Dick Van Dyke

I have always loved Dick Van Dyke.   Any American who has spent any time in England might possibly have been called that name since so many have made fun of his bad cockney accent in "Mary Poppins"!   I say who cares! He's Dick Van Dyke, for Pete's sake!   I love him and I thought he was wonderful in that movie.  "Step In Time" was one my son's favorites and we heard it again and again with all the chimney sweeps dancing and singing.  And what about "Bye, Bye Birdie"?  What a great movie for an eight year old to see!  I loved it! 
On TV, we had The Dick Van Dyke Show during the 60's and I enjoyed it just as much as I did The Andy Griffith Show.  The writing was so clever and funny and I loved all the song and dance numbers that they would do.   I really wanted to find the clip where Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) had to go to his son's school and explain what he did for a living, which was working as a comedy writer for a TV show.  He explains comedy to a group of children in such a way that it should be used for comedy writers today!  The clip that I found here for you is when he and Laura (his wife) are mad at their neighbors for something, and they are expressing it in this game of charades.

This photo from England always makes me think of Bert (Dick Van Dyke) in "Mary Poppins"!  Step in time!

Danny Boy-Song And Story

"Danny Boy" is a song to an Irish tune called "Londonderry Air" and the lyrics are by a man named Frederick Weatherly. I listened to this a few nights ago on John's blog from England that I like to visit and it made me look this song up since it occurred to me that other than being associated with the Irish, I knew nothing about it.  And if you would like to hear the song that I heard, it is here.   Please go and listen to it, I think you will like it as much as I do.

Do you remember the children's choirs singing during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics this summer in London?  The choir from Ireland sang the song "Danny Boy". Now, as much as "Danny Boy"  is associated with the Irish, I was surprised to learn that the man who wrote the words to this song was from England.  Frederick Weatherly was a songwriter and he wrote thousands of songs but he only did this in his spare time, as he was a very busy lawyer!  His autobiography is entitled "Piano And The Gown" (I would assume the "gown" refers to what he would wear as a lawyer.)  There is some very detailed information about this song and also about Frederick Weatherly and if you would like to read more, you can find it here.  Besides having a lot of background about this song, I loved reading excerpts from Frederick Weatherly's autobiography and I have some quotes for you...

It is no idle boast when I say that my songs have been sung by millions all over the English-speaking world; it is not myself that I am praising but my friends the musicians and the singers who have carried my words to the heart of the people. I do not claim to be a "poet"; I don't pretend that my songs are "literary," but they are "songs of the people" and that is enough for me.

 

"Why is it that songs appeal? Is there not a story in each? A melody which remains—deep down in our hearts? We may listen to the noblest sermons. We may study the deepest philosophy. We may be elevated by the loftiest speeches. We may read the brightest pages of history. And yet none appeal to us with quite the same appeal as song and story. Is it not perhaps that all the rest appeal to the intellect and need mental powers which only the few possess? But song and story appeal to the heart. From the heart they come and to the heart they go. They express the joys and sorrows of the poet himself; and just because he is a poet they express the joys and sorrows of the world.

When I listened to John just quietly playing his guitar and singing along to this song, it made me wonder at the power of a song.  "The songs of the people ... to the heart of the people". What song can you think of that makes you stop what you are doing, one that causes such a strong emotion in you that tears might come to your eyes?

Arabia Mountain-Under A Butterfly's Wing

  (This is not a Monarch, it is an American Painted Lady.  And do you see the bee just beside it?)

Richard and I went to Arabia Mountain on Saturday.  Before, we have walked on the mountain in the late afternoon and at dusk and have seen one single Monarch butterfly.  On Saturday, we saw dozens  and dozens of them, some would stop on the Yellow Daisies but most of them were flying directly over our heads flying very fast indeed on the long journey to Mexico.

Back to Arabia Mountain on Sunday, but this time with my son.  It was a truly beautiful day, there was a cool breeze blowing over the mountain and it was comfortable and pleasant to be outside.   We saw just a few monarchs on Sunday when Richard and I had seen so many just the day before!

 

 

 

 

Wow, you never know what creatures you will run into at Arabia Mountain!   (I have always loved puppets, even shadow puppets!)

