Dear Diary,
First of all, before I get going I ask you to listen/watch my YouTube videos. (below). I saw Gerry Marsden on the Richard and Judy show and got so nostalgic as I was in love with him when I was about eleven years old! I later moved my affections to the Beatles but that’s another story and another video one day maybe.…. Gerry looks like a little boy on the video, now that IS a sign of getting old! ‘You’ll never Walk Alone’ is an 'affecting' song and it is even more moving today as Liverpool is suffering so badly because of the terrible murder of a mere child. What is happening to our cities?
Labi Siffre’s song also moves me so I dug 'Something Inside' out too.
And Annie Lennox’s latest single is good and has great lyrics:
DARK ROAD
IT'S A DARK ROAD
AND A DARK WAY THAT LEADS TO MY HOUSE
AND THE WORD SAYS
THAT YOU'RE NEVER GONNA FIND ME THERE, OH NO
I'VE GOT AN OPEN DOOR
IT DIDN'T GET THERE BY ITSELF
IT DIDN'T GET THERE BY ITSELF...
THERE'S A FEELIN'
BUT YOU'RE NOT FEELIN' IT AT ALL
THERE'S A MEANING
BUT YOU'RE NOT LISTENING ANY MORE
I LOOK AT THAT OPEN ROAD
I'M GONNA WALK THERE BY MYSELF...
AND IF YOU CATCH ME I MIGHT TRY TO RUN AWAY
YOU KNOW I CAN'T BE THERE TOO LONG
AND IF YOU LET ME I MIGHT TRY TO MAKE YOU STAY
SEEMS YOU NEVER REALISE A GOOD THING TILL IT'S GONE...
MAYBE I'M STILL SEARCHIN' BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
ALL THE FIRES OF DESTRUCTION ARE STILL BURNIN' IN MY DREAMS
THERE'S NO WATER THAT CAN WASH AWAY THIS LONGIN' TO COME CLEAN...
HEY YEA YEA...
I CAN'T FIND THE JOY WITHIN IN MY SOUL
IT'S JUST SADNESS TAKIN' HOLD
I WANNA COME IN FROM THE COLD
AND MAKE MYSELF RENEWED AGAIN
IT TAKES STRENGTH TO LIVE THIS WAY
THE SAME OLD MADNESS EVERYDAY
I WANNA KICK THESE BLUES AWAY
I WANNA LEARN TO LIVE AGAIN
HEY HEY HEY
IT'S A DARK ROAD
AND A DARK WAY THAT LEADS TO MY HOUSE
AND THE WORD SAYS
THAT YOU'RE NEVER GONNA FIND ME THERE OH NO
I'VE GOT AN OPEN DOOR
IT DIDN'T GET THERE BY ITSELF ..OOH
IT DIDN'T GET THERE BY ITSELF
*
I am awakened by the so stimulating golden light that is sunshine (!) and at the same time M is bringing my honeyed tea. I almost jump out of bed in delight, but not quite, I don’t think I have ever jumped out of a bed of a morning in my life.
Instead I gather up books, a pen and a pad and prepare to make a list of things I need, nay want, to do today as it is a day off.
This was my first week back after two weeks off; it hasn’t been too hectic, probably because of the aforementioned golden light some of us are having in the UK. It actually feels like summer! One of the borrowers commented on the effect that sunshine has on mood and indeed it does; it lifts everyone’s spirits and more than that we agreed that It shapes the character of a nation: people from sunny climes seem happier, more upbeat and positive (but can be hot-blooded too!). However the heat slows them down and their lifestyle is perhaps made more leisurely and laid back. I often wonder if some of those people who suffer from depression do so because genetically they are ‘Mediterranean’ Individuals living in a cold and grey country.
Talking of genetic types I read at the weekend that blue- eyed folk are supposed to be more ‘academic’ than any other group. This was interesting, not least because I have blue eyes as does my daughter and her three daughters. My blue-eyed gene is a strong one as both my daughter and I married brown eyed men. I was taught at school that brown eyes were always predominant over blue in any reproduction process. Perhaps someone brighter than me can enlighten me?
The gremlins had taken up residence in the library though and I spent the best part of a morning grappling with the sick colour printer and the wobbly Internet connection on the computers. We librarians spend a lot of our time on such things, it is not all about stamping books these days as we are also busy helping the public with use of computers and also now with guidance in their genealogy research. (how I hate spelling that word!).
