Tag: memories

Photo Friday, No. 896

Current Photo Friday theme: Pandemic

On the Photo Friday site, when they gave the theme, they asked these questions: What subjects captivated your attention? Did the pandemic influence your photography?

Below is why I chose a current “selfie” as my photo.

The pandemic made my world smaller. Prior to the shutdown, I had a career that kept me busy 10 to 14 hours a day. Part of my volunteer work for that organization involved shooting photos of rescued dogs, cats, the occasional pig, and a few other surprising creatures, three times a week. I had plans to transition out of my volunteer photography for them so I could travel more in 2020. But early in the year, the organization laid off a majority of the staff, including me, because of the pandemic. Like many others, I quarantined. I didn’t travel. I adjusted to life without the income from the paying part of my job and without the coworkers who inspired me. My world became what was around me, so that’s what I photographed: my home, family who lives on the same property, and our dogs. I found ways to photograph my hobbies (collecting dolls, listening to music, reading, journaling, painting, homemaking, blogging), and my passion: writing fiction.

When the pandemic shifted in 2021 and the world began opening up, other than seeing more friends, not a lot changed because I decided to retire. I still don’t travel. I haven’t been bothered by the slow march of lines up and down and across my face. I didn’t care when my hair, that for twenty years had its roots colored brunette, and later to strands of brunette and blonde, became gray and white during the pandemic. I’m grateful to be here and for all that I have. I try to adapt to and deal with the challenges. I still mostly photograph what’s around me.

Tiny Tuesday!


Eighth row on the floor. Back in October of 2020, I was going through bins of stuff that I’ve collected since I was a teenager, and that’s when I found these tucked into some other stuff. A day can simultaneously seem like one of the best and worst of your life, but I was relieved to see I still had the tickets. Time has given me perspective, and you know what? The day still has that best/worst feeling. Fortunately for me, feelings can be processed through fiction and have a little less power.

Speaking of writing, the recent playlist.


Rufus Wainwright, Want One; The Wallflowers, Bringing Down The Horse and (Breach); Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; Hank Williams, Icon; Brian Wilson, Brian Wilson Presents Smile, a 2004 collection of 17 works Brian created for the unreleased Smile LP in the 1960s and an accompanying booklet. Though many of the songs were later released on other Beach Boys albums, these versions are more like what Brian planned before his breakdown. The collection is a gift for fans and critics who always regretted that Smile wasn’t released.

These last two will start the Tuesday writing playlist.

Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue, a 2-CD set that includes POB plus 4 bonus tracks, and a second disk, Bambu, the Caribou sessions, that includes 18 works Dennis intended to be on his second (unreleased) album, plus a bonus track of the late Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) adding vocals to “Holy Man.” This was a beautiful composition Dennis wrote with Gregg Jakobson. Dennis and Gregg left it off POB because they never wrote lyrics, and Dennis died in 1983 without producing a second solo album. In 2008, when it was decided to put together a second album of Dennis’s music, Jakobson commissioned Taylor to write lyrics and add vocals to “Holy Man.” The first time I stumbled over the song, Taylor’s voice sounds so much like Dennis’s that I wondered how I never knew Dennis put vocals to it. A little research enlightened me that the vocalist and lyricist was Taylor. When Taylor died in March of 2022, it was a huge loss to music; to me, it felt like losing a part of Dennis again.

My second album of the day will be Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run. Originally released in 1973, this one is the 25th Anniversary Edition, and includes a second disk with more than 50 minutes of voices of the band and some of the celebrities on the cover along with previously unreleased versions of some BOTR tracks. This year, the 50th Anniversary Edition has come out with more extras. (I don’t have it.)

Here’s the posthumous Dennis Wilson/Taylor Hawkins collaboration on “Holy Man.”

Hearts and no flowers

A few of my little stone and crystal friends because the Internet is full of hearts right now.


Labradorite and rose quartz


A couple of river rocks


Healerite and goldstone


Black moonstone and amethyst


Amazonite and white banded carnelian

They remind me there are so many variations on love in the Neverending Saga. Love can be…complicated.

The perfect music for writing on an overcast, drizzly day when my characters are grappling with love and all it demands and provides is music by the great Texas blues guitarists, the Vaughan brothers. I’ll always miss Stevie Ray and wonder what music he’d have created if he hadn’t died too soon. The biography Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan, by Alan Paul and Andy Aledort, is a good account of him if you like biographies. Many years ago, I wrote a musician who turned his life around from a very dark place, and Stevie Ray Vaughan later proved to me that not only could it be done, he dedicated so much time to helping others who grappled with addictions.


