Saturday 9: Purple Snowflakes

Saturday 9: Purple Snowflakes (2018)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The lyrics ask where the snowflakes go. Sam can answer that: she shovels them! Do you shovel or use a snow blower? Or do you live in a warmer climate with no snow?

A. We shovel. Or rather, my husband does. If I catch it early enough, I sweep it away if it's a dry snow, but sometimes I couldn't keep up. I am lucky I have my husband to help me with such chores. He also uses a tractor and a plow for the driveway and the farm.

2) This week's artist, John Legend, recalls his Christmases growing up, singing carols with his family around the piano. Do you have a piano, or any other musical instruments, in your home?

A. I have 6 guitars, a guitelele (a combination of a guitar and ukulele), a ukulele, a folding electric piano, an harmonica, an ocarina, a dulcimer, and a new present, a Kalamba, which I will have to learn to play now. (It's a thumb piano.) I like making music.

 
3) This song is from John Legend's first Christmas album, A Legendary Christmas. It was a massive hit. Did you add any new music to your holiday collection this year?

A. I did not, but I listened to new music through Alexa.

4) John and his wife Chrissy Teigen go caroling with friends. What's the last song that you sang?

A. I was whistling Jingle Bells when I sat down to work on this blog entry. It is blowing snow outside; we woke to a white Christmas and I'm writing this on Christmas Day.

5) Chrissy's hobby is cooking. While she likes experimenting with new recipes, her young children prefer their familiar favorites, like mashed potatoes. She tosses a bay leaf into the water as the potatoes boil to add enhance the flavor. Do you have a dish that's considered your specialty?

A. I do not, although I make good fudge.

6) John prefers to unwind with a good book and loves comparing reading recommendations with friends. Did you discover any books in 2020 that you'd like to recommend to our Sat 9ers?

A. I discovered Melissa Caruso, a new fantasy author. I like her books. I also recommend Laini Taylor if fantasy is your genre.

7) This song was written by Motown powerhouse Marvin Gaye. Who is your favorite Motown artist?

A. Gosh, there are so many. I will go with the Commodores/Lionel Richie tied with Aretha Franklin.

8) In 1972, Marvin wrote another Christmas song, "I Want to Come Home for Christmas." He dedicated it to the troops then serving in Vietnam. Do you know anyone who is protecting us this holiday season? Tell us about him or her. Whether they are in the armed forces, the police or fire department, or the ER, we want to say thank you!

A. I know many firefighters who are on duty. My husband has retired after serving for 37 years, so he is home, but I spent many Christmas Days and other holidays without him when we were younger. Matt is a young firefighter who helps us out occasionally on the farm. I think he was proposing to his girl on Christmas Eve! We haven't heard if she said yes.

9) Random question: You go into the kitchen to make your perfect sandwich. What fixings do you need?

A. Two pieces of bread and egg salad. That's my perfect sandwich. Or if egg salad isn't available, then two pieces of bread, Miracle Whip, and a scrambled egg.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Merry (White) Christmas

A white Christmas here in Virginia! We woke to snow. I can't remember when that last happened. Ages and ages ago.

White Christmas, 2020

Thursday Thirteen

Ghosts of Christmases past -

Santa in a parade around 2007.

A young cousin and her mother. (The cousin is 15 now.)

A table full of holiday decorations.

My niece takes a peek under the tree.

Santa sings a solo. (That's my brother under that beard.)

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law surrounded by gifts.

Hubby and two nephews hanging out on Christmas Eve, around 2008.

Me with Santa. (Santa is my father.)

My sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, my brother, and my husband around 2011.

My stepsister, my stepmother, and my father, about 2012.

A painting created by a dear friend.

My favorite Santa.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 687th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Conjunction Minus One Day

I missed the "great conjunction" of Saturn and Jupiter on December 21, as we had cloud cover.

So I tried again last night. We had clear skies but the two planets had already begun to drift apart.

