Midnight Musings

I hope my blogspot will become more social. I cannot figure out how to make that happen. I remember Julie in the movie Julie and Julia typing, "Is anybody out there?" Or something to that effect. I'm just glad I don't have to cook Julia Child's French recipes before each blog.

My mom, who is dealing with memory loss, asked Dad and me many times today, "Where are we going?" We were on our way to the Rose Hill Restaurant for lunch. I said, "Mom, you tell me where we are going." She replied, "To the Rose Hill Restaurant."

I said, "I know why you are always asking 'Where are we going?'...because your mama's name was Annie-Go. Annie-Go Cornelia Hawes James." We all laughed and started in on some older, more accessible memories for Mom.

For the record, my grandmother's name was not Annie-Go. That is what we nicknamed her because she was always eager to go somewhere--shopping, visiting, antiquing, church, Hardees. She lived to be 93, just shy of 94. I was blessed to have been brought up in a three-generation household. I watched my parents care for Grandma throughout her life. Their example was stellar. Their presence in our lives today is a blessing.

On another line of thought (considering it's Memorial Day weekend), my dad and my husband's dad both served our country during WWII. It's a wonder they did not cross paths. And it's a wonder my husband and I are here. Our dads both said that had Truman not used the atomic bomb in Japan, as horrible as it was, they would both have perished in the next effort of the war in Japan. Thank you to the veterans and active military who serve(d) our country. Thanks, "greatest generation," for the freedoms we enjoy.

One more thought and then I will call it a night. Has anyone read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything? Neither have I. But! I have read the first few pages. In the introduction he says, "Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn't easy, I know. I suspect it was a little toughter than you realize." He continues explaining what an amazing series of events had to occur at the atomic level for you to make it to this "state known as existence." His description of this scientific process makes the reader appreciate his or her success at being. Just being. Something, he says, is "generally underappreciated."

So considering that our dads might have died during WWII but didn't , and considering that we made it through all the life struggles just to get born, and considering that we are decades down the road of life, I am downright grateful. Hope you are too.

Favorite Music?

Putting one's essence into little blog boxes is a challenge. I could not respond to "favorite music." I mean really. What if I were to be limited to the number of songs that I could type in that little box? I would be starved for the lost songs.


I choose favorite music from my repertoire as the mood and purpose change:

• At the oddest times, I have a decided hunger for the classics. I learned to play classical piano under the instruction and wise guidance of Mrs. Nell Middleton (and a few earlier teachers.) Clementi's Sonatinas are forever in my fingers and heart.



• I love a bit of country and western. When the time is right for it, no other style will do. If we vacation in Tennessee, the music we listen to is decidedly different from the music we listen to at the beach. (We always take John Denver with us to the mountains.)



• When I give cooking my best effort, I must have Italian or Latino music to charge my culinary self image with life and possibility.



• The grandchildren have reintroduced me to Ballou from Jungle Book singing "Bare Necessities" and as we listen and dance about appropriately, there is no better song on earth.



• I have my prayer music collection on CDs. As I pray for America or Israel, each nation's songs ignite and enhance my prayers.



• I experience my favorite music exploration lately when I sit at the piano and let the creative juices flow as I create "by ear" and "by heart" the songs that I hold deep within. As the Scripture says, "deep calls unto deep" and I am drawn to the heart of God in music.

My sampling of "Favorite Music" is evidence that variety is spicy. While young, I was gathering the "spices" for the moods and seasons of my life. Now that I have some decades behind me, I notice that I have on file just the right spice for the dish at hand.


Okay, my analogies are making me hungry. How about some Cannelloni inspired by the heavenly voice of Andrea Bocelli?


copyright --Peggy Guthrie

May 19, 2010

Marilyn Thomas and I are attending the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers' Conference at Ridgecrest, Black Mountain, NC. We are saturated with ideas for our future as writers, as well as course corrections for our past. Can anybody say "recalculating"? The experience has been rich in countless ways: loveliest of settings--the Great Smokey Mountains--for beauty, excellent faculty for wisdom and instruction, other writers from every angle, genre, and stage of the journey for fellowship, and the still small Voice within for encouragement to stay the course.

Before I say goodnight, I will post a happy birthday to my Daddy! You are the greatest.