 

 

The Yellow Daisies are still so beautiful and they smell heavenly!  The bees love them.  I want the honey that comes from these beautiful flowers, don't you?  I hope you enjoyed the walk again over Arabia Mountain with me.  My son and I gave this wonderful walk over Arabia two thumbs up!

Atlanta Braves - Until Next Year!

 

The Atlanta Braves baseball season is over.  In the Wild-Card playoff last night, the Braves lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.  The final score was 6-3 and possibly could have been closer.  In the 8th inning with two on base, Andrelton Simmons hit what should have been an easy pop-up, instead the ball fell between the shortstop and the left fielder, which should have been ruled an error, in my opinion.  Instead, it was ruled an infield-fly and the batter was out.  The Braves manager, Freddie Gonzalez, came out to argue the call and later, he filed that the game was now being played under protest, which was denied.  The really bad thing about it: just after the call, SOME fans started throwing things upon the baseball field,  cans, bottles, cups, and most likely, anything these people could get their hands on. There was a delay of game for 19 minutes while the ground crew picked it all up.  Such an awful thing, and Joe Simpson, who is one of the Atlanta announcers was appalled and let us know that not only was this debris on the field, but it was also hitting the people sitting on the first few rows of the stadium.  A true fan of baseball would never do this.  You always want your team to win and you hate it when a bad call might possibly affect the outcome of the game but one should never use violence and I call throwing things onto the field a violent act. Someone could have been seriously hurt.  I would like to point out that I remember games at Shea Stadium when the Braves would play the Mets, that debris would sometimes be thrown on the field but other than that, I have never seen anything like this.  (And the Mets fans would chant "Larry, Larry" in a very jeering and mocking way when Chipper Jones would come up to bat, Larry being Chipper's real name, and what did Chipper do?  He named one of his sons "Shea"!
That's Chipper for you!)

 

It was sad to end the baseball season this way in Atlanta.  It was the last season for Chipper Jones, who has been with the Braves for his entire career which is most unusual in the major leagues.  Typically, Chipper Jones did not blame the loss of the game on the infield fly rule call. "That one play didn't cost us the game.  Three errors cost us the game".  Exactly so. I will miss not only his excellent playing but also his straight talk and knowledge of baseball.

 It has been a wonderful season and the Braves have had some amazing come-from-behind victories.  Last night, it was not meant to be.  You win some, you lose some...and some get rained out!  Until next Spring when I can hear that wonderful sound of the bat hitting the ball and you know in your heart it is a home run, until I can cheer the manager while he is arguing a call with "Freddy, Freddy, Freddy", until I can chop along with the crowd, until I can call my Dad and we can watch the game together on TV, until then I will be waiting with great anticipation for a new baseball season with the Atlanta Braves!  GO BRAVES!

Flight Of The Butterflies

  There is a wonderful movie that I heard about on NPR radio and you may find the story here

 

The movie is "Flight of the Butterflies" and is about the Monarch butterfly and the fantastic migration of the Monarchs to Mexico.  The story of how the Monarch butterflies were found in Mexico is almost as startling as the butterflies themselves.  A Canadian, Dr. Fred Urquhart, who from a very early age had a great interest in butterflies, ran ads in newspapers in Mexico in 1973 asking for volunteers to find the Monarch butterflies.   A couple answered the ad, a Mexican woman, Carlita Aguado and her American husband, Kenneth Brugger.  They were young and obviously energetic since they went around by jeep, motor home and horses.  It must have been quite the moment when they discovered the Monarch butterflies by the hundreds of MILLIONS.  The British director, Mike Slee, has made a 3D IMAX film about this story and it is in IMAX theaters now.  

How did Carlita Aguado describe her feelings after viewing this movie?   This is her reply:
"After, what, 36 years? I can say wonderful, fantastic and glorious — and whatever other words, but I cannot describe the feeling. It was magical," Aguado says.

My feeling, even when I see one lone Monarch butterfly on top Arabia Mountain, is also the same...magical. A photo or a movie is nice but there is nothing like seeing this right in front of you, in all its fluttery, breathtakingly marvelous beauty!