To my astonishment, through the telephoto lens on my camera, I could see four of Jupiter's moons. I could not get the camera to photograph them, but I could see them. I wondered what it was like to be the first person to ever look through a zoom lens and see that a star was actually a planet, and that it had moons. Can you imagine how amazing that must have been? And how scary? It didn't scare me because I knew it was Jupiter and that it had moons - but that first view. Wow.

Anyway, I made a stab at photos and they came out poorly. I will share nevertheless.

While we waited for twilight to pass, I caught this image of an airplane and the moon.

This image was the best of the bunch. The planets are oblong a bit, but those two little dogs around the bigger white dot are two of Jupiter's moons. The smaller planet is Saturn. As you can see, they had moved apart.

This is how they looked, more or less, to the naked eye.

This has a little more definition of Jupiter as a planet. I never saw Saturn's rings, but I was happy enough with Jupiter's moons.

I took these with a Nikon Coolpix B700. This camera came out in 2016 and that is the year I received it for Christmas. It is four years old and I am having problems with it. Last night it became stuck in open position and nothing worked, so I had to go inside and remove the battery to reset it. I would like to learn more about using this camera but since I am sensing I may need another in the near future, I probably won't. I still turn to my Nikon P500 Coolpix, which is at least 10 years old, as my go-to camera, or my Canon Sure Shot, which is even older, for everyday photos. They just don't do the job with night photos (or birds) that this one does. (I did not ask for a new camera for Christmas; things are just too wonky right now. But maybe my birthday in June?)

More Birds

 A tufted titmouse and a pileated woodpecker.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What’s your favorite thing about the holidays?

A. When they are over. Really. The holidays are exhausting, they're fake, and I always am glad when they're over. Plus it's cold and when they're done it means spring is on the way. I like some things about the holidays - family, friends, giving presents, decorations and lights. But it is terribly stressful.

2. Do you send out Christmas cards and if so how many do you send?

A. I do send out cards and I think I sent out about 55 this year.

3. Be honest: holiday newsletters. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

A. I read them when people send them, but I don't send them myself. I write notes sometimes in cards. This year, as soon as someone wrote "the China virus" I stopped reading and threw the note and the card in the trash. But that only happened once.

4. Be honest: photo cards. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

A. They're ok. I prefer cards, but it is nice to see how the kids change from year to year.

5. How soon do you start shopping?

A. Sometimes I start shopping as soon as one is over - lots of sales. Sometimes I wait until October.

6. Real or fake tree?

A. Fake tree. I'm allergic to the real ones.

7. When do you put up your tree?

A. We put our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving.

8. When do you take down your tree?

A. When I feel like it. There is some lore about needing to take it down before the new year so you don't drag the old year into the new - if that's the case then this thing will come down December 26. 

9. Describe your typical tree (size, decorations, type).

A. It's a fake tree about 7 feet tall, the decorations are a mix of old and new, we use garland and tinsel and we both prefer multi-colored lights to white ones.

10. What do you top your tree with?

A. An angel.

11. Do you put Christmas lights outside your house?

A. We used to. We haven't for the last several years.

12. Is there a wreath hanging on your door?

A. No. It's been windy and last year one of them blew away, so I haven't put any out.

13. Do you hang up stockings?

A. Yes.

14. Your favorite Christmas Movie(s)

A. It's a Wonderful Life, The Lord of the Rings trilogy (not Christmas, but it's what I watch), but honestly I don't really have one that I have to watch.

15. Be honest: A Christmas movie you hate.

A. I don't know. Is there one with Adam Sandler in it? That one.

16. Favorite Christmas Song(s).

A. Do You Hear What I Hear. O Holy Night. Gloria (in excelsis deo) (it is fun to play on the guitar).

17. Be honest: If I hear this/these Christmas songs again I will throw up.

A. There isn't one.

18. Give or Receive?

A. Both.

19. Eggnog or Mulled Cider?

A. Cider, but not mulled. Just plain.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives)

1. Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?

A. I sat on Santa's lap. I remember once he came to the house - my brother cried the entire time he was there.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

A. I hope I am on the Nice list, and I'm there because I've been a good helpmate to my husband, a good sister to my brother, a good friend, a good citizen, and an overall decent person.

