Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Aww…Monday – Model Railroading

Recently there was a model train show at the local fairgrounds. All of the scenery for the display above is Lego’s! It was very impressive.

I have a soft spot for trains because my dad worked for the Frisco Railroad for 42 years. One Christmas he bought me a Lionel set to play with around the Christmas tree. The problem was that I could hang out at the depot and ride the real trains, so why would I bother with a toy? Big mistake. I like hanging out at the train show and getting a few photos of the lay-outs and the operators.

This lay-out caught my eye because of the train. It is a model of the Frisco “Texas Special”. The Texas Specail was a joint effort between the MK&T and the Frisco to provide service from St. Louis to San Antonio. I own some paper place mats from the dining car of the Texas Special.

One of the coolest displays was this lay-out in a trailer. You just hook it up and take it to any show in the country.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week a a fee choice week at 4M. I thought I would stay with the railroad and develop a playlist based on train music.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

February saw winter come to Arkansas and much of the country with a vengeance. Locally, the temperatures plunged into sub-zero territory for the first time in a decade and night wind chill reached -20 one night. Believe me, we are not prepared for that kind of weather. Our house and our daughter’s family were fine, but there were a lot of frozen pipes and power outages for several days. My back yard bird feeders were kept busy as you have seen from previous posts, but one evening we had a new visitor to the neighborhood.

Late one afternoon I looked out the back window and saw this critter on the neighbors fence. From a distance, he kind of looked like a cat. As soon as I figured out it was a possum, I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. “Opus” let me get very close to him for the portrait shoot. He watched my every move, but made no attempt to escape and there was no hissing involved. I captured the images posted here and went back in the house. A short time later Opus was gone and I haven’t seen him since.

As you can see, Opus is colored more like a raccoon or cat than what you normally think of a possum. He was really very cooperative and I think I actually got a little smile out of him.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week our assignment at 4M is to build a playlist of Johnny Mathis songs. Johnny Mathis was a favorite of my mother. Mom liked Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Andy Williams as well, but she was not a fan of Frank Sinatra nor Tony Bennett. So on with the Johnny Mathis picks. First up is a recording that became the signature song of The Carpenters. Yes, “Close To You” was the title cut of a1970 album which is the same year The Carpenters had a mega hit with the same song.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Aww Mondays

We have had some real winter. Temperatures have dropped well below zero at night and there has been a decent amount of snow. What is unusual about this weather is that it has lasted almost two weeks. Typically we get cold weather for a few days at a time, scattered throughout the winter and temps rarely dip into single digits. We often get three or four snow falls in the 2″ – 4″ range and maybe one that will exceed 6″. Some winters we don’t get any accumulations of snow. Right now we have about 6″ on the ground and 2″ -5″ on the way. It is historic…not just here but across most of the southern half of the nation.

The critters are not real happy either. The robins just don’t know what to do. The squirrels come by to check out any seeds that have fallen out of my bird feeders. This little fellow comes by almost every morning. He will just as happy as the rest of us when spring arrives.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week at 4M is a freedom of choice week. A couple of weeks ago I featured one of my favorite country artists that has been making music for over 40 years, Dwight Yoakam. Dwight, Buck Owens. and Merle Haggard brought the “Bakersfield Sound” to country music. The Bakersfield Sound was a combination of Western Swing, Rock n’ Roll, Bluegrass and Hillbilly Country. Today I am going to feature an artist that has been on the scene for several years now and is moving the country sound back to traditional country with a touch of rock and roll. Like Dwight, Chris Stapleton is a singer/songwriter and his much of his music comes from life experiences. Enjoy.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Baby it’s cold outside!!! Last week has been cold and this week is going to be brutal. We are supposed to get several inches of snow and temperatures in single digits with wind chill well into sub-zero. The bluebirds are not happy and the robins are just dazed and confused. We have winter in Arkansas, just not sub-freezing temperatures for two weeks. The good news is that spring is just around the corner.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

Since today is President’s Day and we just changed administrations, the theme at 4M is leadership. Leaders come in all shapes, sizes, personalities, and agendas. Some leaders are methodical, deliberate, seem to take a very long time to come to a decision.. That is certainly an appropriate methodology, but there are times when a quick analysis and decision is required. It might be said that the leader shoots from the hip. Well, some days you just need a “Gunslinger”.

When it comes to leadership and who we should follow, there is only one answer. Precious Lord Take My Hand.

Aww…some Monday’s Music Moves Me

Aww…some Monday

The weather here in Northwest Arkansas has been cold then warm, wet, then dry, sunny then cloudy. Covid protocol still has limited seating at high school sporting events and several of our friends have tested positive, so we have stayed very close to home since Christmas. Soo….a lot of my photos may be coming from my phone. Since I am looking at upgrading my phone, I have copied all of the photos on my phone onto my computer. Now I am reviewing those images and choosing a few to share with you here on Aww Monday or possibly Wordless Wednesday.

The good news is, while you are reading this I will soon be getting my second Covid-19 vaccination, the Pfizer version. I am looking forward to feeling a little more at ease about being in public places were the crowds are a little larger.

Happy Socks – The Journey Continues

Some of you are aware of the story behind my “Happy Socks”. For those who want to read the entire story, you will have to scroll to my three posts in March of 2020. The short version is that in October 2019 I had surgery to remove a 30 lb. soft tissue cancerous tumor from my abdomen and in December of 2019 I began radiation treatment for prostrate cancer. I am now 16 months post surgery and 12 months post radiation. Last Monday I had my lab work done and a CT Scan. Both tests showed no presence of cancer!!! To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

So this week at 4M is free choice. As some of you know, I like most genres of music but I do have a bit of a soft spot for Country music and one of the most under appreciated artists of the 90’s country music scene was Dwight Yoakam. Like all artists, there is that period of working hard to get to the top of the charts, enjoying the brief success at the pinnacle of one’s career, and then fading back into the shadows. Some are fortunate enough to gain iconic status and their careers span decades, like George Strait, Garth Brooks and Reba McIntire. I don’t know if Dwight will ever be considered an icon by main stream country music fans but he has been putting out great music for over forty years. Personally, I consider him to be king of the broken heart, with songs like “It Only Hurts When I Cry”, Pocket of a Clown, and “Things Change.” He is also the king of Hillbilly Rock with tunes such as, “Guitars and Cadillacs” and “Honky Tonk Man”. So Today I am going to post a couple of his classics and a couple of his more recent efforts. Enjoy and have a blessed week.