Tink Tink, Chirp, Screech

 It always happens when I am alone for the evening with my critters.  Sound asleep when I hear a tink... tink... chirp.  Shuffe shuffle shuffle.  My sleeping partner Pepper Roni (my protector) was awakened by these noises as well.  My older dog Ceasar lifted his head & went back to sleep.  The noise kept on, Pepper ran outside. I grab my mission impossible tool... & head for the door. 

  It is dark except for the soar lights on the deck.  What I was hoping was a nothing... was a something. We startled a big bird... a younger flying turkey that tried to roost on either the edge of the roof or our deck umbrella.  The umbrella did not hold the weight of the turkey so it slid off right into the jaws of my flying 114lb.s of protection.  Pepper only got enough to cause another flight into a plant, then off again to the other side of the deck... feathers are falling, pots & plants are being disrupted.  Screeching, growling & my yelling for Pepper to stop filled the night air.  Once again the wounded turkey attempts a flight getaway only to be pulled onto the deck by my flying Pepper Roni.  

  I could not save the turkey. Pepper is still very fast & very skilled at the art of protection.  The turkey died quickly which is the only thing that I was thankful for in this event.  There are feathers everywhere. It is 3:30 am.  Adrenaline is in the air.  I find a shovel & remove the bird from the deck so that Pepper does not decide to perform an autopsy on the turkey to make sure it is dead & add more feathers to the decore of the deck.  

  We go back to bed after everything is sort of taken care of.  It has started to rain.  There is no sleeping after this.  She is wired, I am wide awake. As we assume the attempt at sleep once again, it is not her laying beside me, oh no... she is ON me.  laying face towards the door, ready to pounce at the slightest noise.  She is heavy. She is not letting anything get close to me.  She is not closing her eyes & her body is wound up tight.  She is "on duty".   I thank her for protecting me, an hour goes by as I try to calm her by petting her to sleep. She stayed up till 6:am, I know because I watched her.   

  Who knows why the turkey thought this new roosting place was a good idea, they usually just fly up in the trees above the kennel.  This one was probably younger, not used to the rules. I still feel bad that it had a violent death.  Now we will never know the turkey's story.  I do feel very loved, very protected, very much aware of how much my Pepper Roni just dove into action & the protective actions after it all. 

Racist, Prejudice there is a difference

 Racist, Prejudice.

We have many problems in this country. One of them is the very words we speak. It is very important what comes out of your mouth. Make sure you know what it is that you are actually saying when you speak. These days the word racist is thrown around like a feather in the wind by people who don’t even know what it actually means. My world is full of a mixture of different kinds and colors of people, and only one race, the human race. I treasure it in this life of mine. I do not judge people by the color of their skin but by the content of their hearts. The problem with today’s society is not racism even though that word is thrown around every day all the time. The problem is prejudice. People really NEED to know the difference. If you do not recognize a problem you will not know where to start to begin to fix it.

Racism is when you hate a person because of his or her race. We all belong to ONE RACE, The Human race. Prejudice is when you judge a person by their color, sex or whatever else you judge them for before you even know the facts. Prejudice comes from two words, pre and judice to… prejudge. An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. We definitely do have some racist people out there but there really are not that many. We have a planet of wonderful people all different kinds of Asian, Black, Indian, White, & many combinations. There are a few that are racist. It is unfortunate that most EVERY person has SOME prejudice. The best thing to do to fix it is, admit it and learn to deal with it. If you are making judgments on people and you have not even met, that is the problem.

For instance, if you vote against someone because of their color, it is prejudice. If you vote FOR someone because of their color… it is prejudice. OR if you vote for or against or for someone because of his or her gender, that is prejudice. It does not matter if the person is red, yellow, black, white, male or female. It matters on whether or not that person can lead our country. We are all one race, the human race. Making it into a color code for people to fight over is the most stupid hateful thing ever.

So please, next time you think you have a need to “call someone out” and call them a name like racist… learn what it means and stop being a prejudice person, you do not know them. THINK before you speak. People disagree all the time, it does not make them racist or prejudice just because they do not agree with you. Open your eyes a little further. I may not like sushi… I am not a racist because of it. Please stop being stupid and start fixing your behavior towards others. You do not live on this planet alone.

