I irrigated on Thursday. A gopher hole created an unwanted lake that was draining water that the plants needed. After 30 minutes of trying to plug the hole where it was flowing out of the grand, which I knew wouldn’t work, I finally found two holes that were the source and plugged them. Not before getting a significant-sized lake. The whole thing reminded me of how the Salton Sea was created.
Loki was practicing his cat tree ballet.
White neon iris
Sunset
I posted Content Like A Cat, which is the first original song JYP and I collaborated on. Happy As A Cat is an extended version of Content Like A Cat. I split the chorus with a couple of verses I wrote and added new music.
Happy As A Cat
By JYP and Timothy Price
They don’t need
the new hot thing
Cats find their joy
batting a piece of string
To enjoy meals,
cuddles, treats, and snacks.
To have no worries
“I’m late for my nap!”
chorus
To be as happy and content as a cat
That is our life’s goal
To be as happy and content as a cat
In the dirt, we’ll roll
They sleep all-day
Play all night
They love their boxes
They love their toys
Purring and furring
Stuff they bat away
All those simple things
Give them joy so many ways
chorus
To be as happy and content as a cat
We’d scratch on a pole
To be as happy and content as a cat
Fulfills us, makes us whole
They don’t need cars,
fancy clothes or yachts
Oh, to be as happy
as a cat in a box!
Happy cat prints on my MacBook Pro M1 Max
Gwendolyn snuggled up with me on a cold morning
I walked out to the car to go to work yesterday morning, and the bunny was hanging out behind my car. When I got closer to the car I saw bunny prints on the side of the car. The bunny, who I assume must be getting worked up for Easter, was bouncing off the side of my car. Bratty bunny!
Spunk
“Oh to be as happy as a cat in a box!” Sasha and Marble (happy on a bag).
Here’s an original song that is another collaboration with JYP. Besides being Music Monday, I thought our song would go well with celebrating the conjunction of Saturn and Mars. JYP wrote the lyrics inspired by a party. I wrote the music, played, and recorded the song. Since I haven’t been to a party in years, I had to borrow party footage for the video.
I went out at 5:30 this morning and photographed the pre-dawn sky partying over the conjunction of Saturn and Mars. A thin cloud cover softened Venus, Saturn, and Mars. However, you can almost see the rings of Saturn in the last shot done with the Bazooka. I’m hoping for a clear sky tomorrow morning to try and get a photo with better-defined rings of Saturn.
Wide and normal shots with the conjunction. The third photo is of the Big Dipper.
Saturn and Mars as seen by the Bazooka.
God Bless Those Who Bring The Party
By JYP
Blessed are those who bring on the party
Blessed are those who bring on the party
Blessed are those who bring on the party
Blessed are those who bring on the party
You can’t have spiritual without the spirits
What’s the harm? Why you fear it
Turn up the volume so we can hear it
Yes! Your heart and soul can bear it
God bless those who bring on the party
Good times are we’re romancin’
Or we may not get the chance in
May as well start a dancin’
Up and down yeah now we’re prancin’
God bless those who bring on the party
While the world may be sleepin’
There are those who keep the beat in
Keep us all from wailin’ and weepin’
On the floor we’re a creepin’
God bless those who bring on the party
Time to share some gratitude
For the one who keeps us in the mood
Bring the music, wine and food
We got it down we’re feeling good
God bless those who bring on the party
They pick us up from devastation
Set the stage for celebration
Then we feel exhilaration
They’ve have filled our expectations
God bless those who bring on the party
Continuing with the collaboration* between JYP and the AWB, Content Like a Cat is our first original song. JYP wrote the lyrics, I wrote the music, played, and recorded the song.
Content as a Cat
By JYP and the AWB
They don’t need
the new hot thing
Cats find their joy
batting a piece of string
To enjoy meals,
cuddles, treats, and snacks.
To have no worries
Except “I’m late for my nap!”
To be as happy and content as a cat
That is our life’s goal
To be as happy and content as a cat
In the dirt, we’ll roll
To be as happy and content as a cat
We’d scratch on a pole
To be as happy and content as a cat
Fulfills us, makes us whole
They don’t need cars,
fancy clothes or yachts
Oh, to be as happy
as a cat in a box!
The cats approve this song.
Spunk
Silver
Marble, Glenda, and Spunk
Buddy knows how to be content like a cat, also.
Gwendolyn
Sasha is “as happy as a cat in a box!”
And so is Loki!
*The first post with a collaboration between JYP and the AWB was Post COVID World.
