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Take Me Away

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

It has been a distressing week here and across the world for many reasons. These troubles have been the subject of extensive reporting so I won’t go into those matters now. Instead, I would like to acknowledge the incredible work that everyone has been doing in Australia to respond to the growing Delta outbreak here.

The New South Wales government has made some mistakes which has allowed the virus to grow exponentially. We don’t know whether it would have been possible to contain it anyway, but they hesitated. This, however, in no way diminishes the huge effort of frontline and other essential workers, as well as Sydney residents who are turning out to get vaccinated, to try to minimise infections. Thank you all. Great jab.

Many will know that the Sydney outbreak has made its way to Canberra. Here in Canberra, we have just completed our first week of quiet time and movement restrictions. Canberrans have been re-organising their lives, monitoring the growing number of exposure sites, getting tested and otherwise staying at home.

I don’t often heap praise on politicians, but I hope you forgive me this one indulgence. I have been greatly impressed by the responsiveness and swift actions of our local government to keep Canberrans safe. It has been a huge effort and I really, really appreciate it. Of course, I cannot speak for those who have been in quarantine after having caught the virus or who have been a close or casual contact. Our youngest son’s timing was impeccable, missing “the excitement” by a mere hour. Commiserations to those who haven’t been so lucky. I hope you have friends and family who can keep the chips and chocolates flowing to you.

Speaking of chips and chocolates, my eldest son who is in his mid 20s, got tired of waiting for the Pfizer vaccine, so he got the AstraZeneca yesterday. He rang my GP and it took him less than 24 hours to get an appointment to get the jab. Despite my other son’s lucky escape, he has decided to wait for the former. It will be an experiment to see who is fully vaccinated first. There is one thing for sure, and that is, whoever wins will have to go out and get the chips and chocolates. Given the difficulties in obtaining grocery deliveries, I wonder whether this is a reason some people are breaking quarantine in Sydney?

Anyway, I need to turn off the wondering and the wandering for a while. Let’s have a song. Is Norah Jones singing Come Away With Me acceptable? Take us away, Norah.

Stay safe, stay sane, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Canaries, Currawongs and Cockatoos

No canaries were harmed in this story.

Shall we have a story about what really happens at Tracy’s house? It is a difficult story to tell because I’m not sure we are doing the right thing by our pet canary. He used to be one of a small flock of house canaries. The little flock had a lovely life together, with free flight across the lounge room, luxurious baths, fresh greens picked for them from the garden, and seed treats, before being tucked into their cages for the night. Life was rosy but, like us, the little birds got old, until, only one, Pan of the wild song, remained.

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A Busy Week Already

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I’ve almost run out of groceries (no bread or milk left) as I normally get them on Thursday or Friday. Food doesn’t last long in my house with three men and one anxious, stress-eater woman residing therein. I knew I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but the sun was shining so I walked instead. So of course, a Covid case turned up in Canberra (Australia) today – the first local to Canberra case of community transmission in over a year. Anyhoo, this afternoon Canberra went into a snap 7-day lockdown with only a few hours notice. As soon as I heard the news, I dashed across town to get the fish for the dog with the copper storage disease. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the shopping centre because it was a shit-fight for parking (and no doubt shopping trolleys) so I returned home instead. I also briefly cruised past the little local shopping centre I often frequent but it was pandemonium there too. I did manage to get some Turkish bread from the local takeaway so the lads should be good for a day or so.

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On Your Marks

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Let’s get physical, ladies and gentlemen. No, that’s not the song.

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The Changing Seasons – July 2021

Canberra (Australia) – Silver, Silver, Silver! It’s been another chilly month of rain and silver hues. Dreadful weather for photography really.

One bracing morning, the Crested Pigeons were hunkered down in patches of weak sunlight. Everything about the photographic conditions was terrible, but you will get the general idea.

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Absent Friends

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

In July 2019, I participated in the Share Your Music Challenge – one song every day that month. At the end of the month, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had managed to make it through the challenge and was ready to hang up my air guitar. One of my Canadian readers urged me to keep going and so my Friday Song Day and a musical exchange began. This interaction brought me great joy.

These days I have fewer Canadian readers – death, old age, illness, pandemics, caring responsibilities, other commitments, etc, have intervened. For several weeks I have been concerned for my musical buddies, Sid and J. Today I have chosen a musical piece for them both and their loved ones. The piece is Ravel’s Miroirs III – Une Barque sur L’Ocean, performed by renowned Canadian pianist André Laplante.

This beautiful piece and performance is a gift to us all. I know Sid and J would approve. Enjoy.

Let kindness and compassion be your legacy, ladies and gentlemen.

Love to you all.
Tracy.

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Hold The Line

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

Who is an essential worker? That is the question that the New South Wales Premier has refused to answer. Politics! Meanwhile, cases of the Delta variant grow in Sydney (Australia). The Premier is not personally to blame for the increase in cases, but it would be helpful if she could say who should stay at home under her government’s lockdown provisions. I am sure she will get around to it soon because she is a sensible woman. A few more people may have to die first before official advice is given.

I send all my love to family and friends in Sydney. Thinking of you. You can do this. My thoughts are also with all those in hospital at the moment and with the families who have lost loved ones to Covid.

Today, we need a big song. This is for everyone in Sydney and other parts of the world who are dealing with the horrors of Covid at the moment. The song is Hold The Line by Toto.

Stay safe, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Photo Credit: J Bar, Fairfield Railway Station, Wikimedia Commons

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Black And White Mental Health Day

Needing a distraction, I have taken to Photoshop to bring you a couple of black and white thingys in response to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Black And White.

Our host, Anne, has asked us to explain how we’ve processed the photos. I’ve only got a couple of photos for this challenge because my aim is to stay off the computer as much as possible due to injury. Both photos were originally taken in colour. As I don’t have any fancy editing software, I used basic Photoshop to convert both to black and white. Let’s see how I went.

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