Memory Lane and the River of Life

Here it is Hump Day already, my how the time flies.  At least I am up before noon today unlike yesterday.  I am going to meet my brother over at Mother's house to let the medical air supply people pick up their equipment and go through some things.  He said he found an old photo of me in the Navy along with my dog tags.  Mother had told me she found my dog tags, however I had just never got them from her.  There will probably be a lot of tripping down Memory Lane as we sort through things.  This will not be the only day devoted to going through things, but it will be a start.  Mother's house has 4 bedrooms overflowing with the gatherings of a long lifetime and it will take us a while to make it through the whole thing.  

We are going to empty her freezer today and turn that off to cut down on the power bill while we are getting the house ready to sell.  In addition to the 4 bedrooms there is also the garage, the attic and Daddy's little workshop out back to work our way through.  I am sure while we are tripping down Memory Lane there will be emotional highs and lows, a little laughter and some tears along with more than a little hard work.  Sort of like white water rafting on the rapids in the River of Life as it continues to flow into the future.  I better wear my life jacket and hold on tight, there will surely be some rough stretches before all is said and done.  C'est la vie.   

Your midweek Musical Moment features the music of Giuseppe Tartini who was an Italian baroque violinist/composer who took up the violin while taking a sabbatical at the Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi.  Tartini was the first known owner of a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1715, which Tartini bestowed upon his student Salvini, who in turn bestowed it to Karol Lipiński upon hearing him perform, from which it derives its moniker, the Lipinski Stradivarius. He also owned and played the Antonio Stradivarius violin ex-Vogelweith from 1711.  Today's selections are from the first disc of a two CD set of Sonatas for Violin, Cello and Harpsichord, Opus 1 and 2 recorded by Enrico Gatti on Violin, Gaetano Nasillo on Cello and Guido Morini on Harpsichord.  Only about a decade separates the Op. 1 and Op. 2 sets of violin sonatas, selections from which rest comfortably on this pair of CDs. The first set was written after the death of Arcangelo Corelli, whose example, a quarter century down the road, still exerted strong influence in the realm of the solo sonata even after new breezes were blowing in the realm of ensemble music. The second set of sonatas, which you may hear over on my tumblr, is more melodic and involves more interaction between soloist and continuo, with Vivaldi as a more important model.  A complete play list for both CD's can be found here. 

Since Hump Day is also Wet Wednesday, there is a cool collection of hot, hale and hearty lads splashing about the pools, beaches and baths of the world for you to peruse as cruise down the page after the video.  Additional slippery when wet sultry sexiness can be found in the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Deja Vu And A Walk Down Memory Lane

I had one of those deja vu moments today. I was cruising around the web when something reminded me of Michael J. Fox and his role in the movie For Love or Money. That is the movie where he plays a Concierge in the Bradbury Hotel who dreams of opening his own hotel on Roosevelt Island in New York. It is a romantic little tale that has the happy ending we all look for in a movie such as this. It is one of my favorite romantic comedies. I continued surfing the web but around 4 o'clock I got up and turned on the TV to HBO and what do you think came on, of course it was For Love or Money. I watched the whole movie and enjoyed every minute of it. I have always been a sucker for a good romance for as you know I lay claim to the title of hopeless romantic. I believe I got that from my dad, who fell hopelessly in love with my mother and remained so until his death in July of 1996. The story of how he and my mother met will always bring a sweet tear of joyful romance to my eye.

As I was selecting photographs for tonight's eye candy section, I went into Picasa2 and started the selection process. In Picasa2 you can upload 4 photos at a time to blogger, so when I pick out the photos, I save each group as a draft by the date and a sequential letter of the alphabet, then combine them into one draft so that I can post them in the order I would like them to be. As I saved the first draft, 0406a, it struck me that today is my dad's birthday. If he were alive he would be 84 today. So I would like to tell you a little more about my dad.

My dad was born on this day in 1923 in San Antonio, Tx. He came of age during the great depression and attended Technical High School in Fort Worth, Tx, which I also attended, graduating shortly prior to the start of WWII. He too was a sailor, joining the Navy and serving in that war. He returned Fort Worth after the war, where he worked for a time at the old Lone Star Steel Company on Hemphill Street. Across the street from the steel company was a drug store where a pretty red headed girl worked. He was immediately stricken and wanted to find a way to meet her, he being a bit shy. You know how it is when you are awestruck around someone you are immediately attracted to. Well, my dad bribed the manager of the drug store with a steak dinner for the introduction to my mom, and it worked, sort of. My mom was only 17 at the time and refused to go out on a date with him until she turned 18. On her 18th birthday, they had their first date, beginning a whirlwind romance that culminated in their marriage 5 months later. He remained in love with my mother until the day he died. My mother is still in love with him to this day. When she passes, they will meet in heaven and continue loving each other for eternity.

In prior posts I have outlined many things with which I have disagreed with my parents about, but the fact of their love for each other was never a question in my mind. Their marriage had its ups and downs, but they saw everything through together with love for each other and their children. My dad worked hard all his life in the construction industry and provided for us to the best of his ability. He was a Christian man, having his conversion experience when I was a teenager. He was not a saint but he taught me many lessons just by the living of his life observing the tenets of his faith. He was always the one to seek me out and bring me back to the fold when I in my search for myself got lost wandering. He knew me and knew that I was Gay before I knew what sex was. Yet he never stopped loving me and before he died he told me he was proud of me. I still miss him and there have been many times I have wished he was still here to help me sort out some of the things that have occurred in my life.

My dad was strongly opinionated and somewhat stubborn in which I am like unto him. A staunch democrat who actively participated in the political process. He also worked actively in the church and with my mother supported all the activities we boys involved ourselves in. The one thing that got us in the most trouble as kids was sassing my mother or showing her disrespect. That was a sure path to the proverbial wood shed. He would find ingenious little ways to show my mother how much he loved her proving time and again that true love can bear all things. I have always hoped to find such a love in my own life though I have been eminently unsuccessful so far. That has not stopped me from being a romantic or lessened my hope that one day love will find me. So for this day, I just want to say "Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you very much and hope to see you again one day."

To close the post I found this video today posted on Undress Me Gently and it fits the romantic mood for today. It is scenes from Brokeback Mountain set to I Know How The River Feels by Diamond Rio. The eye candy section will immediately follow the video. So until next time as always, Enjoy!

All photos processed with Picasa2