Look at what I see when I step outside my front door...
Cherry tree blossoms! I know I show you these every year but they really are pretty. Let's go in closer, shall we?
Tomorrow, I plan on going on two hikes! Great way to start the first day of Spring! At mid-day I will be walking with a co-worker during our lunch hour at a local park where there will be more blooming cherry trees. I have a photo of myself there from several years ago...
AND the second hike will be a MOONLIGHT hike! Isn't that wonderful? I will tell you all about it and hopefully will even have some photos! Tomorrow is March 20th and it is one month exactly after my Dad's funeral service and burial. I think that he would like that I will do these walks. "Guess where I am, Daddy!" I used to call and ask him. He would say, "On top of Old Smokey?" and laugh in his unique, wonderful way, "Hee, hee, hee". (I know I told you this before but that is most certainly what he would say and how he would laugh!) And the fact that I will see a full moon on my hike...my Dad used to call me and say, "Look outside!"...that is the BIGGEST moon!" Loved his enthusiasm and glad that I could share it with all of you. Happy Spring to you all!
(I have had this song by The Inkspots on my blog before but since I like it so much, I have it here again!)
Saw this on the BBC...Jack Lyon, the last veteran of World War II's Great Escape has died at the age of 101. (He was a look-out and when he heard a gunshot, knew that he could not enter the tunnel...this most likely saved his life. 76 men escaped but 73 were recaptured and of those, 50 were executed.) You must know the story of the Great Escape, if not you can read about it here. It is an extraordinary story...600 men working at night for a year to dig tunnels at a prisoner of war camp, right under the noses of the guards. "The Great Escape" is a book written by Paul Bricknell, an Australian who was also an inmate there. Although he wrote this as a novel, the basic story is true. If you only know the film "The Great Escape " with Steve McQueen... Well, let me just tell you what Jack Lyon had to say about it! He called it, "absolute rubbish" and "not one American took part in it and as for the motorbike, it never existed."!
Of course, we all know how Hollywood likes to change things, so I always say, try to read as much as you can about something to get to the truth of it.
Jack Lyon died at his home in Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex this past Friday. Glad to know that he liked to spend time at the RAF branch in Bexhill and that he was given much honor and respect. They had a 100th birthday party for him in 2017. You may read about it just here! The photo of the sunset is from 2015 when we visited Bexhill and I do believe that the RAF branch that I am telling you about is just behind that white building! The Albatross Club, I think it is called. (I am so thrilled when I read about something and it is somewhere that I visited in England!) Richard and I have some very dear friends who live very close to Bexhill...Henry and Joy! (Here I am posing with them, in my best Darth Vader haircut.)
If you were able to go to that link that I gave you...I was also very pleased to learn that Jack Lyon was friends with Doug Bader!
"Reach For The Sky" is another book that you must know.
If not, then please look it up! (Another film was made from that book too!)
I found a clip from YouTube of Jack Lyon reading the emotional letter that he sent home when he knew the war was finally over.
All respect and honor to you, sir. Thank you for your service.
The pink blossoms on this tree against a bright blue sky caught my eye recently. Love the colors!
Richard was watching a film and I wasn't really paying attention to it but someone started singing this song, so I looked it up...it was from a TV ad in the 1980's and they have changed the words from "Que Sera, Sera" to "We Hope It's Chips". (Now, you all know that "chips" are what we call "french fries" here in America. And potato chips are "crisps" in England.) Anyone can do this you know, if you have a well known tune, then just put your own words to it. Of course, you can't "steal" a tune, this would be just for your own enjoyment! You are all writing your own song lyrics all the time, right? You know I am!
The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Chicago Bulls last night. The final score was 168-161. That score does not tell the whole story though...the game went on for 4, yes that is f-o-u-r overtimes! Here is a link to Soaring Down South...which was written by our son, Christopher. You may read it just here. What a game! Truly, unforgettable. Speaking of unforgettable...I was thinking of a song lately...I am sure you must know it. Nat King Cole (on a recording) singing one of his biggest hits with his daughter, Natalie Cole singing along with him. If you don't know it, then I am glad to tell you about it. Hope you like it too. (Sorry about the saxophone in the middle, I had to fast forward through that!)