Everyone is accountable for the words they speak. Stop being so offended at others who are not aware of the value of their words. Stop being offended about how people say things, they obviously do not understand. Stop letting yourself be baited by ignorance and antagonists. Keep your nose on your own face, watch your mouth and unless you can make a situation better, just keep it to yourself. Learn the meaning of a word before you throw it at someone especially with an intention of anger. The reason for this post is to maybe just maybe make some people think twice and make it better.

*jumps off the soap box*.

Thanksgiving 2021

 

Thanksgiving 2021

No matter how secluded one is, germs, people, stupidity all find a way to get in your path. You can’t dodge them all.  This year we both got the man made virus.  I am a hermit but it found me anyway. Since about the 10^th of November we have wanted to do nothing but sleep.  Of course that is not all that the symptoms but a lot of it just got swallowed up, the month of November is almost like it didn’t happen. 

The very sad day that we had to say goodbye to our beloved little special needs Siberian Cheyanne, I ended up in the hospital ER desperately needing oxygen.  I am still on it it.  I spent the night in the hospital getting treatment for covid. Remdesivir pumped into me via IV.  Since I had the lung issues with the bird allergy back in 2015, covid went right for my weak spot.  Lungs.  Letting me know just how mortal I really am once again.  Cheyanne could not walk anymore, we had been lifting her out side to get air & go potty, she was trying so hard. She was tired, she was 16 years old. Her little body just could not do it anymore. Tremendous sadness about the loss of our girl who had spent 9 years of her life with us.  Only the last two years if that, did she seem like she wanted to be part of us.  The closer it got to the end, the closer she got to us.  I will hold her precious little life in my heart for all time.  We just sort of put ourselves on auto pilot, taking care of Cheyanne, keeping the other special needs kid away from her & trying not to feel worse.   Up till now Roger was getting tested twice a week with always a negative test result.  He had a few days off thank goodness cause he was exhausted, but felt we needed to see if he was getting sick.  Positive test. .. both of us.  We had already had it for a while even with the negative test result.  The bright side here is that it could have been way worse.  We kept getting fresh air, like it or not by helping Cheyanne in and out.

Today is thanksgiving.  Yes many things to be thankful for.  I am counting our blessings.  Roger is on the mend, he is doing better than me but he always does.  I am still on oxygen, got the phnemonia  that may take a while to kick.  I do feel ok other than the brain fog.  That is real!!!  You forget words, you forget thought & feel fuzzy at the drop of a cookie crumb.   The good news is weight loss, but hey that will prolly not last, ha  the only good part of covid.   Neither of us lost taste or smell, we had a few things taste funny but we did not lose anything other than maybe.. lets not eat that..ew.   I am experiencing a sadness, of course it is because of the loss of Cheyanne & being sick, this will pass.  Grumpy has set in.. poor Roger lol.   Steroids, frustration, limitations, an oxygen tube that limits me to doing what I want when I want it.  I know it seems as if I am complaining.  On the contrary, I am so frickin greatful you have no idea.  

Roger & I had planned to just put in a roast, keep it simple & try to have a pleasant non eventful day.  Get some air, cause we are no longer under quarantine.  That was gonna be our day.  CHANGE OF PLAN.  My beautiful neighbor Fel who was supposed to come here for dinner before all this happened, surprised us.  She dropped off a box full of goodies.  I am talking over the top, unexpected.  She brought a pecan pie, chocolates, mac & Cheese, poultry, ham with pineapple for Rog, veggies, corn, stuffing, rice, cranberries not to mention some beautiful little leopard gifts to make me smile on top of it all.   Emotional.  She brought it in a decorative seasonal bag, box.. etc.  She is always good at that, I have a weak thing in that department.. box, gift. Lol  she decorates the decorations!!!  Just when one is ready to say… ehhhh.  She dropped a bomb of sunshine into our day.  I love you Fel.  Once again you have out done yourself where I am concerned.  You didn’t have to, but you did.  I only hope it gave you the same amount of  joy as you planned each and every little item to perfection.  The love was felt, enjoyed & I will never forget it.  Just like the long list of similar things you have done over the past decade of living next to me. So before I go on any further with this strange blog entry,  Thank you my dear… you are priceless to me.  Roger sends love & thank you’s too.  You know.. Ham.  LOL

So with my covid brain not too fuzzy,  I am focusing on just trying not to bite Rog’s head off for bein sweet.  He is used to this side of me, I think he considers it a challenge. 