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?

A. I sent something to Texas. No, wait, I sent something to my friend in England. That would be the farthest away.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

A. Yes. I bought a roll-up piano, which is to say, a toy. It wasn't that expensive but it is something to play with.

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie? Have you seen it yet this year?

A. My favorite holiday-themed movie is Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, which isn't a movie but a TV show. I have seen it. As for movies, I like to rewatch The Lord of the Rings trilogy this time of the year.

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?

A. We tried once, a very long time ago, but the theater was closed.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?

A. Not really, but I will tell you about the last "company" Christmas party I was at. The newspaper threw a party and invited the freelancers as well. They played Dirty Santa (which I had never taken part of), and when it was my turn to go up and pick a gift, I went not to the table where the presents were, but to the liquor station and picked up an unopened bottle of wine (this was on a dare from my editor). "I choose this," I said. Everyone applauded and the boss nodded her assent. Of course it became the present everyone wanted after that. I think I ended up with a mug in the end.

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather?

A. I like hot tea or hot chocolate.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.

A. My husband was down with his ankle, having had fusion surgery on November 23. He insisted he would be fine to go up to his mother's for Christmas Day if our nephew would help get his knee scooter in the car. I ended up lifting the thing and moving stuff (he wanted to go before the nephew showed up), but we got him up there. He owes me a big Christmas for that this year, don't you think?

He chose a Christmas red cast. Or fire engine red.
Whichever.

Thanks to Sam for the questions!

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

It Was Ice, Baby!

Wednesday night into Thursday, we were expecting a snowstorm, but we received ice instead. Fortunately, we had nowhere to be.

 

Thursday Thirteen

Books I've read this year -

1. Days of Blood & Starlight, Gods & Monsters, by Laini Taylor. These were the two books in a trilogy. This modern-day fantasy set worlds against one another, places inhabited by those humans would consider demons and angels. They were fast reads even though each book was quite long. 5 stars

2. Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls. I read this as part of my catch-up reading, as I occasionally go back and hit the classics. This was the story of a boy and his hound dogs, a coming of age classic that, while not exactly tear-jerking, was an excellent read that passes the test of time. 5 stars

3. The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett. Some of Ann Patchett's books I like, some I don't. This one fell somewhere in the middle. The story revolved around a home where two siblings once lived, until the wicked stepmother came in and basically threw them out when their father died. The reader followed the characters as they grew up. 4 stars

4. The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo. These YA books read quickly and I was entranced by both. They were very different stories. The Tale of Despereaux was about a mouse in a castle. Because of Winn-Dixie was about a girl and a dog she found. I know the latter has been made into a movie that I have not seen. 4 stars

5. Skin Game, by Stuart Woods. Woods writes in a breezy style. These are quick-read books mostly meant for men, I think. Skin Game is in the Teddy Faye series, and I like those better than some of his other books. In this book, Faye goes to Paris at the invitation of the FBI because there's a mole in the offices there. Faye has a way of solving problems that sometimes is inventive (sometimes not so much), but mostly I like these stories because Faye is not a womanizer like Stone Barrington, a character in one of Woods' other line of books.

6. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, by Mark Manson. I felt like this book was written for the generation behind me, or maybe the one coming out of college. Basically, the book said you have to care about some things, but not too many things. Decide what is important and care about that and let the rest go. Basically, it was another way of saying, "Find your passion and focus on that," except in cruder terminology. The author doesn't advocate for happiness all the time, which was a relief, because let's face it, nobody is happy all of the time. He also advises learning to live with the bad stuff, although I don't recall coming away with any take-aways that were life changing from reading this. 3 stars

7. The Explanation for Everything, by Lauren Grodstein. This book was published by Algonquin, and it is the first book published by Algonquin that I didn't immediately fall in love with. The story was about a professor who was in a life crisis. He teaches classes about atheism, but is challenged by a couple of students about whether or not there is a god. While the book was well-written, I had trouble relating to any of the characters. They felt rather wooden on the page. 3 stars.