We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates has arrived at last in the library and I have started reading it and must finish by the end of the month for the Purplecoo book group. I see it was an Oprah Winfrey book choice and the Los Angeles Times says ‘It is a book that will break your heart, heal it, then break it again’. Another source quotes her as the greatest American novelist. We shall see. I am a great fan of the late Carol Shields myself. If I like 'Mulvaneys’ I may recommend it to the library book group. We are discussing Mr Cassini on September 10th but luckily I read that long ago for the BBC radio slot. And you may remember I tipped it for Welsh (English language) Book of the Year and it won!
My own family tree searching is coming on well. I may have had some success on the paternal grandmother’s line which comes from Northumberland, a truly beautiful part of England. So I have more work on that on my list today, it is another addiction I am afraid but there are much worse, more life-threatening ones I guess.
At 4pm I will be weed-pulling, along, in spirit, with lots of Purplecoo cyber friends and we shall be thinking of two children who had reason to be very sad a few days ago, one is one of my granddaughters who lost some chicken to the fox.
And Blessings you may ask?
The first has to be Sunshine. So rare this summer, so all the more precious, like a jewel.
Breeze……. that is so so gently coming in the study window as I write………………
Not to forget the Night Sky and all the treats it has been bringing us this month, Shooting Stars and the like. And the dear Moon, She affects us more than we know. I must get a moon phase thingy up on the blog page so we shall know where we are in that respect.
Our little local railway line, the Heart of Wales. M is planning little trips on it now as he can go for FREE as he is a pensioner. We live two miles from the nearest station, well it’s just a ‘halt’ really and there are no buses so he will have to drive to the station but then he can (freely) travel as he pleases.
Finally it is Another New Day when it’s good to be alive. Every day I realise how lucky I am both to be alive and to live here especially on days like this. Earlier in the week I went out at about eight o clock in the evening and there was a feeling and a scent of being ‘on the edge of autumn’ or as ‘Irish Eyes’ put it so well ‘on the doorstep of autumn’. I know just what she means.
I will post a poem I wrote a while ago now.
Autumnal
Dead of night.
Beauteous wild garden,
in the shade of the mountain;
its looks, fading now,
whispers secrets to
the full-on moon,
bright yellow
The gentlest of breezes
turn to gales,
their tempers rising
with the Earth’s.
The constant river,
lulled as if by faith,
persists.
Screeching owl,
screaming fox
disturb,
till, drop dead quiet.
I stand alone. I gaze.
I am a prayer.
My senses over-filled
by the longing and the keening of the wind.
As I stand beside its stream
As I try to read the mountain’s mind
I close my eyes and strain to hear.
How does the stillness speak
while through the starry silence
of the night
its grey rock sleeps so softly?
Bye for now,
Cait
As the saying goes……….
We are not here for very long, we may as well dance.
I don't understand the blue eyed thing either. My mother has brown eyes, my father had one grey eye and one half grey/half brown eye, yet me and two of my sisters have green eyes, and the other one has grey eyes so brown didnt win then either!
ReplyDeleteWell I've got two left feet but I'll try!
ReplyDeleteIs it true that all babies are born with blue eyes? Amy had blue eyes up till her being 6 months old then she developed the most beautiful chocolate brown ones.
Crystal xx
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ReplyDeleteWell i've got two different coloured eyses o Gawd knows how that happened.
ReplyDeleteAnd another Northumbrian - do you know where abouts?
And what a lovely dance it is too Cait. You have music in your soul. We have two blue eyed and two grey eyed...I'm grey eyed so not sure what that means...can see pretty well in the dark.
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog; but then again you always hit the mark. Fair play to you.
Hello Cait, once again your blog just gets my thoughts stirred.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the intro to Annie L's latest. I did once see her perform when she and Mr. Stewart were still the Eurythmics, at the old tennis stadium in Forest Hills where the US open tournament was held. Great venue, great shows. I wore a plaid dress!
Also liked that you have added some moon watching to your lovely site.
Blue eyes...my two brothers were blue-eyed blonde boys, now still with eyes of blue but that hair is much darkened. Everyone in my mom and dad's sides of the family were a bit mystified, but did speak of a certain memory of a blue-eyed uncle. Never met him. I am dark brown hair and hazel eyes.
I so liked reading your poem, that took be outside, outside this apartment building, outside this city, outside any sort of city environment. Thank you so very much Cait!
