30 Days of Music – Day 06 – A Song that Reminds You of Somewhere

Heaven’s Right Here

We have fun with music and family and friends. We have a pretty cool backyard and lots of folks like to hang there. It took me a while to realize why this song haunted me for so long. Yeah, it sums it up real good!

Anticipate

Sunday Scribblings gives us the writing prompt:

#174 – Anticipate

What are you looking forward to, for better or worse?

Remember that song by Carly Simon? Anticipation? The ketchup ad?

I found this on YouTube the other day. It’s a wonderful take on the old song. Carly’s children, Ben and Sally, sing and play with her. Listen to the whole tune if you have the time. Come back later and enjoy it again. It’s just that good. I love that James and Carly perform with their children. I love the mix of music and family. It’s one of my core values! I’m blessed to belong to a family of very talented musicians, artists, gardeners and writers. Music is something we all enjoy and appreciate.

I love good music. I love tight harmonies. I love live music and acoustic music. I guess this is why I last weekend was so wonderful. The University of Pennsylvania radio station, WXPN-FM,  hosts a live music event every year. It has become the highlight of my summer. It starts on a Friday night at 5:00 PM and goes until 9:00 PM or so on Sunday evening – more than 25 hours of great, live music. You can bring in coolers with food and non-alcoholic beverages although you can purchase all kinds of food and beverages, as well as craft items and clothing. The cost for this festival – $30, if you’re a member of the radio station. 30 bucks for 3 days of the best live music you’ll ever hear in one weekend! And the best thing about the weekend is that because it’s so affordable, you can go with family and friends and share the experience of hearing old favorites and finding new favorites.

So thinking of live music and Carly Simon got me to thinking of another Simon sister, Lucy Simon, Carly’s older sister who is also a songwriter and composer. In fact, she composed the score of the Broadway musical, The Secret Garden. This is what I’ve been anticipating lately:

 

Rehearsals began at the end of June. This was the first blocking rehearsal for this scene and the quality isn’t great because I used my Crackberry. I can’t wait until we open in September. It will be fun to go back and compare this scene to the final product!

I am really blessed to be able to do so many things that I enjoy. I’m praying that I never get so old or grumpy that these joys become a burden. Shows are a lot of work and a huge time commitment. The relationships that are formed make the teamwork and creativity that are required easier to handle. Many times over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve regretted having to leave my family and friends to go to a rehearsal. I haven’t been down the shore once this summer. I’m not sure if I’ll have an opportunity to get down there between rehearsal schedules for two shows, a wedding and my full-time job (even though we’re on summer hours right now).

Still, I’m looking forward to the next few months. I’ll post updates as we make progress.

Late

35 years ago I was waiting expectantly for the birth of our first and, may I add, only child. This was the day set by the doctor when he ciphered out the due date. As it turned out, our son was three days late. It wasn’t a big deal. First children are often late.

Had he been born today, he would have shared a birthday with people like Wilbur Wright, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Ustinov, Henry Mancini, Herbie, Mann, Dusty Springfield Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Martin Lawrence.

On Saturday, he’ll be 34 which alternately freaks me out and excites me. It seems like just yesterday – oh whatever – you totally get it, right?

So he shares the day with TIm Curry, Paloma Picasso, Jayne Mansfield, Dudley Moore, Al Unser Jr., Ashley Judd, Hayden Christensen and Maria Sharapova.

I have a recurring dream that I’m in school, its the end of the semester and I’m late for an exam – an exam for a class that I’ve never attended. I can’t even find the classroom.

I’m not sure what this means but I’m glad I have a 34 year old son – even though that can’t possibly be the right age?

June Weddings

We recently attended our nephew’s wedding. It was a splendid affair, tastefully organized with wonderful food and beverages and the customary crappy DJ. It was an event to be remembered, for sure. My husband’s family was together for the first time in more years than I care to cipher. A misunderstanding, an over-reaction, a falling-out – all contributed to the separation. The love of my nephew and his bride may have begun the healing process… at least in this camp.

In any case, it provided an opportunity for our family in Florida to come north and the New England contingent to come south. We had a great visit with my sister-in-law, Robin, her husband, Dave, and their son, Todd. Our house was their base of operation and Shel managed to take a few days off so we did a little sight-seeing in Philly.  We spent some time in the Constitution Center and went to see the Liberty Bell. I can’t wait until they have the President’s House presentation.

While in the Liberty Bell Pavilion, I got to hear an old favorite. You might recognize the Liberty Bell March by John Philip Sousa as the Monty Python Theme. 

Dooner came in from Brooklyn and took Todd to a Triathlon Expo in Fairmount Park and to Manayunk to see the Wall and eat a cheesesteak. In fact, cheesesteaks seemed to be the theme of the weekend with Todd determined to eat a cheesesteak each day that he was here. He nearly accomplished this feat with Dave joining him in a close second.

We also spent time with other family members, joining them for lunch at Champ’s after a spa opportunity while the guys golfed. We met for dinner and then again the next night for dinner.

Everyone behaved for the most part which is, admittedly, an accomplishment. It appeared that most everyone had fun.

I’ll let you judge.

Relay for Life 2008