8. The Tethered Mage, by Melissa Caruso. I love fantasy stories, and I enjoyed this one even though the main character really doesn't have magic. She's a political figure in charge of someone who has magic, for in this world those with magical powers are forced to work for the government. Lots of political intrigue and strong character building kept me reading this one, which is part of a series. 5 stars.

9. Uprooted, by Naomi Novak. This was probably one of the best fantasies I've ever read. This book won the Nebula Award and was a Hugo Award Finalist. A young woman is chosen to live for 10 years in a wizard's tower, a long tradition in the community. The wizard chooses the woman he believes has the strongest powers, and this time he finds someone whose strength of magic and of will are comparable to his own. The characters were marvelous, the magic believable, and the storyline flawless. 5 stars ++

10. Your Life Calling, by Jane Pauley. I kept waiting on this book to get better, but it never did. I have watched Jane Pauley for most of my life on TV, and she's a wonderful broadcaster and interviewer. She is not, however, a good writer. This book plodded along and never delivered on its promise (or premise, if you ask me). I had really wanted to read this book and learn something that would help me settle into my new role as old crone. I was disappointed. 2 stars

11. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doer. This Pulitzer Prize winner was a breathtaking read, one that I could not put down. A blind girl is ripped from all she knows during World War II. Meanwhile, in Germany, a young boy is taken from his sister and the orphanage he calls him to serve in the German Army. The reader knows that these two will meet somehow, and the race to that meeting keeps the plot moving along swiftly. Excellent writing, character development, story building, and historical research. 5 stars++

12. Making a Literary Life, by Carolyn See. This was an interesting little book about writing. Not so much about craft, really, as about how to live like you want to live. If you want to be an artist, go live like you think an artist would live. If you want to be a writer, go live like you think a writer would live. My biggest take-away from this book was a concept the author called, "Charming notes." This was the idea of writing a real letter (the book was written in 2002, pre-social media) to an author (or an artist, or a potter, or whatever your creative juices suggest) in the hopes of getting a return letter back, perhaps even starting up a dialogue if one were lucky. With this in mind, I've written several "charming notes," including one to See's daughter, who is also a writer. (She responded!) Not everyone has responded, but some have. It's also difficult to find an actual address to send a letter - everyone wants an e-mail or to use their contact list so you sign up for their email. But I am trying to send out a "charming note" once a month. (See suggested every day, but that's a bit much.) I consider a book like this successful if I get anything at all out of it, and obviously I developed a new little routine from this one. 4 stars

13. Look Alive Twenty Five, by Janet Evanovich. These are my guilty pleasure books, these "detective" books about bail bonds woman Stephanie Plum. They read quickly, make me laugh, and are enjoyable. I don't read them for technique and I don't expect a lot out of them. In this story, Plum sets out to find out why the managers of a store her boss acquired continue to go missing.

I read many other books this year, these are just a few of them. As you can see, I read a lot of different styles and genres. I also read the newspaper every day, and I read Readers Digest from cover to cover when I get the magazine. I read a lot of blogs, too. So I do a great deal of reading.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 686th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Male and Female Cardinals

 The males always have to show off their colors, don't they?

Christmas Lights

We drove around the area looking at Christmas lights over the weekend. I had trouble with the camera - no tripod, for one thing - so my photos did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I'm not sure I was using the right setting, either, as some of these are over-exposed. Maybe I will get a chance to try again, but we are looking at snowy weather for later in the week, so likely not.

Lots of folks had lights out, though, and I appreciated seeing them. Thank you!

Disco and Today: There is a Relationship

The other night we watched the HBO documentary, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. The documentary was very good and informative.

I had no idea about the early recording history of The Bee Gees. I didn't realize they were famous long before Saturday Night Fever, especially overseas in England and Australia.

