Freed

I've had the most unexpected and fantastic day! I was perturbed to discover I had to 'go into town' for an errand before ten. It was totally unexpected and I'd had my day planned for other things. I quickly decided I would make the best of it. It turned out to be a great adventure of meeting friends, shopping, lunching and shopping again with another friend, and beating the traffic both times. Having to be in town by ten is better than having to be in by nine. The day was beautiful. Every clerk, teller, or operator had a smile as did I. I had enough chuckles, photo opportunities, wonderful moments and experiences to call this a fantastic day.

Three days off this week seems like a dream come true when I think of having two more days off right now. I need this time to get a whole lot of things done. I've been gardening each previous day off and a lot of chores have built up. The weather is forecast to be beautiful - Yeah!

Bettye LaVette is providing the music tonight. She is so unbelievably, wonderfully, incredibly, superbly, awesome. No one expresses emotion like her. First, Talking Old Soldiers, a song I'm absolutely smitten with and that describes a good part of my day and Joy, a song I was unbelievably, wonderfully...... smitten with for more than a year a couple of years ago. What an incredible talent this woman is.

Three days off in a row is like a long weekend eh?

Hot and Spicy

I had a lovely day in town with my sister-in-law, a fabulous hot and spicy lunch and I picked up some good deals as well. I needed a memory card for my camera and got a 2 GB SD card for $9.96. I bought two. I purchased my 512 MB card for $25.00 on sale a couple of years ago. Amazing, eh? I also wanted a camera bag. All the bags I was seeing were too expensive for what I was getting so I decided not to get one. Later I was in the dollar store and picked up a nifty little bag for $1.oo. It will work perfectly well for the time being.

We had rain overnight and it was 6 degrees today. Perfect snowman snow. If I'd been home I might have made one. A friend and I made a woman a couple of years ago that lasted most of the winter. She was pretty special.

Every once in a while I have a song that really moves me, becomes a favorite and I play it a whole lot. About three of four years ago it was Lucinda Williams' song Joy but the fabulous version by Bettye Lavette. Well, another Bettye LaVette song has got me by the heart again and I'm happy to share. Maybe it won't do anything for you but I find her delivery so compelling. I think she is just the greatest and wish she were more well known. She's been performing since the 60's but didn't become a household name like Aretha, Diana Ross, and a host of other 60's soul/r&b women. She's still very active and I would really love to see her sometime. The song that I am now enthralled with is Talking Old Soldiers.

Another woman I'd most like to see live is Lila Downs. Though she's half American, she dresses in traditional Oaxacan folk costume. She always has a fabulous band too as I've seen a lot of her on YouTube. I think it's only a few days ago I had Lila here but what the heck, it's a new year. What I've chosen, Pa Todo El Ano, is a live recording and easily shows why I want to hear her.