Everyday Living

Music Makes Pictures

~ Music, Outdoors, Travel

Hello sweet friends!  Most of the time when you land here, you can expect to hear from yours truly…but today we are swapping it up a bit!  Many of our new readers may not realize that Everyday Living Blog was the brainchild of my sweet hubby!  He bought the domain several years back, and due to his very busy schedule, I decided to take it and run with it in 2014!   I often refer to him as my Renaissance Man because he is truly multi-talented…a gifted singer, songwriter, and guitarist to just name a few!  He chimes in and writes a post every once in a while, and you’re in for a real treat today as he takes over!  Butch’s unique gift of storytelling sheds much light on our everyday living!

“Music makes pictures and often tells stories”….. The pictures we share today were inspired by music as it was music that recently brought us to Aspen, Colorado. Music is a major part of our everyday living and perhaps this is true for you as well. We all likely have songs that stir within us sweet memories and immediately transport us to another time and another place. There are special events, occasions, and seasons in our lives where moments are relived through music. For us, a few days in Aspen for the John Denver Celebration was as close as we can get to going back in time to the 1970’s and our early years together. John’s music was and remains very special to us. We love his music as much today as we did back then. 

  I was 12 when my grandparents took me on a trip to visit my great aunt in Colorado Springs.  It was the summer of 1963. I had never seen anything like those mountains and it changed me forever. It was late June and Papa drove us to the top of Pikes Peak. My shorts and tee shirt failed me since it was about 30 and snowing. I never dreamed I’d ever get to go back. But in 1975, Pam and I were blessed with an opportunity to return to Colorado and made our way to Aspen. We had been married a little over two years and had heard John live in concert for the first time only a couple of months prior. We heard him numerous times over the next 22 years, including once in 1997. His music had impacted our lives and would forever be a part of things we love and things we share. We even made our way to Starwood in Aspen but decided we should not hang around long for fear of getting in trouble for being on private property!  Young and foolish might describe that trip but it’s a wonderful memory. 

  It was a beautiful October day in the Rockies. Pam had not been in Aspen since October 1975.
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Music & Memories

~ Everyday Living, Music

 A song can paint a picture, and transform our thoughts, attitudes, and feelings like nothing else.  Music has the ability to take us to another time and another place instantly as the first notes reach our ears.  We are suddenly back into our own unique story, briefly experiencing something special, and for a few moments it’s yesterday once more. We all probably have hundreds of songs that carry us away to the land of memories.

We live in a wonderful time where if a song has been recorded and we want it, we can usually get it easily! ITunes, Youtube,…you name it and it’s probably there!  As fortunate as we are to have the ability to have thousands of recordings on the device of our choice, there’s still nothing quite like a live performance.

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A few weeks ago, Butch and I took a little road trip to Nashville, the music capital of the US.  We often go for business, but this trip was for the sole purpose of seeing a singer/songwriter that we began listening to in our early teens…one that I first saw perform as a starry-eyed 13 year-old in Birmingham, AL.
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Spring “Cleaning”

~ Decorating, Faith, Food & Entertaining, Gardening, Grandmother, Music, Travel

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19:20-21‬ ‭

It’s that time of year…a lot of us have kicked it in to high gear cleaning out closets, wiping down baseboards, and organizing our pantry.  It’s a good time to free up drawer space and donate those gently used items to charity. What is it about spring that makes us want to clean?  It means cleaning windows and moldings, and an overall organizing of our home.

I come across as a very organized person because I wear a lot of different hats, but the truth is that I just fly by the seat of my pants!  And most of you bloggers will understand when I say there’s a time to clean up our devices…and for me, that means filtering through the thousands of pictures on my iPad. Yes, I said thousands!  I am that girl that has ten photos of the same shot and can’t find it in me to send any to the trash!  I began working on this little spring cleaning project on Tuesday and I am happy to report I have cleaned out over 1500 photos (can I get a pat on the back?!).  As I have taken the time to do that, of course, you re-live so many sweet memories that pictures bring back to you.  I thought in keeping it real on the blog, it might be fun to share a few with you that I kept…and the story behind them!

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I take photos of flowers anytime, anyplace…I don’t even remember where this was taken!

Yes, another castle on our travels…swords and armor!
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