Friday, May 27, 2016

Flashback Friday...The Good Stuff


I am still going thru boxes and boxes and boxes.

Many of them are from when we cleaned out my mom and dad's house.
I packed up a lot of stuff.
Stuff I just wasn't ready to make a decision about or let go of at the time.
Some of the them are full of paper...
Scrapbooks I was gonna make.
Momentos from people and places all across the world.

There are a few that are full of nick nacks....
or tchotchkes, which, in my opinion, is a much more sophisticated word than nick nack!

I can see the evolution of my personal taste, as I'm unpacking the decor that used to cover the walls of my apartment. Peeling back the layers of what Main Street has looked like over the years.
Main Street
2003
look at all the empty wall space and the little book collection!
And then there's the junk/treasure finds.
Packed in boxes, and/or stacked in the "Kane County Closet" or on display at the "Main Street Museum,"
Main Street
2008
walls filling up and I've become a professional book shelver.
(picture courtesy of Joel Wilson)
There's just not enough flat surfaces in this apartment for all of this stuff!
Every "find" tells a story.
Most of them represent a road trip, a day at the flea market with family or friends, a 'memory/memorial' purchase, a souvenior of a place and time....one of the many phases/obsessions I've got stuck on (Wonder Woman, Marching Band hats, Pirates....etc),
and gifts that have been given to me.

If you've been following my Facebook posts, you know I've been getting rid of a stuff. I post some of it and put it up for grabs, but there's a lot that has gone straight to the thrift shop. I wish I would have started a box count of the stuff that has gone away.

In opening box after box...
some of the stuff, I remember exactly why I saved it...
some of the stuff, I can now take a picture to preserve the memory and then get rid of it...
some of the stuff, for the life of me, I can't remember why I saved it...
some of the stuff has been easy to part with, some of the stuff not so easy...

But some of the stuff....Is "the Good Stuff."

Remember, Family?

While we were cleaning out the Log Cabin,
Dad told us that we would find "The Good Stuff" in the attic.
"What?" I said?
"The attic of the house?"
"No, the attic of the Cabin."
I didn't even know the Log Cabin had an attic!

So, one day, we sisters...
braved the attic...
in search of the Good Stuff.
I was hoping for endless Coca Cola and advertising signs, Gas Pump Globes, Christmas Decorations and/or maybe even The old "Vandercar's Log Cabin Sign."
The Log Cabin
Early 1960s (?)
Just look at all that Really "Good Stuff!"
Well,
who knows what "Good Stuff" was once in the attic?
Whatever it was, it must have been only in my Dad's memory, cause we found the attic mostly empty...
and what was there was mostly broken pieces of maybe what was once upon a time, (good ?) stuff.
Maybe "the Good Stuff" in the Log Cabin attic went the way of "the Good Stuff" in the basement...
to the "Antique Man"....
(but that's a whole different story for a different day)

Anyway.
I've been uncovering, at least, in my opinion...
my "Good Stuff."
It's been fun.
Walking down memory lane.
I must say, I have some really cool stuff, even if I do say so myself!


So, I'm gonna start sharing pictures of some of the "Good Stuff"on Facebook now and then.

And by the way, it's ALL for sale...
you just have to pay the price of what it's worth to me...
;)

I hope whenever I move and wherever I end up there is an attic for all this "Good Stuff!"
Lol.



Directions to here:

Or maybe, I'll just buy another Wagon and carry the Good Stuff around with me like old times.

http://dancewithnance.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-back-of-wagon.html

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Gratitude Rant.....Jingle Jangled Followed


Facebook, the Universe and God are co-conspiring and winking at me again.

I didn't sleep very well last night, woke up achy, feeling meh and a little queasy and stayed home from work.

I got some sleep. Drank some tea. Made some soup and felt a little better.

I was reading a book about mindfulness and how amazing our 5 senses are and it had a 5 minute exercise where you closed your eyes and focused on hearing Sounds...
not judging them good or bad or labeling them...
just listening, hearing.

Which,led me to be amazed at all the science and medical stuff I don't even pretend to understand about how sound is made and how we can hear it...

Which,led to a 20 minute gratitude rant in my journal about how grateful I am for all the things my body does that I take for granted and all the amazing sounds there are in the world and how hearing them can change and uplift my emotions/thoughts/body chemisty in an instant (think baby giggles and the Hammond B3 Organ)...

Which led to me to think of the line that says "in the Jingle Jangle morning, I'll come following you.."

Which led me to googling "Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man" lyrics...
(Which,by the way, led me to finding out Bob Dylan turned 75 yesterday...Happy New Year, Bob)...

Which led me to playing the Byrds version of this song...on vinyl...(because I can HEAR the difference in the warmth of the tone)...

Which led to dancing hippy style (like the 'groovy dancer' guest at Bobby and Jess' wedding) :)
and shaking a tambourine,
and raising one hand 
(like the verse that is in Dylan's version...but left out of the Byrd's version)
...while singing and falling under it's spell...
because you know, I promised to...just like the lyric says.


So...there.
Jingle Jangle...Followed.


Directions to here:

Then,
later tonight...
Facebook, the Universe and God winks by showing me this beautiful video of a girl signing a song...
so her friend can "hear" the lyrics.


I may be losing my hearing :(
But, the message of the blessing of sound is coming thru Loud and Clear.
How great is it that we have ears to hear?!


So great!
So grateful!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Sunday Morning Coming Down...."And I Fly..."

Where I am,
What I am


What I Believe in...
Holly Holy





Directions to here:

This is one of the most Spiritual songs I've ever heard...
That bass line, 
The adding of the chorus growing in intensity,
The layering,
The building....
The Healing

The Flying...

After this song swept me away...unawares...
I've been walking around all week and when something wows me...
I've been saying "Holly Holy" outloud.

And I know it's Neil Diamond.
You go right ahead and judge me.
I got hands in the air like I just don't care.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Flashback Friday....Girls Gone Wild



Last time these two got on a plane together....
they ended up leaving the country...

anyone heard from Sister Susie today?

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Sunday Morning Coming Down...

Sunday Words

Awake My Soul!


For You Were Born to Meet Your Maker


Directions to here:

Sit, Stand, Raise Your Head, Raise Your Hands, Dance....
Whatever it takes:
Awake Your Soul

Mumford and Sons
Awake My Soul