Just came across this photo from several years ago...this is okra that my Dad had grown in his garden and had given me. Okra fresh from the garden? Unforgettable! Thanks, Dad.
Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? I have! Since this happened in England, I have to tell you that I was trapped in a "lift" since that is what it is called there! I was the only American with five other women, all of them English. There was a phone in the lift...but it didn't work. So...when I suggested that we yell for help, the others said, "Oh no, we can just wait. Help will come.". "The heck with that" is what I wanted to say...what I did say was, "Well, I am going to yell anyway!" So, I did and not too long after that...we heard the lift beginning to move. Maybe this help would have come to us anyway, but I didn't want to take any chances! What would you have done? I just read a story on the BBC about the artist, David Hockney who was trapped in a lift with the editor of the Daily Mail (a British newspaper) and a journalist from the BBC. That almost sounds like the beginning of a joke but this really happened this past week in Amsterdam. (All of them were there due to the exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum which opened today: "Hockney-Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature".) David Hockney is now 81 years old and was only trapped for about 30 minutes until he and the others were rescued by firefighters. Thirty minutes might not seem that long but minutes go by slowly when you are trapped and don't know when you will be rescued! After he was released, he asked for a cigarette and ...wait for it...Yorkshire tea!
David Hockney is from Yorkshire, England! Now, I have to tell you, I have never been to Yorkshire but I dearly love Yorkshire tea! Here is a quote from David Hockney... "I've always found the world quite beautiful, looking at it, just looking. And that's an important thing I share with Vincent Van Gogh. We both really, really enjoy looking at the world." By the way, there is a painting by David Hockney that is called "Mr and Mrs. Clark and Percy". It is extraordinary to me since the Mr. Clark in the painting looks so very much like my husband, Richard from the 1970's with his long hair. His head is even tilted in the same way like Richard! Look up the painting and I think you will see what I mean. Our son bought a fridge magnet of this painting and gave it to his Dad, since he sees this strong resemblance too. (Thanks, son. You have your father's artistic eye with your mother's frugal ways!)
As a child, John Lennon remembered his mother singing a song to him from the Walt Disney film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The song was "I'm Wishing" and it begins with those words: "Do you want to know a secret, do you promise not to tell?" Years later, he used those words in the Beatles hit song" Do You Want To Know A Secret". Songwriters! I never tire of thinking of how they get their ideas! (I don't know what made me think of this today. I might have told you this before but I still find it interesting.)
Thank you for all of your kind comments on my Dad's passing. I will miss him so much. My Dad really loved to talk on his cell phone and I really enjoyed talking with him. He knew he could call me anytime and it was always a good conversation. Always.
Daddy loved country music. I have told you before that with money from his very first job he bought a radio. MUSIC! Thank you, Daddy, for giving me a love of music too!
"I Want To Stroll Over Heaven With You" was sung at my grandmother's funeral. (My Dad's mother). So, it is fitting that it will be sung at our Dad's funeral. I have written of "my" Dad but of course, I have brothers and sisters. Please pray for us all to be strong during this time. Not only that, but I have received love from all of his extended family...the relatives from my mother's side and also from his many friends.
On New Year's Day, my Dad made a beautiful pan of biscuits and carefully wrapped them up for our son, Christopher. Just look at them. I wish I could make every one of you this pan of biscuits. Light and fluffy, I cannot describe the taste of them. Perfection, that is how our son describes them.
I made the observation yesterday that I think I will just take a giant box of tissues and make it into a necklace and wear it around my neck. See, Daddy, even in grief, I can try to make people laugh! I got that from you. Thanks for all the laughter. Thank you for everything.