When the time changed to Daylight Savings Time, Marina at Marina Kanavaki — Art Towards a Happy Day, made a comment about “the dreaded DST!” I told her that was a good song title. I had intended to write and record the song a couple of weeks ago, but DST got in the way. It seems I’m always coming up an hour short. I did the calculations to answer the question about how much daylight we save each year, and address them in the song.
The Dreaded DST
Lyrics and Music by Timothy Price
Inspired by Marina Kanavaki
Daylight blinds fools who have no skills
They create silly rules they are so unreal
Daylight’s scarce, why don’t we care?
We save it eight months out of… every year
Bedtime at ten feels like nine
Don’t feel sleepy? Have more wine
It’s midnight damn, the bottle’s empty
I’m still awake… I’m feeling pretty cranky
Now we’re on the dreaded DST
Body clocks are broken why can’t we see
That hour we save every single day
Is two-hundred forty hours of daylight that we have… stashed away
Alarm at five it feels like four
Like a zombie, I hit the door
Preparation-H on the old toothbrush
Toothpaste up my… Whew! What a rush
No time to shower, sleepin’ on the job,
Stinkin’ up the office, what a slob
Head bobs up and down, fishing at the screen
My boss is cranky… making quite a scene
Now we’re on the dreaded DST
Body clocks are broken why can’t we see
We can look forward to falling back
We get one-hundred twenty hours of daylight from… our stash
We’ve changed to DST for 56 years
That’s six-thousand seven-hundred hours, my dear
Of daylight, we’ve been banking away
So let’s go spend it on our… sanity
Now we’re on the dreaded DST
Body clocks are broken why can’t we see
That hour we save every single day
Is two-hundred forty hours of daylight that we have… stashed away
Marina’s Incognito Pear Tree
Morning contrails
Mama Owl was sowing her head last night. The Owlets might have hatched.
Afternoon clouds
War
By Timothy Price
Tense dreams, nervous sleep
No comfort in the silence
Specters dance in the shades of darkness
Sprites flash forboding violence
Explosions awaken the gods of war
Ares blesses bombs
Enyo ensures destruction to all
Keyes beckons Putin’s call
While Brandon snored
Putin went to war
World ignored
Bad rapport
Destruction, mayhem
Carnage as they fall
Soldiers, civilians
Death to one and all
Sleep is forever
So many unfortunate souls
Humanity fails us again
Innocents sacrificed
For our sins
Spunk disgusted over Putin invading Ukraine.
The lyrics for my latest song came to me while I was jaywalking across Jefferson Blvd. by the office. The style of the song came to me while I was changing the light fixtures from fluorescent to LED in the men’s restroom at the office. When I removed one of the fluorescent bulbs from one of the fixtures, the end of the bulb burst into flames. It was really bizarre. Both sockets the bulb’s pins were in melted in the few seconds it took me to twist the bulb out of the sockets while it burst into flames. The flames went out before I could get my phone out of my pocket and do a photo or video. I was standing on a ladder with a burning bulb in my hand, so I wasn’t in a good position to get to my phone. Mark came into the restroom a few seconds later to tell me he had come in to get stuff together to go out to the field tomorrow. I showed him the melted sockets and burned bulb, we talked about his fieldwork, and I forgot to photograph the melted sockets and burned bulb. Anyway, the burning bulb reminded me of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, which gave me the idea to very loosely write the song in a similar style.
The Jazz Age
Jaywalking
By Timothy Price
Jaywalking
Code talking
Walking round in women’s stockings
Jabberwocky
So shocking
Minor keys we’re really rocking
Shaking booties
Tutti fruity
long-legged exotic beauties
Masked cuties
Black hoodies
We’re all getting COVID cooties
We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there
We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place
Pipe dreams
Lost steam
Hogtied, so it seems
Inbred
In the red
Can’t seem to get ahead
Lost time
sublime
No, you’re not on my dime
Not fine
Green slime
Flat tire? It doesn’t rhyme
We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there
We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place
YouTubing
KY lubing
Don’t you know we’re really grooving
Zoom bombing
Face palming
We’re out of sync. Why you calling?
Youth aging
Folks gaging
While the culture wars are waging
Been raped
No probate
It seems like there’s no escape
We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there
We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place
A few days before Christmas, Tristan asked if I had any extra guitar cases for acoustic guitars. I had a gig bag I told her she could have. The next day she said she didn’t need the gig bag after all because the guitar they were going to give to Craig’s nephew for Christmas was broken. I told her I’d donate a guitar for them to give him for Christmas. Of course, that meant I needed to replace the guitar. A few weeks before Christmas, Marina “adopted” a wolf for us at the Wolf Conservation Center in New York as a gift. His name is Mosby. When I was looking for a replacement guitar I remembered that Luna made a Wolf guitar. I found a Luna Wolf Guitar and ordered it.
