but the kids are making their parents stay home. It makes me wonder. Our kids just ask what we’re doing. Does that mean they don’t love us? Hardly. One of the kids picked up toilet paper for us when we couldn’t find any in our stores. Other than that, we speak to them and check in about everyday life but don’t go further than that. Is it that they trust us to be cautious? Is it they don’t think of us becoming ill and dying from it? I choose to look at it that they think we know what to do. What do you think? Have you told your parents to stay home? Our mom doesn’t listen too well. At nearly 91, she still insists on going to Walgreen’s and Hy Vee for groceries herself. She has a good chance at becoming exposed. I’d rather not be exposed.

Our Hamburger Night was good again. We visited and made plans for Taco Night tonight. The Babe heads up the kitchen staff for that. I’m not able to lift anything heavy or stand for a long time, so I come along for moral support mostly. Not sure if I’ll join him or not. It’s that or stay home to let the dogs out, let the dogs in. Let the dogs out. Let the dogs in. Let the dogs out. Let the dogs in. You get the idea.

i’m putting together some notes for the rest of my book. I need more meat in the story at certain chapters. It’ll be hard (maybe) to get another 8K words. Once they start, though, they come easier. It’s not impossible. Just need to get to it. I hope to hear from my book coach in a couple of weeks and see what the assessment of my first three chapters is. At a much younger age I used to agonize over such things. I don’t anymore. I do hope it comes back favorably though. If not, back to the drawing board.

This one is thought provoking.

Thank God for the empathy of others. We especially need that now.

I remain hopeful our Veterans graves will be decorated with the American flags this Memorial Day. It would be a shame if they remained bare. A news story yesterday stated the VA is not allowing groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to plant the flags as they usually do. The National Cemeteries in Long Island, New York have 500,000 graves in them. It sounds as if it will not be allowed at all. I understand the social distancing, believe me. I would think that even if they worked in pairs the Boy and Girl Scouts could find a way to socially distance and still be able to plant the flags. Yes, it is a symbolic gesture, but it is an important one I believe. After all, people are allowed to go the store now, and even pick up dinner from a restaurant. It will be interesting to see what happens. I hope someone regains their mind to let them put the flags in.

The remainder day will probably go quickly. We will start serving tacos to some hungry veterans and Honor Guard members after 4 p.m. More talking with friends tonight, and hoping everyone is well. It will be a good afternoon. Until it’s time for me to leave, I’ll do a little more editing and planning. I hope you all have a good rest of the day, stay safe, and keep up the social distancing. See you back here tomorrow!

Humppp Daaayyy!

It is now nearly 4:30 CDT in the afternoon. I started this blog this morning. Then the Internet Provider crashed everything. For the whole day! It was quite a day for being disconnected. I finished my preview copy of my book for the Book Coach I’m working with. But I couldn’t e-mail it for her. I’m not certain Google Docs even saved the proper words to “the Cloud.” The Internet was wonky all day!

What in the world did we do before all this technology took over? We enjoyed our families and our space. Whatever our space is, we made it ours and enjoyed it. If you were a fifteen year old kid, you had posters on your walls, your own music, and did homework while you waited for dinner to be ready. Your seventeen year old sister may have been talking on the phone to another friend, but it didn’t last all night. You met as a family at dinner and talked. Maybe not a lot. But you noticed your parents at least acted interested in what went on in your world. They probably didn’t share much about their own troubles. You weren’t meant to be their friends, you were their children. Adults didn’t put their burdens on you.

Be a Survivor, Not a Victim.

This afternoon, after the Babe finished weed-eating and mowing the “field” (We have a big yard) we sat on the patio and talked. I couldn’t do this work, he needed to just relax. He said, “This is retirement. Isn’t it great?” Absolutely. The Babe has taught me, who was always organized, the Fine Art of Procrastination. Some days I think I was too good and eager a student, but now the world doesn’t end if I don’t meet a self-imposed deadline. It doesn’t, and I’m not as stressed as I used to be about them. Thanks, Babe!

I had a great writing session this morning, tying up loose ends in my first eight chapters that will go to the book coach I’m working with. I’m taking the night off and going to re-read it all in the morning. The Internet was down as I finished writing, so who knows what was saved at the last minute to the cloud for Google Doc? I was a clerk/secretary for too many years to let it go out in the world without proof reading it one more time. So that’s tops on the list for tomorrow.