Jimmie Vaughan, Strange Pleasure; The Vaughan Brothers, Family Style; Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Greatest Hits, The Sky Is Crying, and The Real Deal: Greatest Hits 2; various artists including Jimmie Vaughan, A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

ETA: Oops, missed one. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s In Step.

In the live version (below) of “Look At Little Sister,” watch for the smoothest guitar switch ever after a string breaks (around 2:40). I freely confess to having a moment like this in the Saga as tribute to Stevie Ray and the guitar techs who make live music fun for us all. I’m so glad Tom and I (with Lynne) got to see Stevie Ray in person after we moved to Texas.

Run to you


The most recent play list: Diana Ross and the Supremes 2-CDs, Anthology. Not really sure why they were in the middle of the “T”s but they have now been relocated correctly in the CD binders. Also listened to the Trio CD from Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris.


Forthcoming: U2’s Achtung, Baby 1991, and Pop, 1997.
I didn’t lose any U2 albums in the flood. What I had was on cassettes long ago and long gone, including Rattle and Hum, which I’ll likely get again. I must have something in iTunes–Oh, yes! The one everyone with an iTunes account received free in September 2014 before it was released that October, Songs of Innocence. I remember the bitterness from people who aren’t U2 fans having it downloaded into their iTunes without their consent. I also have “Invisible,” the RED edition, in iTunes.

I have no beef with U2. Sometimes I agree with their messages; sometimes I don’t. Some of their music resonates with me, some doesn’t. I used a tear of their sheet music to get a lyric for a painting I did a couple of years ago. Afterward, I was thrilled to remember I have a brother-in-law who loves U2, so I offered, and he gave a home to, the painting. That made me really happy, because I love him and respect what U2 means to him.

I’m making great effort not to amplify what distresses me most in the world. I’m trying to make my little world, including Houndstooth Hall and its writing sanctuary, as well as this blog, places where I feel safe. I can’t always shut down my anxieties and distress over global events, politics, war, and hate. I can only try to manage them. I appreciate the people in my life who understand this isn’t a new struggle for me, but it has been exacerbated by several factors in recent years.

I saw this the other day and it resonated, too. Doing my best.

Below, one of my favorite U2 songs, is supposed to be about a guy who’s fallen in love and is a little overwhelmed by it. But it always makes me think of a message my mother once sent to me through Tom:
“Tell Becky to stop trying to save the world.”

So far on midweek Wednesday


I no longer have any James Taylor on vinyl, but I think I lost at least my original Sweet Baby James to someone who “borrowed” it. A few incidents like that are why I stopped loaning albums and books to anyone who isn’t named “Lynne.” Lynne might forget she borrowed something (she’d be the first to say so!) but if I reminded her, she’d absolutely return it.

A bit of wisdom age afforded me: People who deliberately steal stuff from you are not your friends and will also lie to you and about you.

I lost 17 Three Dog Night albums to the Harvey flood and was able to save four on vinyl; replaced the drowned It Ain’t Easy with this CD; and acquired The Best of Three Dog Night to give me at least some of the songs I loved listening to. In time, I’ll decide which of their albums I want to replace, though it won’t be all of the live ones and imports (I had those because 3DN was among a small group of artists for whom I collected everything, including rarities–not a goal, anymore).

When listening to their music, I can always identify which of Three Dog Night’s three singers (Cory Wells, Danny Hutton, or Chuck Negron) takes the lead on any song. The three of them worked with Brian Wilson when the Beach Boys were making their Wild Honey album, and Brian’s sometime-collaborator Van Dyke Parks said he (Van Dyke) was part of creating the name “Three Dog Night.”

Decades later, Danny Hutton is still part of Brian’s group of friends and revolving musicians. In sadder news, it was announced that Brian’s second wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who’s credited with changing and improving his life starting in the 1980s, died unexpectedly yesterday. If you like musician docudramas/biopics, their story is portrayed in the film Love & Mercy.

Three Dog Night didn’t write their own music, but they sure had the pipes to sing other artists’ songs and make them hits. RIP, Cory Wells, along with your bandmates Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Shermie, and Floyd Sneed, and your fishing buddy Rob Grill of the Grass Roots. I was a fan of you all.

Here’s Chuck taking the lead on this blast-from-the-past version of “Easy To Be Hard,” written for the musical Hair.