As a 14-year-old from hicksville, and one who played in a "Top 40" band at that, I loved disco. I still love disco. If I'm in a bad mood, I tell Alexa to play disco and I perk right up. It is hard to listen to disco and stay hurt, sad, or upset. It's such an upbeat, moving sort or music, the kind that makes your feet simply want to move around on their own.

When Saturday Night Fever came out, I did not see the movie. But I heard the songs. How could you not? Disco was all over the radio. The Bee Gees may have topped the charts, but they were followed up by songs from Donna Summer, ABBA, even Barbara Streisand.

And then disco went out of style, and the Top 40 songs of the 1980s had a different feel. Not as danceable, but ok.

I never knew why, because I never thought about it and because I was still a kid. Fads come and go.

What the documentary pointed out to me was the reason disco came and went.

Disco began underground, as a mixture of music from venues popular with African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Italian Americans, and gay culture in Philadelphia and New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some scholars say disco was a reaction to the 1960s counterculture.

This little ol' farm girl didn't know anything about that. I just knew it wasn't country and western, I could dance to it, and I could play it on the guitar. Well, some of it, anyway.

Then came the backlash. Actually, the backlash came with a mouth with a megaphone. Some fellow at radio station in Chicago hated disco. He bashed it and railed against it. He had the means to be in touch with probably millions of listeners in the Chicago area and beyond. Finally, on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, the mouth teamed up with a MLB team for a stunt.

The stunt was to blow up disco records in between a double-header game. People could enter the ballfield for 98 cents and a record to blow up.

What caught my attention during the HBO documentary was a commenter who said he was working at the ballfield that night. The records that 50,000 people brought in (apparently mostly young white males), were not copies of Saturday Night Fever, although I'm sure there were some. No, the records, the gentleman said, were R&B music, soul singers - black singers, Latino singers, i.e., anyone not white.

In other words, the mouth with the megaphone dialed into the latent and apparently inbred fear that lives in that most cowardly aspect of humanity, the fragile white (mostly male) ego. They came out not to blow up disco, but out of fear that the black people, the Latinos, the women, the homosexuals - anyone not them, were gaining traction.

They could not have this. So they blew up their records.

Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh described this event as "your most paranoid fantasy about where the ethnic cleansing of the rock radio could ultimately lead". Marsh deemed the event an expression of bigotry, writing in a year-end 1979 feature that "white males, eighteen to thirty-four are the most likely to see disco as the product of homosexuals, blacks, and Latins, and therefore they're the most likely to respond to appeals to wipe out such threats to their security. It goes almost without saying that such appeals are racist and sexist, but broadcasting has never been an especially civil-libertarian medium."

Nile Rodgers, producer and guitarist for the disco-era band Chic, likened the event to Nazi book burning, according to Wikipedia. (Here's a good recap of the event, if someone wants further reading.)

This reminded me so much of the present day that it left me breathless. This is what the current Twit on Twitter has tapped into, this fragile white ego. The election of the soon-to-be-former president was a homophobic, bigoted, racist reaction to the election of Barack Obama. How dare a black man sit in the White House! And he looked good in a tan suit, too.

So for forty years, this racist, misogynistic, bigoted group of white fragility has simmered and boiled and no one in charge has addressed it. It's simply sat there, an underground music all its own, one that people with decency did not hear or understand if they did.

Then finally, another mouth with a megaphone tapped into this seething underground mash of decay, realizing it was there and ready to overflow, because he was a part of it.

And that's at least a little of the reason of why we are where are today - racists marching the streets of Charlottesville and Washington D.C., bigots in all areas of government, and a (leaving) administration that would sooner destroy democracy than see another black person (or a woman) in the seat of power.

It was an eye-opening few sentences for me, and certainly something I've given a lot of thought to since we watched the documentary.