It may sound strange, but as I’ve added extra characters to my heroine Katie’s family, I really want to see one brother make a 180 degree turn about in his life. Could be the optimist in me, but I’m thinking he’s going to want to have a family life with his siblings before he dies. He has miles to go before they can trust him again, and it could happen. It may not, but it could. We’ll see where the rest of the rewrite takes us. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m ready to sign off here, sorry to be so late today. Below is a screenshot from Facebook, mentioning an event that was cancelled due to Coronavirus. My friend Jimmy Weber was nominated for an award, the Babe and I are watching to see if perhaps he wins. No one is more deserving. Good luck, Jimmy!

Tune In, Folks! Hopefully, we’ll see our friend Jimmy Weber win in the category he was nominated!

As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate your time and will see you tomorrow. Unless the Babe uses one of my measuring cups for baking to measure out his Weed Kill concoction. Then he’ll be the Carol Baskin of Gretna! Stay tuned all of you Tiger King fans. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Tuesday # 498

I’ve seen some really cute posts on Facebook lately that talk about Quarantine Day # 8,375 and the like. It’s about how it feels somedays, you know? I shudder to think how places back east are trying to jump the gun and open up again. I don’t believe it’s a good idea, we will surely be locked back down again perhaps more so than we are now.

Pray for those who are violating the social distancing rules.

I believe most people are compliant. I’m not thinking we’ve lost our rights at all. Sometimes people need protection from themselves, like during a pandemic. A cool head and common sense must reign our thoughts and activity now. Now is just not the time to start up on life again. It’s too soon. The protesters could be in for a giant surprise after touting their freedoms over the last week. I feel badly for the people who will be infected by those who think the rules shouldn’t apply to them. Their grandmas, grandpas, and babies could be in peril. How selfish.

When I was a Systems Analyst at Mutual of Omaha I worked in the Rate Adjustment area when I first started. As with any computer program changes, we first had to analyze how any changes made would affect the way the program operated at present. Don’t break anything that is working. Then, when we made changes, we had to carefully test and make sure the changes did what they were supposed to do. And then of course, make sure you didn’t cause an issue down the road.

It’s kind of like that while testing for this pandemic. The results of any action should not impact life as we know it with illness or death. Isolating temporarily is just what we need to do. Still. The reason? We cannot be sure what this viral disease is going to do to us if we do nothing. There are way too many ways it affects our bodies. Skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, some or all of it is affected.

We aren’t getting the same results when testing antibodies as therapy, some folks who were infected are becoming reinfected, some aren’t. It almost seems no two cases are alike, so there is no treatment emerging as the be all and end all to this virus. When your testing results do not end the same, nothing you are doing is the cure, the answer to our prayers. In that respect Americans are so impatient to have everything NOW. Science does not work that way. I’m perfectly happy to wait it out.

Yes, we are retired, but we surely don’t want any of our adult children or grandchildren to become ill. The five grandkids range in age from three months to thirteen years. Too much that is precious is at stake for a few irate people to cause trouble now. I pray mob mentality doesn’t take over. Be sensible. Be smart. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Be kind. Offer help. Your wishes are not the most important. The greater good is what needs to be protected before we’re out of the woods. We are the ones who must protect America and ourselves.

I need to do some more editing on the novel today. Yesterday, I reviewed about thirty eight pages, which is a good start. It was beautiful sitting on the patio while reading. The thought I’m keeping is I can sit there and read the real book before next winter. The deadline could change, but the goal to finish is the same. These are exciting times.

What would you like to have to show for your time in quarantine? Aside from makeup, hair, home haircuts, facemasks, solo workouts, virtual meetings, recipes, and public service announcements? Think about it. Time will go and never come back.

With the Direct TV package we have, there is, of course, music available. The Babe has consistently turned on 70s music or 80s music every day. It’s weird to hear the 80s music and recall just yesterday, I was a single mom with all different kinds of music coming from my kids’ rooms. It was a fun time. Some of it I miss, some I don’t. And the 70’s music reminds me of my first marriage, the kids being little, and life in general being so different than now. In the not too distant future, COVID-19 will be a memory, and we’ll think back on all we did (or didn’t do) during the quarantine. Hopefully, we have something good to show for it. Don’t waste it. Time is too precious.

Which is why I appreciate you spending time every day to see what’s happening in my little corner of this wonderful world. It’s better with you all in it. See you again tomorrow, with more progress on the re-write. Have a productive, fabulous day! Hugs to you all.

I’m Going to Hug EVERYONE When We’re Let Out to Mingle Again.