ETA 2/11/24: Acquired another Three Dog Night compilation, The Complete Hit Singles. It’s basically what’s on The Best of Three Dog Night plus one song. That’s all right.

Mood: Monday

There’s art. As an example, I previously posted a photo of Deedra Ludwig’s “Solace,” oil and mixed media on canvas, 2015.


Then there are coloring pages. While looking through this book, ponds were still on my mind. Started coloring just before bedtime one night to wind down. Resumed a day later when waiting for an appointment while also plotting and storybuilding in my head. Finally finished it today when I got home from a run of several errands.

Below is what I colored.

During writing time, these were on the playlist.


Switchfoot, The Best Yet; Taylor Swift, Fearless: Taylor’s Version, two disks; Red: Taylor’s Version; two disks.

I’d forgotten there’s a song on that Switchfoot CD that I gave to one of my Saga couples long ago. In fact, she even uses an image in it to describe her attraction to him. It so happens to be the male character I’m writing now, so the song was helpful for writing him (even though he hasn’t met her yet).

I’ll be getting more Taylor Swift music. I like listening to her. I understand why adolescent girls like her. I would have, too, when I was a ‘tween/teenager. I’m glad I had (deep breath!) Dusty Springfield, Lulu, the Supremes, Carole King, Gladys Knight, Carly Simon, Mama Cass, Aretha Franklin, Karen Carpenter, Cher, Grace Slick, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Janis Ian, Linda Ronstadt, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, and later, Rickie Lee Jones, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks. And Madonna, Annie Lennox, Bonnie Raitt, Whitney Houston, Sinéad O’Connor, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow.  Some of the women I’ve left out include country singers and girl groups that came before I was buying music or had control of the radio or stereo the way my parents and older siblings did. I loved plenty of them, too, and I never listened to anyone who said they weren’t as good as their “favorites” or that rock and roll or popular music was really the place of male artists.

ETA on 1/30/24: You know, it was just a matter of being in the “S” section when I got to my two Taylor Swift CDs. Timing. Thanks to my goal every week of getting a notification that says, “Your screen time was down __% last week for an average of __ hours, __ minutes a day,” I’ve eliminated seeing a lot of online hate and vitriol. No Fear Of Missing Out in that regard.

ETA on 1/31/24: Sorry for being vague, but I’m cackling at this and need to note it for myself: 150 seconds out of 9.5 hours. Or 150 seconds out of 34200 seconds. Math is fun.

Full Wolf Moon in Leo

I found the quote below from Elle magazine’s online site about this month’s full moon.

A cosmic shot of courage is coming our way on January 25, and we have the first full moon of 2024 to thank for it. The full wolf moon, as January’s lunation has been dubbed, is a nod to the brave packs that howl at this time of year. There’s no better full moon for finding or establishing your public voice.

The full moon is in Leo, and here’s a link to the article if you want to know how this moon affects your sign.

As I read the article, I remembered a story Marika shared with me in August of 2022. August was her birth month, and she was very proud of being a Leo. But there was another identity she embraced as well. She was drawn to the wolves in fiction and fairy tales. We had fun during the Twilight times discussing wolf versus vampire. It was Anne Rice who made me a vampire fan, and this is a lenticular print Marika sent me that changes between Twilight’s Jacob Black (wolf) and Edward Cullen (vampire) as you shift it.

I’m very glad to still have her real-life story she shared in my text messages so I can retell it. Marika worked in a big box retail store, and I’ve only lightly edited what she texted me (she wouldn’t mind–she always asked for my edits).

A little girl came in and had her face painted like a dog and I asked if she were a dog and she shook her head and said, loud and proud, “I’m a werewolf!” And I said I was a werewolf, too, and it was very important [to answer] when she heard our tribe’s call. I waited until she was in the fruit section, and I howled. And without missing a beat, she tossed back her head and howled. I howled again, and so did she.

My boss was standing behind me and said, “I didn’t know you were a werewolf.”

So when they checked out, she came running to me and whispered, “I’m glad you’re a werewolf, too,” and that’s when I told her, “In a world of unicorns, be a werewolf.” And I told her I hadn’t been really happy in a long time…but she changed that, and she was tickled. Her mother came up, and she turned around and howled again, so I did, too.

I dedicate today’s Full Wolf Moon to the Leo Marika and her reminder that whenever we need it, we can find our inner wolf strength, raise our voices to tell our stories, and call out to our pack in solidarity.

Wolf sculpture gift of Tom’s mother in the 1990s.