Imaginary Landscape

We adopted Sally in February 2007 when she was about a year old. She came to live with us, along with Hanna (who was pregnant) and Jennet Reno (a burro), all adopted through the Bureau of Land Management’s Adopt a Mustang program.  Sally was beautiful. She was a lineback dun with tiger stripes on her legs, very primitive markings. None of our other horses have those markings. She had deep brown eyes and a white star. Her mane and tail were long and luxurious -- often to her disadvantage because she'd have twigs and mud embedded in all that long hair, and if we didn't groom her often, she'd end up with the next best thing to dreadlocks.  We named her “Mustang Sally” because she’d been born at a holding facility near Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, and it seemed like a good name for an Okie. So, in essence, she’s always lived in captivity, except with us, and after some varied efforts to gentle her to ride, she was pretty much free to do as she pleased. That meant that she had about

 #21 Monday, Monday -- The Mamas and Papas 1966 The past several entries have been so emotional that I thought I’d pull back a bit and tell a story about my dad and stepmom, Tudy, and why this song reminds me of them. First, some background – My dad and mom were divorced when I was in grade seven, about 1963-1964. My dad had custody, which was unusual at that time. But that’s a story for another day. About that same time, he started his own business with three partners. He was on the road all the time and had little time for a social life. He made a few attempts. The first we knew about involved an “exotic dancer” from a club in Clear Lake. Maybe I shouldn’t bring it up because years later, he was embarrassed about it, and Tudy hated it when we brought it up. But the dancer --Lois, I think her name was -- was nice. Anyway, after a few years, he started dating Tudy. (Her real name is Edna, but she had a twin, Edward, and growing up, they were called Tudy and Buddy, and it stuck.)  Now,

#20 I Grieve – Peter Gabriel 1998/2002  AdFair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15196688d I wrote this post on June 30, 2020, which would have been John “Yardhippie” Rogers’ 44th birthday, but like his last eight birthdays, he has not been here to celebrate with us, having been taken from us on December 15, 2011. There are many songs that remind me of him, of that day, of his ash dive, his life, but I chose this one to share with that day. It was only one hour ago It was all so different then Nothing yet has really sunk in Looks like it always did This flesh and bone Is just the way that we are tied in But there's no one home I grieve, for you You leave, me So hard to move on Still loving what's gone They say life carries on Carries on and on and on and on One moment, I was planning to spend Christmas with him, and the next minute, the Food Guy was telling me, “There’s been an accident.” Life floats on such fragile wings. Peter Garbriel released “I Grieve” on his

 #19 This Nearly Was Mine (from South Pacific) – Brian Stokes Mitchell performance (2006) There are a lot of memories and related ideas with today’s song, so let me see where to start. I guess we should start with the musical South Pacific first. Composed by Richard Rodgers, with music by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, this musical is about racism – premiering on Broadway in 1949. The story was based on stories from James Michner’s Tales of the South Pacific . Briefly (I hope), an expatriate plantation owner and a Navy nurse fall in love, but she struggles to accept his mixed-race children. In a subplot, a Marine lieutenant falls in love with a Tonkinese girl (Liat) on the island but worries about the reaction if he returns to Philadelphia with an Asian wife. Two comic characters, a wily Navy chief petty officer and the Tonkinese girl’s mother, tie the stories together. Nothing is spared as racism is explored, especially in the lieutenant’s song, “You’v

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 #18 And So It Goes – Billy Joel 1990 Most Billy Joel tunes meet all my criteria – meaningful lyrics, professional instrumentation, melody, and of course, a piano. “And So It Goes” was released on Joel’s emotional Storm Front album in 1990, although Joel had written the song back in 1983 about his relationship with then-girlfriend Elle McPherson. In 1990, if I wasn’t commuting, I was working at a proprietary post-secondary school, and I hated it. There was night class, so I didn’t get home until late, which meant I didn’t see much of my boys except on weekends, when they were usually busy. I think I heard “We Didn’t Start the Fire” on the radio, so I went out and bought the album. Arriving home from work about 10 or 10:30 meant everyone was already in bed, and I was too wired to go to sleep. So, I listened to music or watched movies and wrote a lot. The first time I listened to Storm Front all the way through, I heard “And So It Goes” – the last track on the album  -- and thought, this

  #17 All I Know – Art Garfunkel 1973 I said these posts would comprise something of a trilogy, so today is the second installation of that trilogy. Some of you already know this story, so you’ll recognize that I’m leave a lot out. When we last left our young lovers, the dashing Marine had returned to Camp Lejeune to prepare to “cruise” the Mediterranean with his Force Recon unit. I had already planned to take about a week’s leave after he Key West, as it was the July 4th holiday, and I went back to Iowa. Everyone I saw, it seemed, was a couple. My brother-in-law had brought some fireworks, but I pretty much kept to myself. When I returned to Key West, I started a letter to the Food Guy, and we wrote often, back and forth. Not too long after that, I learned they had “cut my billet,” that is, eliminated my position, as a non-commissioned officer in the Key West Air Station public affairs office, and while I had several options, I really didn’t care where I went, so I chose Orlando Nava