The Wolf Conservation Center sent a video of Mosby howling with two other wolves who are off-camera. I recorded music to Mosby’s howling in the video yesterday using a jazz guitar and my 7-string guitar for the rhythm guitars. As luck has it, my Luna Wolf Guitar came in today, and the full Wolf Moon rose tonight. When I got home from work, I recorded a track with the wolf guitar and replaced the jazz guitar track with the track I played on the Wolf guitar. Then I went out to the river and photographed the Wolf Moon rising.
The Lobo Lunatic playing the Luna Wolf Guitar with the Wolf Moon rising behind him.
A full view of the Luna Wolf Guitar. It has Rosewood back and sides and the collage on the top is made with Rosewood, Zebrawood, Paduk, Bird’s Eye Maple, Koa, and Flame Maple. The neck markers are the moon phases with the full moon at the 12th fret. It has Fishman electronics and a built-in tuner. It’s a really beautiful guitar. It plays well and sounds great.
Sunset
Wasp? Did I hear you say Wasp in winter?
Tristan found this wasp with her wings tucked under her while we were setting up for Reyes. Tristan put the wasp in a container with some honey to see how long she will last. The wasp may be an old lady since she was found snuggled up by herself in one of our cushions on the deck.
Towhees toodling together in Dr. Huey.
Socratis at Oannes has been posting songs about cars. I keep commenting: “I had that car! Oh, I had that car, too. You are not going to believe this, but I had one of those cars, also!” From Oannes I was inspired to put together a spreadsheet of all the cars that have been in the family, and I had driven since I got my driver’s license at age 15. We still have some of the old cars that were bought new. The stats break down as follows: 33 cars over 48 years. 25 Model years from 1955 to 2017. 14 different carmakers. 26 different models in 10 different colors with green, yellow, brown, and red the predominant four colors. We’ve had more Mazdas than other cars with six. Volkswagon came in second with five. We still have two Mazdas, a Volkswagon, a Ford pickup, and a Datsun 280ZX on the property.
I was also inspired to write and record a Car Song about some of the cars that stood out over the years. I played the bass lines on my 5-string, multi-scale bass. I played my black Strat I built a few years ago for the rhythm guitar, and I played my 7-string, multi-scale guitar for the guitar solo (the song is above, lyrics at the end of the post).
Marble Sinking
Sunrise
Car Song
By Timothy Price
This is a story about a few of the many cars that graced my life
My dad, he was a Rambler man
1964 classic I learned to drive
Three on the tree with no air
Bench seats without belts
The ’55 Cadillac was a tank with tits
Big silver bumper boobs oh they couldn’t be missed
Slushbox tranny liked to bump and grind
Lumbered down the road in style
1960 Rambler in Pepto Bismol pink
Nearly cost me my life and limbs
A boy driving a pink car in 1975
Was worthy of a beating, so the other boys thought
[Chorus]
Thirty-three cars have graced my life
Over two score and 8 years
From green to pink to yellow to blue
Red sports cars are the final two
’66 American in canary yellow
The cubic inches under the hood wouldn’t do
I cut and bent to retrofit a power plant
I lost traction, tickets, I paid for my sins
’65 Corvair. Yep that’s the one
It was “Unsafe At Any Speed”
That car was fun to drive I never rolled it though
Not to say I didn’t try.
The Volkswagen Thing was a Thing of wonder
As I wandered from here to yonder
Weirdly shaped, like a Jerrycan on wheels
It did nothing for my sex appeal
[Bridge]
Cadillac, Chevrolet, Rambler, and Ford
Volkswagens, Honda, Triumph, were never bored
International, AMC, Renault, and a Datsun
Dodge, Kia, and best of all is always Mazda
Eldorado, Americans, a Classic, and a Bus
Travelalls, beetles, and a Triumph GT6 Plus
A Sun Bug, Pickups, Hornet, and a Le Car
Taurus, Rio Cinco, N600, and a Corvair
Granada, Dart, ZX, Five, RX, and a Thing
323, Speed 3, my Miata is really mean
[Guitar Solo]
’79 Renault Le Car was one of my
All-time favorite cars
Smooth ride, canvas-covered sunroof
That got Swiss-cheesed in a hailstorm
The RX-8 was as exotic as I got
A Wankel whining under the hood
Demanded high revs lots of speed
Suicide door, it seated four
My MX-5 is beautiful to drive
Small, responsive, quick, and sassy
A hot profile and racing stripe
It’s total fun and fantasy
Off Center & Not Even 