This will be short and sweet.
I finished my 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo this afternoon. Of course, that does not mean the novel is complete – I just reached 50,000 words in 30 days. It was a push at the end because I sloughed off in the middle and lost a couple of days of writing.
I am feeling accomplished.
30 days of InkTober and 30 days of NaNoWriMo in the books!
Tomorrow I hope to just enjoy the festivities surrounding the holidays – locked down of course!
The prompt from Jim this week is to find a song that features the affectionate animal prompts of Bird/Cat/Dog/Fish/Pet.
The first song that came to mind for me is “Songbird” written and performed by Christine McVie of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie is one of the three vocalists in the band and also serves as their keyboardist. She is known for her contralto voice and her powerful lyrics.
The song was written in 1976 and released as the B-side of the single “Dreams”. It was released in 1977 on the “Rumors” album and is often used to close out their concerts. There are a few stories floating about the meaning of the song, but it has been said the song got the band through some of their most trying times.
This song is often sung at weddings as well as funerals the words far-reaching in their simplicity.
“Songbird” came to Christine in the middle of the night when she woke with the song in her head. She wrote the entire song in half an hour and knew it was a powerful song. From Songfacts.com:
She recalled to Mojo in 2015: “Stevie and I were in a condominium block and the boys were all in the Sausalito Record Plant house raving with girls and boozer and everything. I had a little transistorised electric piano next to my bed and I woke up one night at about 3.30am and started playing it. I had all, words, melody, chords in about 30 minutes. It was like a gift from the angels, but I had no way to record it. I thought I’m never gonna remember this. So I went back to bed, and couldn’t sleep. I wrote the words down quickly.”
“Next day, I went into the studio shaking like a leaf’ cos I knew it was something special. I said, ‘Ken, (Caillat, Rumours‘ co-producer/engineer) put the 2-track on, I want to record this song!’ I think they were all in there, smoking opium.”
This song was also recorded by American singer Eva Cassidy and was released posthumously on the album of the same name “Songbird”. Her soprano voice was a perfect instrument for this song. The story of Eva Cassidy is a sad one but thankfully her voice lives on. If you do not know her work, please listen to some of her music. She has a hauntingly beautiful voice.
Songbird (Fleetwood Mac Version)
Lyrics from: Songfacts.com
For you, there’ll be no more crying.
For you, the sun will be shining.
And I feel that when I’m with you,
It’s alright, I know it’s right.
To you, I’ll give the world.
To you, I’ll never be cold.
‘Cause I feel that when I’m with you,
It’s alright, I know it’s right.
And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score.
And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before.
And I wish you all the love in the world.
But most of all, I wish it from myself.
And the songbirds keep singing, like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before, like never before, like never before.
Why not join in on this Sunday blogging ritual. Head over to Jim Adams’ blog to check out the rules and read some of the great responses to the weekly prompt.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you every week by Linda Hill. Check out her blog for the rules and the contribution of other bloggers.
This week’s prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “opt.” Use it as a word or find a word with “opt” in it and base your post on that. Have fun!
Glasses. What would I do without them? Fall over a lot of things I imagine. They are critical for me to read, write, recognize people, and of course drive but they do pose their own set of problems.
The latest problem is mask wearing. My glasses fog up a lot! Not optimal for seeing let me tell you. I know all the tricks, but still, they fog up.
Back when I was taking a lot of photography lessons, they also posed problems. Especially when I took a class in large format photography. When you take photos with one of those camera, the image is upside down and reversed. Now one would think that doesn’t pose a problem, but focusing the image precisely was difficult. Many people who wore glasses often took them off to focus. Unfortunately, that was not an option for me.
When I bought my digital Nikon D70 (my first digital camera) focusing was still a problem so I relied more and more on autofocus. Blech. Real photographers don’t rely on autofocus, or so my instructors said. The truth is, autofocus requires a sharp edge to allow the autofocus to work correctly. That’s why you often see images of soft subjects slightly out of focus.
Now I loved this camera, but wearing glasses again made it difficult to focus through the viewfinder. Then, magically one day I discovered my camera had a diopter setting in the viewfinder. (See what you discover when you read the manual!) This setting allows for a slight adjustment so many people can focus the camera without wearing their glasses. I needed my glasses, but it helped immensely.
The optics in cameras are amazing but our human limitations still come into play. I learned later on I could actually order a corrective lens for my camera. Who knew?
It is the last Friday of the month of November and the day after Thanksgiving in America – a perfect time to share the good news happening throughout the world.
We all know 2020 has been difficult. So much loss. So many companies and businesses going out of business and so many personal celebrations cancelled.
So where’s the good news? Well, some of it lies with a couple that decided to cancel their plans for a lovely wedding reception because of the pandemic. They married without the normal hoopla but the deposit for the caterer was non-refundable.
That’s when they decided to use that money to purchase 200 meals to help a local non-profit provide a nice Thanksgiving meal for their clients.
Want to read more good news or join in the effort to contribute to the spreading of good news throughout the world?
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in America. I read an article about all the empty chairs that will be around America’s tables this year. It is sobering to consider what the loss of over a quarter of a million people means to families across our country. The numbers are so large now we use words like ‘over’ and I often to think about how many individual families are contained in that four-letter word.
It is Staggering.
Yet, this holiday is meant for us to think about what we have to be thankful and grateful for and I do have a lot. With such a difficult year, it is easy to lose track of that.
For those of you that lost friends and loved ones to the pandemic, my heart breaks along with yours. I wish I had words that might bring you comfort and truly express my heartfelt sadness for your loss.
I have hope for what lies ahead for us. Hope that our country will find its center again. Many of us have felt so lost in the political mire of the current administration. There is much to heal from.
There appear to be three viable vaccines on the horizon. If we can continue the efforts and the struggle and find patience a little longer, perhaps we will see a better year ahead of us.
I am such a family oriented person this time has been particularly lonely for me. I am so thankful for the phone calls and videos and Zoom calls that have kept us in touch. I miss the hugs so much and when I think about it, I am so grateful they love me enough to stay at a distance and keep us safe.
My husband, my partner, my loving companion throughout this year – I do not know what I would have done with him. He made my world seem somewhat normal every day. To sit and chat over morning coffee, stretching the morning as long as possible has been a blessing. He created a space for me to make jewelry which has been wonderful. He has picked up the majority of our groceries and has cooked as many meals as I have. I am so thankful for him.
I have been fortunate to have a few very dear and very close friends I can call on at any time. It has been so comforting to know I have good friends only a phone call away. We laugh, we cry, we talk and sometimes silence even takes over for a few minutes. It is a good feeling to have this closeness when the world can seem so harsh.
My children delight me with texts and calls and it has helped us stay close. Sometimes it is just a photo or a funny meme, but it is also sometimes a deep and moving chat and those are the best. It is definitely a time to make the best of the hand we have been dealt.
And here? This blogging community? What a wonderful community of people. I definitely give thanks for all of you and the gifts you have brought into my life.
Yes, it has been a tough year. And one that will definitely go down in the history books. The holidays are upon us and my heart recalls so many precious memories of family and friends throughout the years. I hope we can all persevere a little longer so we can see more of those celebratory times in the future.
This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.
Maya Angelou
One Liner Wednesday is brought to us each week by Linda Hill. Check out Linda’s blog to see what others have to say with just one line.
fromcavewalls.wordpress.com 