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Leaving The Light On

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’m about to head off to my second medical appointment for the week. Not to worry, just routine stuff. Anyone who has had much interaction with the Australian medical system will appreciate how much the quality of that system depends on the health professionals from India who have made Australia their home. In the blogosphere, many of my readers are also from India or have extended family in India. One of my blogger friends from Delhi has told me that whatever we may be seeing about the Covid disaster there is only the tip of the iceberg. I am anxiously waiting an update.

I’m dedicating my song choice to all the people who have lost loved ones to Covid. The song, Edna’s Song, is written and sung by Ange Takats.

For Su’s Friday Flowers and song, see here.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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To Me

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 had picked a song for Friday but I decided to release it early (see here). So now I have had to come up with a song in a hurry. In that earlier post, for the first time I spoke about my age, kinda. But you probably had already guessed my approximate vintage because the clue is in my name. Tracies are of a certain era, aren’t they? In my experience, and I should know, they’re normally born in the 1960s.

Here is an old photo of my younger sister and me riding Lightning.

So back to us Tracies. We even have a song named after us. It is called Tracy and it is sung by The Cufflinks. Note the correct spelling. Shall we hear it?

Thanks for listening. But there’s more, Su from Zimmerbitch has also chimed in with one of my favourite songs (see here).

Take care, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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Time To Go

A Short Story

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Monday was her day to relax after the weekend hustle and bustle of family activities. Finally, alone! Before she had taken her first sip of coffee, the shrill ring of the phone pierces the late morning stillness. It was too good to be true. It was her father. “I’m coming over,” he says. She closes her eyes and sinks back into the chair. She didn’t even have time to make her excuses, not that she would have anyway.

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My Preciouses

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Precious Moments

It may come as a surprise to my readers that when I first started this blog some 3 or 4 years ago, I wasn’t at all interested in photography. I have now got thousands of photos and since I don’t have an electronic filing system, it is hard to find that “needle in a haystack” photo that I know would be perfect for a photo challenge. So today, I decided I would start from the back of my digital catalogue to select photos for the Precious Moments challenge. All but one of the photos are family snaps (including some images of family members that are now deceased). Where appropriate, I have included privacy screens (I’ve drawn in sunglasses) to protect the identity of the living. Let’s get started.

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Operatic

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 hear that singing is good for the lungs.  You can do it in the privacy of your own home, in a massed choir, or anywhere really.  It is multicultural and multi-generational.

Anonymous Doctor:

“Please don’t give in to fear, don’t amplify hatred or outrage or racism or disgust. Hold the line as a citizen of the moral community. Think of every tiny way that you can help others every day. And do it.”

Facts first.  Act.  Sing/Pray.

Anything else is inhumanity.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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The One We Truly Adore

Ladies and gentlemen, our little canary friend, Harry, has not been well of late and a few days ago, he took a turn for the worse.  We took him to the avian vet and were convinced by the vet that it was time.  We knew that of course, but we just didn’t want to admit it to ourselves.  I could tell you his life story, or write a little poem like I did when Churchill canary died, but that doesn’t seem quite right for our Harry.   Suffice to say, for 13 years Harry was well loved. Read more

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A Vow Softly Spoken

What is life without hope?  Amidst the ashes and broken dreams wrought by the bushfires in Australia, life goes on.

A Vow Softly Spoken

smoke in the distance
lights a wildfire in our heart
hope for the future
heart, mind, body, soul
we shall overcome

wedding

My nephew and his lovely lady got married recently.   I wish them all the very best.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Wedding.

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Winter: Joy and Sorrow

Share Your Music — 30 Days, 30 Songs.  Day 8.

In the 90s, when disco was dead, I went into my classical music phase.  It was also the time I had my first baby.  That was a difficult time and a difficult pregnancy.  I listened to quite a bit of classical music when I was pregnant, and because I was new to it, I chose a few old standards.  One of my favourite pieces was/is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.  I particularly liked “Winter”.  It is like four seasons in one.

I had my baby during winter.  That seems quite ironic to me now.  I didn’t listen to much music after the birth.  I was too exhausted.  Too depressed.  Perhaps I’ll write about that one day.  About four months after I had the baby, I went to the mall with my mother and my little boy.  We went into a shop and were browsing when Vivaldi’s Four Seasons came on.  My son started waving his arms in time with the music.  My mother and I were stunned.  The shop assistants came over too to see this young baby conducting to the music.  It was “Winter”.

xyzAfter all that time, he had remembered.  I wonder if this is why he likes classical music so much and once considered a career as a classical musician.  That career path didn’t come to fruition, but it did extend my classical music phase for about 20 years.

Ready for some conducting?

Sarah at Art Expedition is hosting 30 Days, 30 Songs for the month of June. You can see her latest post here.  It is not too late to join in the challenge.  Casual players welcome.

Kind Regards.
Tracy

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Keepsake

In the interests of posting more flower photos and sharing memories, I present to you some rose photos.

I have four lovely rose bushes at my house.  All but one was given to us.  One by our mum/mum-in-law — a treasured possession.  Friends gave us another (Homage to Barbara) when she (the mother-in-law, not the friend) died.  Ever practical, like the woman herself, the flower heads just drop off when they are done.  Barb would have appreciated the joke.  The third rose was also given to us by a friend.  It was one of the roses planted in the Rose Gardens at Old Parliament House (Canberra), but it was culled from the garden to make way for more healthy stock.  Their loss, our gain, don’t you think? Read more

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Chip Off The Old Block

I come from a long line of procrastinators.  It is kind of genetic.  There is always a tension about what constitutes over-sharing and yet it is apparently important to speak up about mental health issues, despite the discrimination this induces.  I’ve always had problems concentrating and getting started.  Organisation is not my forté.  I’m not sure whether anyone noticed.  Girls are good at hiding that stuff.  Plus I was kind of smart and I had compensation strategies that got me by.  I got through my first degree somehow (burning the midnight oil and eating a lot of chocolate).  I got a job in the government and worked my way through some of the ranks (burning the midnight oil and eating a lot of chocolate).

I was the Taskforce queen.  I could pull it out of a hat when deadlines were tight (it takes a lot of adrenaline to get my mind out of first gear).  Routine jobs?  Tedious and stressful (probably because they involved organisational skills that I did not possess).  I live in nuance, and that is often an uncomfortable place to be for a policy adviser.  (I do have some sympathy for our former prime minister who was constantly being criticised because he couldn’t give a simple answer.)  It is hard to sum up complex policy considerations in three talking points.  Still I managed, because you know, hard work.  It is the solution to everything, right?  At least that is what I thought.

Trigger warning.  This post contains material that may distress some readers. Read more