I don’t want this entry to be a downer for anyone, just letting you know that things are actually on the up side.  We are getting better, we did not get the worst of it but one never knows the lasting effects.  I’m tryin not to get a blood clot, haha… that in iself is another blog entry. 

So for now,  hypoxia drops to the 70s when I’m not on oxygen,  a little better every day, the cough is not as severe,  I can sing.. but not for very long.  Once again that is my recovery plan.  I have sang my way back to healthy lungs about 4 times in my life… this is no different.  I just gotta take more naps this time. 

Thank you for those who knew what was going on with us, it was not many of you but your prayers were indeed felt and answered.  I am not out of the woods but then again I am in familiar territory.  All along, I know, God’s got me.   There is such a peace knowing that.  Even if I have not been the on time student he needs me to be, he’s still got me.  A major comfort like no other.  It may seem as if I am rambeling along,  I am not.  I am thankful on this day.. Thank you God for letting me experience yet another survival as we take the next step.     God Bless ya’ll.  

Love Carrie & Rog

 Droppin The Stream

https://harlowsblog.wixsite.com/droppingthestream/post/clairede-dirval-surfside-hideaway-20-05-21 

• Jase

Clairede Dirval @ Surfside Hideaway - 20/05/21

This morning started off much like any other, and as I was waking up and looking out the window of my new office and thinking about what I needed to do today, it jumped into my head that I had finally reached the day I was going to blog Clairede Dirval!  The day turned from "normal" to excitingly special in the blink of an eye.

My good friend, Tone Uriza (see my previous blog for him at Seduction Blues) had introduced me to Claire a couple of weeks prior, and I had caught the tail end of a set and then chatted with her for a while afterward. She's a wonderfully down to earth person, full of humour and warmth, and she's been entertaining audiences in SL since 2008.

I went to see her at Surfside Hideaway, one of the longest running musical venues in Second Life. Founded in January 2009, owned and operated by Desirae Beaumont, Surfside has become known for promoting excellence in live performing artists. It's a unique venue, providing a gorgeous tropical setting for live performances, private parties, beach and surfing aficionados, and lovely gardens and romantic private settings to dance and romance in with someone special.  Watch out for the dancing bear and the shark making it''s way through the legs of the dancers!  See more about Surfside in our Venues Section of the blog.

Claire and her drummer and harmony singer, ChoctawRhea, were streaming from "The CatNip Studio" (an RL location), where kitty producer/engineers Bootsie Fang, Frankie, AshCat and Brickle make sure that the sound and studio conditions are optimal for every set.

They got us off to a great start with Old Town Road ...  a perfect warm-up tune and one that helped me get my things together and focused on what turned out to be one of the best sets I have heard yet in SL.

Claire can belt it out and hit those sweet highs and growly-good parts too, and had me tappin' my foot from the first bar. Her vocals are second to none. Her pitch and power are amazing.  and the harmonies these two pros produce are perfect. The set was made even more perfect as Harlow managed to find time to TP over for a few tunes before having to reluctantly attend to RL matters.  

As we moved along through the set and got to Larkin Poe's "Trouble In MInd" I was still in awe at how she can belt it out. She backs it all up with great rhythm guitar done live with each set and her tone is lovely, with clear ringing sounds filling the air. Claire mixes that work with the sweet melodies sung with her impressive voice and takes no prisoners giving you the goosebump-rush that keeps your feet moving.

