THE JOY OF JAZZ

I love music! Jazz is one of my favorite genres. So much so, that one wall in my living room has a jazz theme. Framed jazz posters and my Dad’s trumpet hang on the wall. I also, am currently taking a class at the local community college called “The History of Jazz and Rock”. What a great class! I’ve learned a lot and now wish to learn even more. The instructor is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, funny and full of interesting trivia. He is also the conductor of the “Community Jazz Big Band” and the “Community Concert Band”. My sister and her husband recently sent me the book “Visions of Jazz” by Gary Giddins. Which I’m thrilled to have and anxious to begin reading it.





Aside: I recently dabbled in the Blues as I went to hear
Keb Mo perform...he put on a wonderful show.

Thought of the day: "Instant human, just add coffee."

Fall with Kids

I enjoy spending time with my youngest niece and nephews. One fall day, I took Billy and Emma out to gather acorns. They had a great time filling up their bags. Besides a fun activity with them, I had an ulterior motive... I wanted the acorns to be used in fall decorations at home. And hey, the kids are a lot closer to the ground than I am!!

Halloween is an obvious fall holiday...so I joined their mom in taking them “TRICK OR TREATING”. We went to the mall, a safe, weatherproof place where they can see lots of other kids. Emma was a “princess” and Billy was a “bat”. With bags loaded and heavy, we drove them home and Billy was asleep before we arrived. That trick or treating is hard work!





A few weeks later, I had to pull out my old school teacher tricks and so off we went again, this time to gather leaves, pods and small twigs, etc. I introduced them to leaf rubbings and wax paper pressed “windows”. Looks like I needed to have my flash on. But with kids you can’t get them to hold still long enough to take another shot.




Thought of the day: "Don't applaud, throw money."