Yesterday

Yesterday.

One of the great songs of the Beatles was "Yesterday".

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly I'm not halve the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly

This song is endless; it applies to today and memories of yesterday with memories of both times in our lives. It takes me back to my youth when I was out of my head in love but that time of my life was so bitter sweet. My love was an alcoholic; he would be loving and kind one day and then turn on me the next day being cruel and mean. His father was an alcoholic and he beat his wife until she cowered in her corner.  When you are raised with an abusive father who took his anger out on your mother - well, it does something to your insides and distorts how life should be in a family.

I need to end on a upbeat note.  I created these tiny purple jade earrings. They will be on my Etsy shop soon. They are adorned with Lavender Swarovski crystals and made with sterling silver.

Xylophone from Europe

X  
Xylophone - that was what I thought I was hearing from this Hungarian Dancing Group who had come to our Folk Dance Festival. Only their instrument had strings and was called a cimbolom (hammered dulcimer) which was played by using 12 inch pieces of metal that looked like tiny spoons.  The Hungarian who played the dulcimer was very talented; I was stunned. This was a heavy wooden instrument which they had shipped to America for the Folk Festivals. They played their own music for their dancers.

Dulcimer

Xylophone

I've also seen some very talented people who play xylophones.  They are gifted as was my father.  My father played the accordion, the piano, the organ or anything that had keys. He played by ear (not his real ear but by sound) and he also read music. I wonder if he ever heard one of these dulcimers.

These are typical hungarian costumes that the ladies wore but the most interesting part of their costume was the back where they wore something under their skirts to give each woman a small bustle.  I've seen no other country do this unique feature. The only bustle I ever heard about was fashion ware in the 1890s.

Wind Creates Havoc

Wind created havoc across the United States last night.  There were tornado warnings and 100 mile an hour winds in Wisconsin.  I am very fortunate that I live in an area where tornados don't touch down.  One did touch down once in Salt Lake City about 10 years ago taking out four 100 year old trees, a crane, windows in a high rise hotel, an enormous tent for a convention and damaged a roof on a house as it left the valley. No one was hurt.  Fifteen years one touched down in the middle of the Salt Lake causing a water spout but it left within 3 minutes.

We get wind storms sometimes up to 70 miles an hour that takes out trees, blow semi-trucks over but usually it is pretty calm here.  Last night, however, we also had wind that took out another portion of my neighbors gigantic willow tree. Last winter I had one third of the tree taking up 75 percent of my backyard and so again I now have another third of the tree covering my backyard.

Hello tree. I am glad I have nothing for it to fall on except grass.
Five years ago one of my quaking aspen trees blew down blocking the whole street.  I did not realize that these trees grew so tall.

I have a buyer for these earrings too before I put them on my Etsy shop:

They are a twisted coral.

Very very pale

Very very pale - that is what I first thought when I saw this carrot that I pulled out from a full bag of orange carrots yesterday.  In fact, it was not just pale but yellow.  It smelled like a carrot. I have never seen a yellow carrot but to my other shock and amazement, there it was.  My first thought was to through it away.  Then I looked on the internet and found that there are many colors of carrots including a deep red and a purple and that the yellow carrot has been around since the 11th century.  Who would have known?  Not me. Would you dare to taste one?  I am still deciding.

Mother nature has lots of surprises for us.

I have two Very pale pink flying pigs which I turned into earrings.  They are cute!

Unique

Unique:  We live in a wonderful world full of uniqueness.  Mother nature gave us so many unique sights that we cannot capture all of them even on a camera, but we do try.  Another artist took this gorgeous photo of trees reflections.  I was going to add it to the T section of the alphabet challenge but forgot.

Time in a Bottle

Time in a Bottle.  Does anyone remember this song? It is one of those classics that takes me back in time.  I remember sitting in my new red Pontiac Lemans in Anchorage, Alaska feeling rather lonely. I drove the famous Al-Can (Alaska Canadian) hi-way from British Columbia, Canada by myself. Well, first off the Al-Can Hiway is not a fully paved road - only parts of it on the southern end and northern end.  The parts in the middle are dirt and gravel so you can't drive fast on it or you'd end up in the ditch.  It was like driving a roller coaster - ups and downs, twists and turns for miles and miles.  Tiny pine trees grew by the thousands as far as the eye could see; the weather is so harsh in that area that they seem to be miniaturized.

Jim Croce wrote " If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you"

I was sitting there listening to Jim Croce sing when all of a sudden some guy knocked on my window.  He was so excited to see someone with Idaho plates that he was about to bust a blood vessel.  We talked for a while and our subject turned to Jim Croce who was his all time favorite singer at the time.  Can you believe it, I cannot remember the guy's name but I remember the event.  He was one of the first guys that I met in Alaska.  I was so homesick and I had driven all the way to Anchorage from Boise, Idaho.  It was a long trip and one that I won't forget.

Savior

Savior: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.  He will gather us together when the time is right.  No man knows the day or the time that he will return. Do not be fooled by false prophets who proclaim to know.  Blessed are those who have faith and know their Savior.