SATURDAY NIGHT MEMORIES, LONG LONG AGO

It's Saturday night & for me that means 'Big Band' music.  Years ago radio station AM 740 out of Toronto had a program called Big Band Saturday Night.  (it is now on Sunday night's) We lived in the old farm house at that time & I remember warm summer Saturday nights with the sounds of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, & the Mills Brothers rolling out of the radio & filling the old 1920's farm house we lived in with a feeling good music that I had grown up with as a small boy in the late 40's.  A young Frank Sinatra singing, 'Blue Skies along with Tommy Dorsey's 'Blue Moon' remain with me today.  I still find myself frequently humming & singing those tunes all these years later.  It was the age of music that made you feel good.  It was another age so very long ago that many people will never know.  And, how truly sad that is.

Over the years I have gathered together 76 pieces of music from the Big Band era & have them here on our computer.  It is the music that takes me back to a different world & a different time.  It takes me to a little boy's world of wonderment, of laughter & playing.  To a world that no longer exists except for in the music & the mind of this little boy.  It is a world I momentarily retreat to from time to time in search of a lost age, a lost boy, a simpler time, playing catch with my Mother outside on warm summer nights.  My Uncle Fred taking me for rides in the parcel carrier of his bicycle.  Memories of the big puffing steam locomotives stopping at the train station picking up & dropping off passengers & freight only a few hundred yards from our house.  Memories of Saturday night ice cream cones at our small town's only restaurant, Joe's Place.  My favorite was Butterscotch & my Mother's was Maple Walnut.  I remember the tall tales my Grandfather would spin & I remember the night my Grandmother died.  I sometimes remember the turmoil in our house but it is the pleasant memories I search out, & I cast away the others.   

Tonight as I sit here at the computer it is the long ago tunes of Vaughn Monroe's 'It's Only A Paper Moon,' Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again,' the Mills Brothers singing 'Stardust' & Bunny Berigan's 'Marie,' that once again, if only for a few moments, take away the difficulties & saddened times of the past few months, the lost years & the people who are no longer here.  As I type this, Billie Holliday & Louis Armstrong are singing, 'Summertime.'  Next, Tony Bennett will sing, 'Willow Weep For Me,' followed by Tommy Dorsey's, 'Moonlight In Vermont.'   And the song that brings back my warmest memories of that bygone era?   Vic Damone singing, 'Flamingo.'

Aw yes, it is another Saturday night, long long ago & far far away, as this little boy quietly sheds a tear & remembers those times with family members who have so long ago gone before him.................................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

MY MIND TAKES A LEAVE OF ABSENCE

 

We were jolted out of our wee trundle beds at 3 a.m. this morning when yet another severe heavy duty damaging storm rolled over us. Continuous staccato lightning lit the sky like a Pink Floyd rock concert with wind & rain bending our trees. Power went out & it was to be nearly 8 hours before we had it back again. Much damage in southern Ontario with trees & branches down. Power out to 150,000 homes.
   
The positive side of the storm blew out the hot humid weather of the past couple days. We have dropped 30 degrees in 24 hours & that’s OK by me. Traded in my short sleeve cool cotton shirt for my warmer T-shirt & long sleeved flannel shirt today, and yes, I’m back into my good old J.C. Pennyware again:))

Been sitting here at the computer staring blankly out the window watching birds at the feeders.  Seems my mind has taken a leave of absence from writing tonight......................................

GROANER'S CORNER:((  If swimming is good for your shape, then why do whales look the way they do?

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
SOME OF OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

STAYING COOL:))

With the melodically soothing & hauntingly beautiful guitar sounds of WILL ACKERMAN wafting out of our IPod/Bose system this morning I set to work painting our aging porch steps.  It was 8:10 a.m. & with the thermometer already reading a humid 77F I wanted to get that job over with while the steps were still in the shade.  Forty minutes later I was done & crossed another 'to do item' off my list.

This hotter weather almost makes me want to switch our Jeep's hard top for the soft convertible top, but not so fast.  Went through that aggravation last summer just after we got our Jeep.  Found out it was no easy feat getting that soft top on.  Hard top comes off easy enough but our soft top is like new, very stiff & after watching an experienced Jeep guy struggling to get it on early last July I knew I would never have the patience for that sort of thing.  Wished it was a power top!!

 

HARD TOP ON                                                    SOFT TOP ON                                         2010 

The advantages of a hard top do outweigh the soft top though except for that breezy beach buggy wind in the hair feeling.  Less wind noise with the hardtop means finer music listening plus far better security when the Jeep is parked.  With the hardtop on I can take the little Motormouse with me but with a soft top on I would have to put it up just to run into the grocery store for a minute.  Just not practical.  Even with the soft top on I wouldn't feel comfortable parking it at a southwest trailhead & leaving it for a couple hours.  Anybody going by with a jackknife in their pocket could easily slit the vinyl top & get into the Jeep. 

CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT IN ARIZONA....ECHO CANYON TRAIL HEAD 

It's one of several reasons we opt to leave the hardtop on when we travel south for the winter.  Also, parts of Arizona can be very cool in the winter months.  Yes, the sun is always warm but the air itself is generally cold so most days driving around with the top down is going to be on the cool to cold side & for sure going anywhere after 4 in the afternoon or before 10 in the morning out in the desert climates is going to be cold for sure.  Wind in the hair is fine but cold in the face is not.  And, with the unpredictable weather we have been having here in southern Ontario so far, wrestling that top up & down every few days is just not something I want to do!!

  

CRUISING WITH THE TOP DOWN IN EARLY JULY 1010

We picked ourselves up another blog Follower today so the Bayfield Bunch would like to welcome GRACE ENGLISH'S WATERCOLORS aboard.  Thanks for dropping by Grace, much appreciated:))

REMINDS ME OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER I ONCE HAD 

Because of today's oppressive heat I stayed inside all day.  I dislike summer's hot & humid days nearly as much as winter's snow & cold because the two extremes have equal ability to trap one inside their own house. 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  AND HERE'S A FEW REASONS WHY JEEPS ARE BETTER THAN WOMEN 
- Jeeps don't whine unless something is really wrong.
-Jeeps don't care if you look at other Jeeps.
-Jeeps don't care if you buy Jeep magazines. 
- If your Jeep is misaligned, you don't have to discuss politics with it. 
-Jeeps don't get headaches.
-Your Jeep never wants a night out with the other Jeeps.
-Jeeps don't care if you're late.
- Your Jeep is never embarrassed to go topless in public.
-A rocky relationship with your Jeep is actually fun.
-Jeeps don't care how much money you spend on them. 
- You never have to worry about your Jeep spending your money.
-You don't have to remember your Jeep's birthday, when you first met, or anniversaries.

(it's just a joke ladies, puleeeeeeezzzz)

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.