Monday Morning This and That

Hark! the hours are softly calling

Bidding Spring arise

To listen to the rain-drops falling

From the cloudy skies

To listen to Earth's weary voices

Louder every day

Bidding her no longer linger

On her charm'd way

But hasten to her task of beauty

Scarcely yet begun.

Adelaide Anne Procter

 

Oh what a wonderful weekend it was.  The weather was a fantastic.  The sun was shining brightly, and it was warm, so wonderfully warm. A real Spring weekend. On Saturday I headed out to Rite Aid for some potting soil and planters. It was such a pleasant morning that I stopped and sat in the park for a few just savoring every moment and doing my best to brush aside any thoughts of more snow on Wednesday....which is what they are predicting.  

I got everything I need to start my indoor herb garden.  This year I splurged and bought a good potting soil.  No more of that stuff I bought at the 99 cent store last year.  Just about everything, including my cactus, ended up dying. I also found a couple of free books about indoor herb gardening for my Kindle and downloaded them. Perhaps, with the right materials, I will have better luck this year.

Sunday I headed out for church and then took a slow walk home.  No waiting for buses in weather like that. Yes, it was a wee bit chilly yesterday, but it was clear, and  I was determined to take advantage of every moment.  

Recently I signed up for the The Daily Post which features a daily writing prompt.  Many days I get my inspiration from reading my personal book of quotes and other times I don't even need inspiration.  Sometimes so much has happened that I want to share that I find myself writing a book.  And then there are those other times that I sit and stare at the computer with a blank mind. These are the days that I need a little 'boost'. You will have to forgive me if I don't use the prompts in order.  The following is a prompt from February.

Daily Prompt: Let’s Dance...

In my earliest memories of dancing, I’m under my auntie Nancy’s dining room table, (which had been pushed off to the side of the room), watching my mom, dad, aunties, and uncles all dancing on the hardwood floor to a never-ending stack of 45 records, dropping one after the other. I remember foot-high stacks of 45s all around the record player. The song that I remember playing most? Twistin’ the Night Away by Sam Cooke. Every time I hear that song, I remember auntie’s spontaneous dance parties. What are your earliest and fondest memories of dance? 

Fact is, I don't dance.  It has nothing to do with my knee or back pain.  I just don't know how. I'd always thought dancing was something that one doesn't forget.  Well, I guess I am that one who deviates from the norm.  Always been a bit of a rebel.

So, why did I choose this prompt, you may ask?   Because not too long ago I watched a special which celebrated the Beatles arrival in America, and the songs brought so many memories to the surface.  When I was in high school, a gang of us used to hang out in a friend's basement.  We'd sit on the floor and play 'spin the bottle' while listening to this huge stack of 45's.  We each contributed so we must have had just about every record out there. Most of the guys there kept their fingers crossed that the bottle didn't stop on me, but Robert never seemed to mind.  He never shunned me like the others.  To Robert, I was just one of the crowd. He was never one of the popular ones either.

And so it was that rare night that mom allowed me to attend a high school dance, Robert and I became dance partners.  Magic happened that night when Robert and I teamed up and joined the dance contest.  We won.  We were actually the last ones left on the dance floor.  And when they called us up to the podium to accept our trophy, everyone in the cheered and clapped for us.  For one night I really felt like the queen of the prom.

It was just after that we moved, and I went to a new school.  I never saw Robert again. It had just been so miserable for me at that school that I didn't contact any of my classmates again, even those I had grown up with. For the heck of it, I looked Robert up over the weekend and was saddened to hear that he passed away in May, 2013. 

RIP dear Robert.  Thank you for being my friend.