94 in August. ‘Nuff said.
WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
![See you later, Joe [To improve your day and general outlook, RTWT]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Joseph-Heller-Jr-241x300.jpg "See you later, Joe [To improve your day and general outlook, RTWT]")
Welcome to the New American Digest: 2001-2022
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
by Shel Silverstein
The steel mill sky is alive.
The fire breaks white and zigzag
shot on a gun-metal gloaming.
Man is a long time coming.
Man will yet win.
Brother may yet line up with brother:
This old anvil laughs at many broken hammers.
There are men who can’t be bought.
The fireborn are at home in fire.
The stars make no noise,
You can’t hinder the wind from blowing.
Time is a great teacher.
Who can live without hope?
In the darkness with a great bundle of grief
the people march.
In the night, and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people
march:
“Where to? what next?”
— Carl Sandberg
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Diana Panton covers this beautifully. If you close your eyes, you can see her gently rock a sleeping wee bairnie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBSuxSQQkFE
I loved the boat people and the gorgeous boats. Lots of lovelies and some adult beverages on a warm summer day in a beautiful place and not a single negro or purple haired tattooed soul amongst ’em. If they’re watching that oughta tell them something, eh.
I do remember those days and being involved with girls like those when I was a healthy young buck; they were fine and so much fun and although chasing those fine creatures was literally an endless endeavor I had to hang it up at around 55. I just got bored but then I met a beautiful little red-headed keeper who put a bow on me and made me incredibly happy.
But still, I do remember….
Gerard very often posts the “Boomer Ballads”, rock hits from when I and many others here were young, and stoned. I love most of those tunes, even though I’m tired of them.
But there are the pop songs like “Fly Me to the Moon”, and others as well that were hits before the Beatles, and then the psychedelic thing took over. I don’t do it often, but sometimes when I get a buzz going and I’m feeling nostalgic I find myself clicking on this song, “More”, “Volare”, “Guantanamera”, Moon River”, “That’s Life”, “The Shelter of Your Arms”, and a lot of others that my twenty something year old self would have been embarrassed to leave on the AM radio when we were cruising the boulevard. These numbers tap a deeper well of memory, and call me back to a much better time.
This recording actually brought me to tears.
Thanks.
JWM
Tony does a nice version of the old standard “Time After Time”
@jwm,
I’m in the same boat. I love the music from the 40s and 50s – Jazz and Blues and the crooners. I have recently discovered an amazing young jazz singer who covers a lot of them. She has published 130+ videos so far. Here is her version of Fly Me to the Moon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf2OjlOBGVY
This is her cover channel which lists all of her work to date. I say to date because she’s only 14, going on some indeterminate age that fits in with the best jazz club you ever imagined.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2v8kgVeo4EbQD6l_WAVjOfItquzW7oEc