The driving tempo of Elle King's "Ex's & Oh's" kept us dancing and smiling with that fun tune, and when she slid into "I'll Be There for You" by Bon Jovi it was the perfect tune for a couple to catch up on a little quality time which continued through "What Are You Listenin To" by Chris Stapleton. Not a miss anywhere here. Her dynamics, range, pitch, playing... it's all right on, with power when she needs it. Claire can deliver anything she needs to, anytime she wants.

I LOVED this set, and when she pulled out the "bluesage" for Sam Cooke's "Long Time Comin' and she dug waaaaay deep down for those heartfelt vocals, OMG! it just made me wanna grab Harlow around the waist and follow this chick around!    

Sheryl Crow's "You Dont Bring Me Anything But Down" and then "The Thrill Is Gone" showed that Claire can take a tune and make it all her own, just by singing the first note, and when she started playing the familiar chords and intro to "Breakdown" by Tom Petty for her final number it was clear she can pay tribute where it is due.

Thank You So Very Much Claire!  This was an OUTSTANDING set, worthy of the highest praise!  And Thanks to Chocktaw for drums and harmonies that stepped up and were the perfect compliment to everything that Claire did. Thanks also to Vasantasena Lamatia for clarifications and additional info used in this blog.

And last but not least, Thank You Desirae Beaumont and Gια вeαυмoɴт for such a perfect venue to experience it in. 

 Be aware :  who you buy from, what you are supporting.  Are you ok with that?  I'm not.

Copy & paste the entire link below to read the article and all of the companies that are now owned by companies in China.

https://za.investing.com/magazine/american-companies-owned-by-china/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=23846998535370705&utm_content=MadeIn-1__&origin=facebook&fb_params[ad_id]=23846998542500705&fb_params[adset_id]=23846998536100705&fb_params[campaign_id]=23846998535370705&fb_params[ad_name]=MadeIn-1__&fbclid=IwAR0wfpnJc0vlbbebDv7uontsgTunRz-0HNBJ9g9KtgiqdlnEoQNTrF-uRDQ

 Earthly Obstacles

Feeling depressed, frightened & anxiety ridden?

Do not let yourself be influenced by earthly politics over the will of God & his kingdom.  So many of us pray as if God is an atm machine or a genie in a bottle.  Make sure your thoughts are righteous, your behavior is in check, your wants are in alinement with Gods will.  The adversary is not above using hope as a weapon for people who do not get exactly what they want. 

 How do we know if our will is in alinement with God’s will?  Pray in the Spirit, pray much, pray often, ask for discernment, do not expect instant answers or any answers at all.  We will know by his peace instilled in us when we are on the right path.

 It may be an unwanted unexpected wakeup call. Take the call. Get yourself back on track & priorities focused back on God’s kingdom not earthly politics.

Ma & Pa Kettle & the Repair Man

Ma & Pa Kettle & the Repair Man

 I just had an experience that came out of the blue.  I must state now that it is not sad, on the contrary I find it absolutely hilarious.  Here it go

  Once upon a time after semi retiring from the road, a couple of musicians chose to live at home for a while.  It is a remote area that 30 years ago had no access to any tv stations except one, maybe two on a good day. Old tv antenna that would move in the wind.  We didn’t care, we just used vhs tapes if we wanted something other than that one station.  We were not home long enough to care.   As time changed, so did our interest & wants.  Not needs, we didn’t NEED tv, we chose to brainwash ourselves with the option of having it.  So the best way to do this was to sign up for a satellite dish. We found that DirectTV had everything we wanted & at the time the package was affordable for us.  Turns out that we are now a grandfathered in clients with special perks if we talk to them every few months to check in.  I think they want to make sure we still have a pulse. We are now a long term customer & they like us…    A LOT.  

  Thru out time we have swapped out the receivers cause we outlived them. They have upgraded the little dish & the eye in the yard cause we outlived them too.  Every time work is done we sign our active lives away in loyalty to them for another two years at a time.  We don’t have the fanciest package mind you, we have one up from the bottom.  Just enough infomercials, old movies & hgtv that we can stomach with local channels for $3. A month just cause we are their favorite people.

