Found! Another Favorite Artist - Brett Dennen

As you know, I am a huge Jack Johnson fan. I discovered him a few years ago in a rather lame way - in People magazine. I like to think I've always been pretty "up" on things, but somehow I hadn't heard of him until his third album. Now he's one of my favorites, and often times I wonder who else I may have missed along the way. The other day I discovered another such artist - Brett Dennen - in yet another somewhat lame way - I was simply attracted to his cd cover art at the library. His cds "Hope for the Hopeless" and "So Much More" have been on alternate repeat play in my house for a week now. He has an interesting voice and lyrics that are timely and valid. He does things I love like rhyming "victorian" with "accordian" - "I'm gonna rent me an old Victorian Down in the Lower Haight, I'm gonna find me an old accordion. Play for the tourists on the Golden Gate." Please give him a listen sometime - you'll be glad you did! (I'd supply a youtube link here if I knew how!)

And you know me and my lyrics...

The power went out,

and the stars came out

and I went out for a walk in the dark

There were fireflies flitting

and I heard poets spitting

rhymes out in the park

I felt myself drift up off the ground

& I rose above the trees

And I saw my life in photographs

of faded memories...

From the song Who Do You Think You Are?

Find yourself a hillside

I love this springy book passage from Spring Snow: The Seasons of New England From the Old Farmer's Almanac by Castle Freeman, Jr. -

Now, before the trees begin to leaf, before the grass begins to turn green and grow, the land is unguarded. Get out and see it. Find a hillside, sit down, and look over the country.
The air is cold, but already the wind smells of plant life, growth, and earthworms. The land looks like a patchwork cover worked years ago by a stern old wife who distrusted bright colors and fancy patterns. She patched simple rectangles, mostly of common cloth and in common colors. Hardwood stands are brown; above them the belts of softwoods are soft green. Cornfields are a kind of dun color from the brown mud and the gray or brown of last year's stubble. Meadpws are tan, the color a of a pale fox. Where people have their gardens the patches are a fine, rich black. Only where gardeners and farmers planted cover crops last year is there now bright color, intensely green.
You can sit and admire the season. It's one of the shortest of them all. In a few weeks the world will be green. Even today, althought the nights are cold, if you're outdoors at evening you'll hear in the woods a single peeper sounding the same note slowly, regularly, over and over again like a bored kid dinging away at a piano.

- From the essay "Look of the Land"

Blarney!

Those rascally leprechauns paid a visit to my kids' rooms last night - they put stuffed animals on the ceiling fans, turned lamps upside down, and put underpants on the heads of dolls. They even turned our milk green in the fridge! The traps the kids made did not outwit the leprechauns either, but they left calling cards of a green foil-wrapped Cadbury Creme eggs to soften any disappointment.


Today I'm proudly wearning my hooligan Irish shirt, and I feel I have every right because my grandmother's maiden name was Garrigan (not to mention I AM a hooligan, every day)! I'll be making an Irish radio station over at Pandora.com as recommened by Nan at Jade Page Press to play during dinner tonight. Green jello, honeydew, pizza decorated with a herb-sprinkled shamrock, and green cake topped with green m&ms are on the menu.

"May you always walk in sunshine. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door." - Irish Proverb


Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Awesome Way to Find New Favorite Music!

If you haven't heard of Pandora.com yet, please RUN, DON'T WALK to the website! I have been become addicted to it - entering in all my favorite musicians and finding new recommendations based on my taste. It is so awesome - you get to create your own radio station with only songs you love. It couldn't be easier to use - you can get going on it in less than a minute! Oh, and did I mention it's FREE? :)

The real description:
Pandora is an automated music recommendation and Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. Users provide feedback on approval or disapproval, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.

Try it, you'll love it!

Harry Connick Jr. + Full Moon Tonight = Heavenly

Another full moon has rolled around again. I always like to play "moony" music on moony nights, and tonight my choice will be the song "Heavenly" by Harry Connick Jr. off his cd We Are In Love. I had forgotten about this song and how much I liked it - I brought the cd out for the first time in a long time for Mardi Gras (we were eating dinner, everyone wanted Mardi Gras music, and the closest I could come up with was New Orleans boy Harry!) Anyway, here are the lyrics, which I absolutely love. If you've never heard it and want to hear some truly celestial harmonies, check it out!

Heavenly

He's always happy

He never looks mean

Even if the sun

should come in between

The man in the moon is smiling

'Cause he's in love

The man in the moon is smiling

'Cause he's in love with the girl in the world

She's there in the evening

She never comes late
All day she spins around

But never makes him wait

The girl in the world is smiling

'Cause she's in love

The girl in the world is smiling

'Cause she's in love with the man in the moon

When two heavenly bodies glow

All the stars agree

A planet might be born

Maybe even a galaxy

And in the morning

They don't say goodbye

But with a kiss

They blend into the sky

Oh, they're smiling

'Cause they're in love

The man in the moon is smiling

'Cause he's in love with the girl in the world

The man in the moon is smiling

'Cause he's in love with the girl in the world

Heavenly!

And now a bit from the Farmer's Almanac:

• Full Worm - March Moon As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Sounds like even the moon would like to say so long to winter!

Garden Schemes & Dreams

"Nature does not hurry,
yet everything is accomplished."
-Lao Tzu

I've started my garden/yard planning list, and while it feels good to have somewhat of a plan down on paper, I can't help but feel overwhelmed. How I wish I had a gardening friend who could help me in my yard, and I in turn in hers - I bet it wouldn't feel like work at all. It seems everyone I know either has no interest in gardening or just has a wild yard that needs little tending.

Well, enough whining - I do have my kids to keep me company by digging for worms at my side, and a husband who is always willing to whip up a little raised bed or haul my heavy wagon full of wet weeds up the hill for me. Here are some of my notes for the yard this year - it's funny how in my notebook I follow almost every entry with a question mark -

-Field of poppies to north of barn? Must check if they are deer resistant.

-Ornamental grasses in deck pots instead of flowers? Too many bees by the sandbox last year!

-Add Creeping Jenny around boulders down hill?

-Make 2X4 raised bed outside patio door for lettuce only. Purchase bagged soil - do not let Mike dump in Bobcat loads of weed-seed-laden soil from the field.

-Buy a Harry Lauder's walking stick tree for the kids. Where to buy?

-Plant sunflowers near the mailbox - or would this bring too many bees around it?

As you can see, it's not an overly ambitious list, but it's about all I can handle right now. Even if I only accomplish one of these things, I'll be satisfied because it will be more than I did last year!

Friday's Quote - Hal Borland on Spring

My little dear holding one of our chicks, Mr. Peepers, last spring.

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~Hal Borland