Sailing Alone Around The World

 

I just finished reading the best book today and when I did, I had tears in my eyes, it was just that good.  The book is "Sailing Alone Around The World" by Joshua Slocum.  In the year of 1895, at the age of 51, Joshua Slocum left Boston and sailed around the world in a 36 foot sloop, Spray, that he had rebuilt himself.  It took him three years to complete this journey, a distance of 46,000 miles and he did this all alone.  The book was published in 1900 and has never been out of print since that time.  And for good reason!  Casually but carefully and with an understatement that is astonishing, Joshua Slocum writes of all that he experienced on his journey around the world.  At times, you will laugh at his experiences (one of the best gifts given to him on the journey was carpet tacks, which was worth more than gold ...you will have to read the book to find out why that is so!) and other times you will be amazed at the stories of pirates, fierce storms, coral reefs, and the treacherous passage through the Straits of Magellan!  How refreshing to read such a straightforward and honest account of an extraordinary journey.   With all his adventures and all the people that he meets it seems like fiction, almost like the movie "Forest Gump", and yet, this story is all true!

I know nothing about sailing or anything about the sea, but I found his story to be absolutely fascinating.  From the very first page, I was completely smitten with the charm of the writing. In describing Nova Scotia, the land of his birth, to the fond description of his father, Joshua Slocum was already someone I knew I would like, and I hadn't even set foot on the Spray yet!  There is so much to take away from this book, and I don't mean just about how to sail a boat.  There is sound good counsel that we in this computer age of the 21st century should learn from him...

"Keep on the windward side and take the combers end on".

"Even while the storm raged at its worst, my ship was wholesome and noble."

"To succeed, however, in anything at all, one should go understandingly about his work and be prepared for every emergency."


There is so much to enjoy in this book and perhaps I had tears in my eyes after I read this book not just because my journey around the world was over, but because I knew that Captain Joshua Slocum would have some serious legal problems ahead for him (and I seriously doubt that he was guilty of what he was accused of) and also, that he would sail again but would disappear at sea in 1909.

 The great joy about reading:  I can sail on the Spray again and again with Captain Slocum, as often as I choose to re-read this book.  And you know I will!

And why is it that "Moby Dick" is given for students to read in high school and not "Sailing Alone Around The World"?  I just don't understand it...

Let me leave you with the final words from Captain Joshua Slocum...

"And now, without having wearied my friends, I hope, with detailed scientific accounts, theories or deductions, I will only say that I have endeavored to tell just the story of the adventure itself.  This, in my own poor way, having been done, I now moor ship, weather- bitt cables, and leave the sloop, Spray, for the present, safe in port."

A Monarch Butterfly, Just Passing Through

 

A Monarch Butterfly!

 

What a beauty, the wings are like stained glass. You do know about the Monarch butterfly, don't you?  On the West coast, they migrate to the Southern coast of California and on the East Coast, they fly all the way to Mexico, up to 3000 miles!  One decided to stop at Arabia Mountain late in the day on Saturday, Richard and I took photos of this beautiful butterfly just before dark.  It made me think: How late have you ever seen a butterfly?  I can't think how late in the day I have seen them but certainly not at dusk! If you were flying over all these beautiful yellow daisies, wouldn't you want to stop too?  Richard and I were so happy to see this butterfly, we have only seen pictures of it, we have never seen one in Georgia!  We stalked it for quite a while trying to take photos, but all were blurry but this last one was one that I took and it turned out to be the clearest of them all. (This is a very FAST flying butterfly, trust me!) The monarch butterfly larvae only eat milkweed and I have read that there are folks who are trying to grow milkweed in Georgia so as to have monarch butterflies in this state.  If you would like to read more about the monarch butterfly you may read about them here. And also, here.

The Monarch butterfly knew a good meal when she saw one! And Richard and I think it might be a female from the photos that we have studied.   If anyone knows for sure, we would love to know if we are correct.

I was most excited to see some wonderful photos of a Monarch butterfly from Jim's blog from Nova Scotia.  Please have a look at his photos at his blog: Ocean Breezes  It was a cooler day in Canada and I think the Monarch didn't move quite as much as the one that we saw in hot Georgia!  We still have our hummingbirds, we even saw them today during a very rainy day in Georgia, we think we must have gotten at least 2 inches of rain, so no Arabia Mountain for us today.  Never mind, we saw a Monarch on top of the mountain on Saturday, and she was quite majestic!