  They gave me a free cell phone when AT&T merged with Direct TV, cause we were their favorite people. They even sold me a little micro cell tower so we can get access here in the boonies that normally we did not have.  We bought another cell phone for Rog thru them cause of this deal they made me on the free one.  So far so good.   Friday I called them because the current receiver had died, I have a protection plan that allows me to make that call & they send me a new one, I package up the old one & put it in the same box never to be seen again after I send it back.  It arrived on Monday. This time however, we ended up with a refurbished one that did not work…. *GASP*  This made me begin to doubt my favorite person status.  So on the phone I go.  Today is Tuesday, they sent me a hands on dude on a house call to assist me in my plight.  He was prompt, he came in the middle of a 4 hour window noon to 4pm.   Nice youngster.   Here is where the heart of the story comes in.

Roger had just woke up from the phone call comin from a graveyard shift about the repair guy .  So he looked less than perky, stumbling around with a cup of coffee, not standing as straight up as normal cause he’s still half sleepin. I was in my not so nice moo moo with my dirty Sally hair doo as I had been up all night as well from the day before.  We were making sure the dogs were not goosing him as he made his way into the living room. On the wood burner was dinner cooking so the air was filled with a roast with onions cookin the old way over an open flame.  The kid was polite, went about his business with a smile.  When he went out to his van to get some tools, it hit me…. I could not stop laughing.

  I remember back when we were first married that Roger worked in radio & tv servicing & was an electronic tech.  He dreaded house calls with a passion.  He would end up working in some houses that were not  in any way magazine cover dwellings.  Dirty is an understatement for some, hoarders, you name it.  He went to some houses that he just had to take a shower when he got home before he did anything else.   I would ask “how was your day”, he would grumble.. they had a cat, there was unidentified possible food smells from a week ago still lingering in the house,  he had to yell cause they could not hear him, every nightmare of a service call, he lived it.  He shared it with me.

As I sat with him at the table… I glanced at him in his not quite awake mode with his white hair pulled back but wild as Zorba the Greek’s,  & then caught a glance of me in the mirror & saw granny Clampet, the stove had “unidentified food” smells coming from it.  Need I go on.    I could not stop laughing as I told Roger what I saw & what we had become.  WE WERE HIS NIGHTMARE OF SERVICE CALLS.   So… naturally I had to address this with the young man.   He laughed in acknowledgement at the facts I stated.  He said he didn’t mind old people really.  ….. long pregnant pause … HE DID NOT DISAGREE LOL LOL LOL .    

  A few mintues of him doing his work, my phone rang… it was lets say… a rock & roll call, one where someone is calling me for my career of the past pertaining to music, the rocker in me took the phone & the house frau took a back seat.   He looked at me like I just did a jeckel hyde on him.   We ended up talking about a few things, laughin & before it was over I got the feeing that he wished he had not finished up so soon.  I still looked like a house frau but I think he saw thru my disguise & knows that I am an old rockin road dog that still had a pulse after all.  Rog also gave him a few pointers that came out of the blue that showed he had a history that still was applicable in there as well concerning what he was doing to our satellite system.  Ahhhh.   Shock & ahhhh.     

  The direct tv works again.  Happy campers.  Repair guy is gone, dinner is ready, dogs are back in, tv is playin some cool Tom Petty show.    Time for libations.   Never judge a book by it’s cover.   I did & I know better. Even tho I wrote the book “it is my autobiography”  I sometimes forget or take for granted what is in the chapters that sometimes shows up… even with a different cover on it.

The Cat Nip Studio

The Cat Nip Studio

Floor to ceiling & wall to wall, cat print & music cover it all.

I broadcast from here with things I hold dear, coffee catnip, guitars & gear.

Pictures of the past & books with score, 8 tracks, reel to reels & phonographs & cylinders from door to door.

Cd’s, radio waves & microphones & an old upright piano with synths close by & an old grandfather’s desk by the wall on one side.  Studio tables of chrome & glass, shelves of vinyl that are doors to the past. 

Cat beds & sand box hidden from your eyes & all of the vinyl is alphabetized.

From A to Z each genre is placed, & every cassette & CD has its place.

Stories in music that have been written before,

I’ll create once again when I step thru the door.