Color me lucky

Mr. Maleable, Wednesday, is back. Cold and frosty, but clear (from what I can tell in the early morning dark). Sunshine is forecast, with zero percent chance of falling wetness (in any form).  A relatively mild high of 49° F (9° C) is predicted, which I can easily live with for this point in winter.

Speaking of winter, people are starting to mow their lawns already.  I heard them this past weekend.  Hello!  It's winter, folks.  Don't they know that grass grows at the sound of lawn mowers?  Now my lawn might start to grow, too.  Grrrr!

Speaking of Mr. Maleable, he is (or I am) low tide today.  Ideally, time to burrow under and wait for the revitalizing sea waves to roll back over before springing back to life.  For me, this is probably the combination of still catching up on sleep (been at a state commission meeting the last two days and never sleep well in hotel rooms) and coming back to a pent-up schedule of meetings and an inbox full of action items.

On morning's like this, I need mellow music.  Piano lounge background tinkling would be about right, or some low-key Sigur Rós or Patrick Cassidy, maybe.  The iPod, being an inanimate object, doesn't do dynamic mood matching (though the "skip that song" button can get pretty close to manual mood matching), however this morning's playlist was suitably quiet.  Even the one Beatles tune was a light folk-ish tune that always sounds more like Paul Simon than the Beatles to me. Jonny Hartman, whose deep, rich, and languid voice conjures up smokey night club images for me, sang If I'm Lucky. Lovely lyrics in this old ballad:

If I'm lucky, you will tell me that you care, 

That we'll never be apart

If I'm lucky, this will be no light affair, 

It's forever, from the start

If I'm lucky, there'll be moonbeams all around, 

Shining bright as day . . . 

You will hold my hand and you'll understand, 

All I cannot seem to say

If I am lucky, there will be a time an' place 

You will kiss me, we'll embrace . . . 

In that moment, every wishful dream I ever knew 

Will come true

If I'm lucky, I will go through the years with you

Ok, this isn't the high water mark of poetry, but after nearly 30 years of marriage to my beloved, I totally relate to this definition of lucky!

Then the set closed, as I pulled on to campus, with an old Herb Albert standard.  How many of you can say you heard Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass on your radio/iPod/changer/satellite receiver/etc. this morning? I didn't think so!

 - Phil Keaggy: Nellie's Tune

 - Jonny Hartman: If I'm Lucky

 - Jan Garbarek: Lovely Walk

 - The Beatles: I've Just Seen a Face

 - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: Brasilia