Long live Democracy, and disco music, too.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Day 1 of serious isolation behavior: 

A. I don't understand what this means.

2. First trip you had to cancel. 

A. All of them.

3. Other trips canceled. 

A. All of them.

4. Last trip out of town before isolation. 

A. September 2019 to Myrtle Beach.

5. Farthest from home since isolation.

A. About 20 miles.

6. Last meal sitting in a restaurant before isolation. 

A. Probably Cracker Barrel. I don't remember.

7. How many books have you read? 

A. 24. Some of them were long, like 750 pages.

8. First event you didn’t attend due to virus. 

A. A Melissa Etheridge concert.

9. Date and event of last over 200-person event. 

A. Probably September 2019.

10. Last live music event. 

A. About 1999.

11. Things you are eating more of since isolation. 

A. Grapes.

12. Things you are eating less of since isolation. 

A. Any restaurant food.

13. What restaurants have you gotten take-out meals from? 

A. Cracker Barrel, Bellacino's, Pomegranite, and Wendy's. We've tried to patronize the local restaurants occasionally. However, we haven't eaten much restaurant food since March.

14. Have you found yourself bored in isolation? 

A. Not really. I was pretty isolated anyway.

15. Have you gained or lost weight? 

A. None worth mentioning.

16. Do you drink alcohol? 

A. No.

17. If so, more or less in isolation? N/A

18. What entertainments have you explored?

A. Watched TV, read, played guitar, re-learned how to video tape things and edit videos.

19. Gotten into anything new?

A. Not really.

20. Have you done crosswords? Board games?  Jigsaw puzzles? 

A. I do jigsaw puzzles online.

21. Have you cleaned out some cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. thoroughly?

A. Yes.

22. Are you spending about the same amount of money?

A. No.

23. Done Zoom, Facetime, etc. meetups?

A. Yes.

24. Had a social occasion with a small group of people you consider safe?

A. Yes. Two other people besides my husband. My father and his wife came by on my birthday in June.

25. Did you vote? In Person? On Election Day? 

A. I voted early in person.

________________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Santa Baby

Saturday 9: Santa Baby (1987)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Madonna refers to Santa as "baby," "honey" and "cutie." What's the most recent endearment someone called you?

A. My husband calls me "sweetie pie."

2) At the top of her list are a fur coat, a new convertible and a yacht. If you could receive any of those luxury items, which would you choose?

A. The convertible.

3) She would like to decorate her tree with ornaments from Tiffany's. Do you have a favorite holiday ornament or decoration?

A. Yes. It is Santa Mouse. He has been around since before I was born. 

4) "Santa Baby" was written in 1953, before electronic payments. While her wish list includes blank checks, a 2017 survey revealed that 51% of consumers felt check writing was "a pain." Who received the last check your wrote? Who most recently gave you a check?

A. Someone who purchased hay from us.

5) Madonna has been a successful singer for decades, and 1985's "Into the Groove" is her top-seller. What's your favorite Madonna song?

A. I have never been a big Madonna fan. But I'll go with Like a Virgin since that's the first one that popped into my head.

6) Madonna was born in Bay City, MI, and traveled to New York City to find fame and fortune. When she first arrived, she supported herself by working at Dunkin' Donuts. What's your standard DD order?

A. I don't eat at Dunkin' Donuts. Those aren't real donuts. Those are cake-like things pretending to be donuts. Krispy Creme has real donuts.

7) The only Christmas card Sam has received so far this year is from her dentist. Have you received many cards this year?

A. I think I have received five. I remember back in the day when I received so many Christmas cards that I had them taped to the cabinets and then on a string that I hung over a door - more than 100 cards, for sure. I still send out about 50.

8) Will you wrap many presents? Or do you prefer to use gift bags?

A. I do both, although I am not a very good present wrapper. My husband does it better than I do.

9) Madonna recorded "Santa Baby" to benefit The Special Olympics. Here's your chance to plug a cause or organization that's near and dear to you.

A. I am going to go with the local food pantry. It is run by St. Marks Episcopal Church in Fincastle. It has been around for many years - I wrote stories on it in the 1990s. It serves a huge need, generally helping over 450 families a month. The church website has online donations available, and I urge anyone who wants to help their neighbors to offer up however much they can. Right now the food pantry is giving away food via automobiles, handing out boxes to vehicles, instead of letting folks go in and pick their food. Since that is the case, and the food pantry people know better than I what people may need, I find it makes more sense to give money and let the food pantry people make the purchases than to drop off items hither and yon that no one may want. I may like beets but that doesn't mean someone else wants to find them in their food box.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

 

A Brilliant Sunset

Sunset, 12/10/2020

Spectacular even as the sky darkened.

