Secret Life of Objects: Afghan Rescue

That's a lot of blankets. 

I belong to a Facebook group called Weird and Wonderful Secondhand Finds. In it, members post images of, well, weird and wonderful things they have found while thrifting or at yard sales, and last year, there was a month where people posted nothing but crazy afghans they found. It was at that moment I fell in love with the artistry, the craft, and the colors. 

During that same time, I rescued a crocheted afghan for fifty cents, and Oscar admired my work. When I prepared a Christmas box for him, I threw a thrifted chevron blanket in the box for him. His mom messaged me to say he has slept with it ever since. 

I stumbled upon an opportunity to rescue one blanket this year, and it morphed into the piles you see here. Since it is Secret Life of Objects (SLoO), the story for these afghans is that they have mostly been acquired from Hersey's House of Hope where you pay what you want, a couple yard sales, a couple gifted by my friend Cherilyn, and two that were quite literally rescued from FREE piles by the side of the road. Currently, I am up to 24 with a goal of 30; however, I hit 24 so quickly, I might see if I can get to 40. 

So what am I going to do with them? Adult skaters are always looking for unusual tossies for competition, so it's Operation Afghan Rescue. I have washed, dried, and sanitized them, and these are going to be my competitor gifts for AN24. And I dunno, there's one in the pile that I just may have to save for myself. 

Edited to add: as of 7/31, I made it to 30! I'm going to dial it down, but if I stumble upon some lovelies that need rescuing, I'm gonna do it. 

What’s Right in the World: Called Up to the Show

OMG, it’s happening!

Press pic at his locker.

I’m a little nostalgic.

Wish we were there for this - his first major league hit. 

He’s accumulating highlight reels - this catch then how he avoided a double play. 

So there I was, happy with my afghan rescue haul, sweaty from the heat, and about to tuck into a turkey and tomato sandwich when I decided to check the spotty internet to see what was going on in the world. 

And there’s the tweet: Dane made it to The Show. 

I gasped and Will asked me what was wrong. I showed him and said, “Dane got called up!” A huge grin spread across his face as I started to cry. Dave was napping and we both went in to tell him the news. 

I texted Rhonda and Mallory for confirmation and yes, it was true.

We texted our congratulations to them and then to Dane who shared his thanks for our support and his love. 

He didn’t get into the game on the third but he did on the fourth, and boy did he, going two for three. Next day another two-for-three. Next day, two-for-four, and a spectacular play in center against the wall - the Marlins calling him The Great Dane. 

We agree.

To have witnessed all he’s gone through since he was drafted in 2017 and for him to still flourish… good for him. He deserves every bit of positive press, every accolade, every highlight, everything.

I don’t know the protocol now for following and cheering. He’s family to us, but he belongs to his fans now too. I’m sure he’s getting inundated with people vying for his attention. We will always be there, time to gingerly step to the side and allow him space to enjoy this. 

Of course, then he hits his first majors league home run and we pepper him with more congrats. 

C'mon Andre, it's your turn. 

July Playlist: Old Love

Not Rotten, Just Heartbreaking

There are a lot of songs out there about young love, but precious little about love that goes the distance. This may be a challenge, either my ears aren’t listening or it’s not part of popular culture and it needs to be sussed out. I'm trying to find songs that are heartfelt without being too syrupy, but that is in the heart of the beholder. 

Hawaii, Johnny Rotten - The song that started the idea in the first place. The punk rock icon took the last few years off from the music business to care for his terminally ill wife. This song was written during a particularly wonderful vacation to Hawaii, which she promised to remember as long as she lived. He presented it as his Eurovision entry and it didn’t pass muster. WTF is wrong with you, Europe?

Harvest Moon, Neil Young - AllMusic’s review of the song says it well “The power of nature and music, as well as a feeling of celebrating lifetime love are the focal points here, and Young captures it all in his typically literate, artless style.” My only beef with this is his style is literate, and there is beauty, truth, and art in that. 

He Stopped Loving Her Today, George Jones - “Why today?” my naive self asked. Then he explained. Ohhhhh. I don't think I was ok for a while after that. 

Landslide, Fleetwood Mac - “Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides; can I handle the seasons of my life?" This song in particular speaks to me about the trials of growing older together and facing changes that while not sexy, deepen a relationship. 

Grow Old With Me, John Lennon - For as divisive as Yoko Ono is to even the most casual fan, give her a little for having been a Beatle Widow for - my God - the last 43 years. Where we as fans were robbed of his talents, she was robbed of a partner and made out to be a villain temptress. And yet she has carried on his legacy, mended rips in his patchwork family quilt, in particular making things right for Julian and his inheritance, befriended Cynthia while she was still living, and cared for his estranged half-sister, the one Julia gave up for adoption in 1945. John may not have grown older with her, but she did with him. 

These Are the Days of Our Lives, Queen - Roger Taylor wrote it observing his children growing up and gave it to Freddie Mercury. Freddie, as he was dying of AIDs, gave the song an additional poignant layer of meaning as he knew it was likely the video for the song would be his last public performance. One last "I still love you," and a kiss to the camera as he walked off screen. 

Danny’s Song, Loggins and Messina - Well, this may be a cheater, but it’s the story of a dude celebrating the next phase of his life, from being a stupid frat boy to a committed man in love with a son on the way. 

Evergreen, Barbra Streisand - If there was one song that was on the nose, this would be it. Too bad Kris Kristofferson’s character in A Star is Born has to go and die like that. Oops, spoiler alert? 

July Song: Crowning of Rose Queen

Goal: write a song a month, with the resolve to not self-edit or worry if it’s crap. This is the title song of my fake album that I created in February about the burden of being a beauty queen and being upstaged. Again, going to dip into the Courtney Love vibe, she certainly battled her "wanting to be pretty" demon. 

Happy anniversary to the Woolton Rose Queen, whose July 1957 coronation coincided with rock music's Big Bang, when Paul McCartney met John Lennon. We have a new host daughter coming, whose social media nickname is Rose Queen, which has me curious. I started writing this in January when we didn't even know about her. What's the story there? 

Crown of petals and a serene smile,

She's the prettiest girl by a country mile. 

She floats by in a beautiful cage,

Her style and grace is all the rage. 

The hair is curled but not too tight, 

Practicing poise with all her might.

Every emotion on a high wire, 

If you were to ask, she'll say she's tired. 

Desperate to be beautiful,

"But why," she whispers to herself.

Why are so many girls keen,

To be crowned the Rose Queen? 

Noisy boys in plaid shirts, 

Desperate to look up her skirt. 

About to cause a revolution, 

But is ruining her moment the solution? 

A hard July day turned into night, 

Her own mania to fight.

Fleeting fame, for a moment it seemed,

The crowning of a Rose Queen.