Song Lyric Sunday: Leaving on a Jet Plane

The first song that came to my mind when I heard that the Song Lyric Sunday direction for this week was to post a song that is associated with a happy memory was Peter, Paul and Mary’s Leaving on a Jet Plane. I saw them perform in an outdoor amphitheater sometime after I moved to Seattle in the late sixties. I think the concert was held in southern Washington. Even though I don’t remember when or where I saw them, it is a treasured memory.

Leaving on a Jet Plane was written in 1966 by John Denver. Peter, Paul and Mary started singing it in 1967. The song became their biggest hit.

Lyrics

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin’, it’s early morn
Taxi’s waiting, he’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go

I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

There’s so many times I’ve let you down
So many times I’ve played around
I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing

Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back, I’ll wear your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go

I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, I’ll be on my way

Dream about the days to come
When I won’t have to leave alone
About the time, I won’t have to say

Kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go

I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Even More Pink

I decided to make a separate gallery for some of the pink flowers I’ve seen in India.

And last, but not least, a pink bear that I used in a fun post (An Early Morning Mystery) I wrote in November 2014.

Pink

Pink, Pink and More Pink

(Click gallery to enlarge the photos.)

Pink

Cee’s Oddball Challenge

I thought that this photo fit well for an “Oddball” challenge. It shows part of a toilet that was found inside the foundation of a house that has been covered by blackberry vines and other debris for more than 50 years. The toilet didn’t even budge when I tried to dig it out, so it must still be connected to some part of the plumbing system.

These items were discovered close to the toilet.

Daily Prompt: Perfume

I have been working so much in the Greenbelt that I have neglected my own yard. Last week, I temporarily changed my priorities.

Yesterday afternoon, I spread cedar chips in the walkways. Their smell is like perfume to me.

Note 1: The flower petals are falling from the magnolia tree above.
Note 2: There is no part of this area that is finished but I hope the photos gave you a glimpse of what it is becoming.

Daily Prompt: Perfume

Roots, Roots and More Roots

I laughed when I read that the April 26 Daily Post prompt was Roots. My life is filled with roots. I even dream about roots.

Our local GreenFriends group has taken on the responsibility of restoring four lots in Seattle’s Greenbelt. That land has been overrun by blackberries and ivy for decades. Part of our job in phase one of the project is to remove the blackberry vines and their root-balls.

The City of Seattle Parks Department staff cut down most of the blackberry vines in March. There are now thousands of canes sticking up from the ground. They lead us to the root-balls.

Raking up the debris makes it easier for us to see the canes and to dig out the root-balls.

Once we dig them out we put them on racks so they can dry out.

I suspect that blackberry root-balls will be in my life for years-to-come.

To read more about this project go to Greenbelt Restoration Project Update

Song Lyric Sunday: Flashdance- What a Feeling

When I first read that Helen’s prompt for Song Lyric Sunday this week was “80’s music”, I thought I wouldn’t have anything to contribute. As I explored the music from that decade though, I realized I knew many of the songs. The one I chose was Flashdance: What a Feeling sung by Irene Cara. That 1983 movie and song are etched into my memory. I was even able to find a YouTube clip of the final dance.

Lyrics

First when there’s nothing
But a slow glowing dream
That your fear seems to hide
Deep inside your mind

All alone I have cried
Silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel
Made of stone

Well, I hear the music
Close my eyes, feel the rhythm
Wrap around
Take a hold of my heart

What a feeling
Bein’s believin’
I can have it all
Now I’m dancing for my life

Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive
You can dance right through your life

Now I hear the music
Close my eyes, I am rhythm
In a flash
It takes hold of my heart

What a feeling
Bein’s believin’
I can have it all
Now I’m dancing for my life

Take your passion
And make it happen
Pictures come alive
You can dance right through your life
What a feeling

What a feeling
(I am music now)
Bein’s believin’
(I am rhythm now)
Pictures come alive
You can dance right through your life

What a feeling
(I can really have it all)
What a feeling
(Pictures come alive when I call)
I can have it all
(I can really have it all)
Have it all
(Pictures come alive when I call)
(Call, call, call, call)

(What a feeling)
I can have it all
(Bein’s believin’)
Bein’s believin’
(Take your passion)

(Make it happen)
Make it happen
(What a feeling)
What a feeling
(Bein’s believin’)
Happen
(Take your passion)

Songwriters
CARA, IRENE / MORODER, GIORGIO / FORSEY, KEITH

Movie
Produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer/Directed by Adrian Lyne

Wordless Wednesday

Shades of Green

I could fill post after post with shades of green, but decided to limit my contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge to three of my favorite photos.

Song Lyric Sunday: How Could Anyone Ever Tell You

As soon as I finished my entry for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, another song came to mind. That song, How Could Anyone Ever Tell You, was written and recorded by Libby Roderic in 1990. I first heard it at a psychotherapy intensive and have used it in my psychotherapy practice from time to time since then.

The version in this post was recorded by Shaina Noll in 1992. It is part of Shaina’s CD, Songs for the Inner Child. She wrote this about that album.

The inspiration to record this collection of songs came to me one night as I was singing my children to sleep. As I sat rocking my youngest child, I realized that the singing my children found so calming and nourishing could extend beyond their rooms. I was doing inner child work at the time, personally and in my practice as a counselor. I suspected that the experience of being sung to could be deeply healing for many of the adults I knew. I felt instinctively that the songs my husband and I had been singing to our children could be a blessing to a wider audience.

As you listen to the song, imagine it is being sung to you.

Lyrics

How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful
How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole
How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle
How deeply you’re connected to my Soul…