HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA !

Happy 4th of July to everyone !


Check out the pipes on this country gal :

ITS THAT COLD DAY IN JULY

July 1 was one for the record books here in Chicago - the coldest opening in 79 years . It barely made it to the upper 60's here by Lake Michigan.

The old saw "never say never " is one that I take seriously every since my friend said she loved this new singer with a spanish accent and thought he was going to be very popular. "That'll never happen " says I. A singer with a spanish accent in America ? Nah. " Julio Igelias swept the country with his beautiful vocals. Of course it didn't hurt that he was very easy on the eyes as well.

I used to say it all the time : " That'll be a COLD day in July. " Gotta stop that now because it arrived.

Here are the Dixie Chicks singing their popular song , A Cold Day in July .

I'll Always Remember

An Arrangement For Ruby
by Moi

Her name was Ruby and she was the 7th of 8 girls born to a farmer in Northern Alabama. Growing up she had to do all the hard work required of a farmer's daughter as well as the domestic chores of cooking , cleaning and sewing . She never questioned her fate because in her day you were living in "high cotton " if you were able to put food on the table and this was usually possible by the sweat of your brow.

She married the son of a farmer and they set up their own household. I was the 2nd daughter, the third of four children. All of us learned responsibility from a very early age. There wasn't a lot of playing or free time as our days were filled with work. We learned to cherish the rare occasions when we could find a respite from the hard toil we did everyday. No wonder country music is filled with either sad or funny songs.

I heard the stories about her growing up but I really don' t remember the sad day that my mother, who was 40 at the time, died from a miscarriage. I was 4 at the time. She was a tall, strong woman but working in the fields non-stop during her 5th pregnancy caused her to lose the baby and her life.

Growing up in the small town where everyone knew her they would always tell me what a wonderful woman she was. I was happy to hear that but I also wished that I had known her myself. There's no void in my life bigger than the one she left. I think of the joy she must have felt when she held me to her breast for the first time and how heart-wrenching it must've been when she realized that she was dying and leaving her children without a loving Mother. She asked her sisters to take care of us but the sad fact was they were not in a position to do so, having children of their own and not making enough to take care of us as well.

I'll always remember today, Mommie Dearest; today, July 2 is your birthday. I truly believe that we will meet again, as mother and daughter and that all our pain and grief will be forgotten in our joy.

Happy Birthday, Ruby.

Country in the City

Click to enlarge

It was but a small patch next to the sidewalk but it caught my artist eye with it's beautiful country meadow flowers of poppies, cornflowers, and baby's breath .

I can't wait to get out my paint and brushes and try to capture the beauty of these wildflowers growing smack dab in the middle of the city. A cornflower grows in Chicago.