These are taken from various sources and cover (roughly) his term in office, although one or two may include the campaign for the 2016 election. I had to stop at 50. I have a life, after all. Bleach, taken internally, will kill coronavirus. A light inside the body will kill coronavirus. Hydroxychloroquine is a good therapeutic treatment for Covid-19. Heat and humidity will help fight the coronavirus. The sound of wind turbines gives you cancer. We could nuke hurricanes. We should buy Greenland. Puerto Rico is a separate country from the U.S. He said he met the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mexico will pay for the wall. “The buck stops with everybody.” "How about the word 'caravan?' Caravan? I think that was one of mine."  Says he also invented the financial phrase, “prime the pump.” Wind power won’t work because the wind blows only some of the time.  Wind turbines kill “millions of birds.” "Nobody's ever been treated badly like me." "We will

#16 Goodbye Again -- John Denver 1972 I see how you people are – you love the sappy stories. Well, I can’t blame you; a lot of the time, this is why we listen to music – because of the memories it conjures. There are some songs I play to recall a memory more clearly. There are other songs I can’t even listen to because they break my heart (Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” is one of them). So, I have a trilogy of tunes that I’ll offer over the next few days that tell a little bit about the Food Guy and me. John Denver rose to prominence in the early 70s, and practically every single he released was a hit. At the time, I was a disillusioned sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa, and I wanted to quit. My dad said, “Get a job or don’t come home.” So I ended up in the Navy, and after boot camp and an extended stay training as a journalist/broadcaster, I was transferred to Key West, Florida in 1972, the first enlisted WAVE on the air base on Boca Chica. I met the Food Guy on a blind date – a

#15 In My Life – The Beatles 1965 At 14, I probably couldn’t appreciate the full impact of The Beatles’ recording, “In My Life.” Released late in 1965 on the groundbreaking album, Rubber Soul , I probably asked for it as a Christmas or birthday present and then retreated into my room to play it over and over. It was my first year in high school, my parents had been divorced for a couple of years, and my happiest times were in my room, or playing my drums or the piano, or sitting in English class. My mother and I had reconciled after she left us, and we were developing the relationship I described yesterday in “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Things were about as stable as they could be in a teenager’s life. According to the stories, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were working individually on songs about their childhoods. Lennon had worked on something he ended up hating, noting people and places he used to pass on his usual bus route, and he decided to write about generalities. Event

#14 Bridge Over Troubled Waters – Simon & Garfunkel 1970 Today’s song is as much memorial to my mother as it is a blog about a favorite song. I was a fan of Simon and Garfunkel from their first recording, from “The Sound of Silence” to “Song for the Asking” (the last song on their last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water . After they stopped recording together, I continued to enjoy music from their solo careers. One of Art Garfunkel’s recordings is the Food Guy’s and my “song” (for a later date). But back to “Bridge.” I dated a guy in my first year at university who was perfect for the time, he had a moustache and long hair and my dad hated him. It was more of a platonic relationship than anything; frankly, I think he did it to spite a high school girlfriend with whom he’d just broken up with when we met in American Literature class. None of that made it feel any better when he broke up with me, and since I told my mom everything, I told her about my broken heart. Now, you mus

#13 Dawn (Go Away) -- The Four Seasons 1964 Let’s leave the heavy and psychedelic tunes for today and go back to 1964 when I was just 13 and could carry my record collection around in one hand. I was listening to the radio one day – I don’t remember the specifics, but the most likely scenario was at the breakfast counter, with my mother serving our breakfast and listening to the AM radio and local Mason City, Iowa, radio station KRIB. Back then, it was rare for tunes to run back to back, especially without being announced, but I usually tuned all the talking out. Then there was acapella introduction: Pretty as a midsummer’s morn They call her Dawn Well, I was hooked. Other Four Seasons hits on the radio were listenable, but I didn’t wait for them to be played or buy the records. Up till then, the Four Seasons had some success with “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and “Walk Like a Man.” Nice tunes, well-harmonized, I enjoyed hearing them on the radio, cruising up and down “Fede

#12 Sunshine of Your Love – Cream 1968 The English band Cream – drummer Ginger Baker, bassist Jack Bruce, and guitarist Eric Clapton – worked on their second album, Disraeli Gears , in 1967. There are a few conflicting stories about how it was written and recorded, and it was not that well-received by the powers that be at Atco Records, who weren’t sure about many of the tracks on the album, but were especially unsure about “Sunshine of Your Love” being a single, calling the whole album “psychedelic hogwash.” Finally, Booker T. Jones (of Booker T and the MGs ) and Otis Redding , whose Stax recordings were distributed by Atco, gave their whole-hearted approval. The song was released in the UK in 1967 (at 4:08), and a shortened version (3:03) in the U.S. in 1968. It is Cream’s only gold single in the U.S. Clapton tells the story that Jack Bruce came up with the bass line after hearing The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Saville Theatre in London. During the track’s recording,

#11 Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell 1968 There may be more  Beatles’ tunes later, but today I want to wander back to the country music genre. I've never been an enthusiastic fan of country music, but I don’t let genres get in the way if a song meets my criteria: a talented artist, meaningful lyrics, and an intriguing melody. Sometimes I’m willing to give a bit on one of those criteria if the other two are especially enticing. And if you throw in a well-played piano (Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, Elton John), then all bets are off. In 1968, I was 17 years old, and if I heard “Wichita Lineman,” I may have been intrigued by it, but my dad liked country music, so that was enough for me to ignore whatever attraction it had for me. But once I was on my own and I grew a brain, I became enchanted with Glen Campbell (“The Pride of Delight [Arkansas]”), probably having seen him on television as a guest, or as the summer replacement host for the Smothers Brothers , and finally as host of