Joyce Carol O is an author I read back in college and immediately following years of the late 1960's. Then, for reasons that I cannot quite remember, I just trailed off from her. I have not read any of her annual books in decades. Same is true of other writers, too, so I don't want to be too critical of Joyce C.
Back to work for me tomorrow and also the following day, Sunday. Business is good, but having last week off was so much more pleasant!
xo
I am not sure where you go the blue brown eye thing from but to the best of my knowledge intelligence has very little to do with eye colour, also blue eyes dominate over brown not the other weay around. It was quite an area of educatoinal research when I was training so it is something I have albiet a little knowledge about. There was avery famous study in AMerican high school where blond blue eyed childrne were told they were brighter adn that dark eyed children were natuarlly more stupid. Interesting elements arose as a result one being the blue eyed kids treated the brown eyed ones very badly as a result until teh professors reversed the results adn told them there had been an awful mistake and infact it was the brown eyed students were infact the clever ones. Devastation arose with the role reversal.The blue eyed became very depressed etc etc... it is amamzing how Parsons halo effect adn teh self forfilling profecy works.Of course this raises the entire question of nature versus nurture , a bit of a throny question especailly when one considers the arian conitations of it all.
ReplyDeleteGenetics is a very interesting subject indeed nad also a rather dangerous one too I suspect.
Hi Cait
ReplyDeleteI removed my post from yesterday as it was a bit of a rant - UPL has written something much more contained and sensible and she says what I'd wanted to say without all the emotion.
Nothing like a topic that gets things stirred up!
Sorry didn't think the eye colour thing would stir so much feeling. I only mentioned it because of our blue eyes in my family, nothing to do with thinking it signified more intelligence in me or my offspring,(!) I realise that, like most research findings lately, most of it is cr**. They are usually churned out to instil fear in the population and make us easier to govern. Or they are a waste of public money and tell us something we could have told them in one sentence. But as I never knew my heritage until relatively recently I am perhaps more interested in these things, eye colour, likenesses etc. Thanks UPL for info about blue eye dominance but why are my son's eyes not blue? I am hopeless at science and maths you understand which totally disproves the intelligence theory!!
ReplyDeleteI imagine your sons eyes are not blue for the same reason that I ma dark and my sister in blonde, nature draws from a big pool and when she is fishing in it for genes you dont always get the same combination coming up on top each time even if one should predominate. In the Brazillian rainforests children in the Indian tribes are still sometimes born blonde and blue eyes from the hispanic conquistadors still lurking genes (true spaniards were blonde and blue eyed until moorish invaders came alone to add their dark heritage). One of the delights of being human is that we are all different and when you have a child it is a lottery as to what the mixture of genes will produce !
ReplyDeleteYet again, a truly delicious wonderful Diary, and I love your poem, have you had any published, if not, then you should submit for publication I think.
ReplyDeleteThe picture is lovely Cait, then all your pictures are lovely. I have very dark Brown eyes, but have always yearned for Blue.
Camilla.x
ah, sinead o'connor and the pogues. what could be better? excellent music to listen to while readeing your blog....
ReplyDeleteeveryone in my family has blue eyes. and we woudl tell you that we are all dominent. every last one of us. all 14 of us.
Oh such a poignant blog, with beautiful music and beautifully written. My babies all have very blue eyes, matching their very blue school jumpers!
ReplyDeleteps i left an award for you at my blog. stop by threedogblog to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteps it's a bit of an obligation.....you can post the award on your sidebar if you like, and you also can pass it on to five other bloggers.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cait. Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, I feel as though I've stepped into a spa visiting your blog. What a soothing experience.
From the basic genetics I learned, brown eyes are dominant. That means to get blue eyes, you need two recessive genes, one from each parent, and that's all you'll carry. Brown eyes can have two dominant genes or one dominant gene and one recessive gene to produce brown eyes. So if you have brown eyes, you might still carry the recessive gene for blue eyes. That's why two brown-eyed people can make blue-eyed children, but two blue-eyed people can make only blue-eyed children. One parent of each, and you just don't know what you'll get.
Well, thank heavens for Amy....i was digging around trying to remember O level biology and recessive genes. Grey eyes here, btw....Adrian's are hazel and James' are green (very envious, always wanted green eyes)....
ReplyDeleteLovely blog, beautiful poem....wonderful blessings. A spa is a good choice of word. jxx
I am so glad that everyone joined in the digging of remembrance whilst I was running around after my dogs . . sigh . .
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the pictures of the new chicken and cockerel.