 

A Teary Titmouse Tale

Around 12:45 p.m., I was sitting at my computer working when I heard something go wham into the house.

Or so I thought.

I looked out the window and I could see feathers wafting away in the wind. I thought a bird had hit the window. I jumped up and headed out the door to see if I could save it.

Outside, I found a pile of feathers, including a long gray-black tail feather. No bird.

While I am really pleased with my birdfeeder, I'm afraid I have set up a nice space for hawks to find lunch. Large red-tail hawks come through here about this time every year.

Perhaps the hawk clipped the house as he raced away with his prize. Or maybe the noise was simply the loud kill, the whoosh of loss of life echoing through air.

At any rate, I was sure a hawk had found a meal.

As I turned to go back into the house, a tufted titmouse landed on the birdfeeder. I saw the long tail feather, so similar to the one on the ground, and thought, Ah, it was a tufted titmouse that was no longer alive.

Then I listened to a sad song coming from the bird on the feeder. I shot a few photos and went back inside.

The bird sang its mournful tune for a long time. I cringed every time I looked out and saw the bird still sitting there. Finally, it flew away.

I looked it up, and apparently tufted titmouse are birds that mate for life. I am assuming it was the mate who sat on my bird feeder singing forlornly.

This makes me profoundly sad.

Thursday Thirteen #685

These are 13 people who have passed away this year. The ones I list mean something to me - they are by no means indicative of all those who died, including but not limited the 280,000+ who have lost their lives to the Covid-19 virus.

1. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This tiny woman was a giant who fought for women's rights. She was the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court, taking office in 1993.

2. Diana Rigg. I know this actress best for her work on Game of Thrones, where she played Olenna Tyrell, the woman who killed off the boy king. She also played Emma Peel in the Avengers TV series.

3. Charlie Daniels. His song The Devil Went Down to Georgia was one I grew up listening to, and it was a hit for its storytelling and music. 

4. Sean Connery. He will always be the real James Bond to me.

5. Alex Trebek. The long-time host of Jeopardy! lost his fight with pancreatic cancer (the same disease which killed my mother). I remember watching him when he first started hosting the show in 1984, and I have spent many a half-hour playing this quiz show and watching Mr. Trebek's prowess with answers and questions.

6. Helen Reddy. I Am Woman singer Helen Reddy was well-known to me as I was growing up. Her song, Delta Dawn, was one of the first I learned on the guitar. 

7. Little Richard. While I was not a big fan of this musician (he was a bit before my time), I have to honor the profound impact he had on music, especially rock and roll. He influenced many artists who came after him.

8. Eddie Van Halen. Here's another guitar player and I certainly couldn't leave him out of my list. He was famous for his licks and songs with the band Van Halen. I grew up listening to him.

9. Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer. She was one of the Pointer Sisters, a group whose song I played when I was in my own little rock and roll band in the late 1970s. She died on my birthday this year.

10. Elizabeth Wurtzel. This author wrote the memoir Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America and opened up a dialogue about mental health and how we treat it in the United States.

11. Kenny Rogers. This singer sang the songs of my youth, from The Gambler to Islands in the Stream and many others. His low sultry voice was an attention getter.

12. John Prine. This singer-songwriter is well known for his story songs. My favorite is Angel From Montgomery.

13. Mac Davis. He was another singer I grew up listening to, and a favorite of my father's. He was also a songwriter and he wrote many of Elvis's hits. 

Oh wow, there are two more I must mention. So a Thursday Extra:

Ian Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy films directed by Peter Jackson, was superb in that role.

Lastly, I must note the passing of Representative John Lewis, whose notion of "good trouble" is one of the things that I hope will help America find her soul and heart again, so that all the mean goes away.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 685th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.