Foodie Friday - Farmers Markets

 In farmers markets in France, you tell the vendor/farmer what you want, and they select the best for you.  You look, maybe point, but don't touch.  In the USA, you normally select what you want, then find the vendor/farmer and pay.  Then along comes COVID 19, and things change.  

I went to the farmers market in Old Town Alexandria Virginia one Saturday morning recently. There has been a public market on the square for well over 200 years. (The human slavery market was a few blocks away for the first 100 years or so of that.)  Normally you can enter or leave on any of the four corners, and you push your way through the crowd in any way you can.  Now, there is one entrance and one exit.  The flow of people is in one-direction.  The vendors ask you not to touch, and they are not very good at following the point to the ripest of the tomatoes.  I miss picking things up, checking for weight, ripeness, filling bags with more than I need.  

That being said, I picked up a quart of delightful early season strawberries, and a couple of tomatoes.  The berries tasted like strawberries.  One of the two tomatoes was delightfully ripe.  

I am glad it is market season, I hope the experience gets better.  

Thursday Rambles - My Month in Dyke Marsh

 I have fallen into a habit of posting the best photos from my morning strolls in the marsh, on the last Saturday / first Saturday of the month.  This Saturday is something special, and last Saturday was to far from the end of the month.  So my Mornings in the Marsh collection are today.  My once a month indulgence in lots of images. 

Lots of Barred Owl images, it is the first time I have had the opportunity to photograph one up close.  The Eagle chicks, there are at least two, are finally showing themselves.  

The Way We Were Wednesday - The Tractor

 When my oldest brother had his appendix removed, his hospital room mate was the son of a local farm machinery dealer.  He came home from the hospital with an amazing toy tractor.  A couple of years later my middle brother had his tonsils removed in the same hospital.  He was angry and upset when he came home from the hospital. But he didn't communicate why he was upset. He has some challenges in his life, and communicating is not always easy for him. A lot of his moods were dismissed as him being a little different without anyone taking time to help him communicate what he was upset about. 

Decades later, he finally told my parents that the reason he was moody, upset, angry, was that he had surgery in the same hospital and didn't get the same toy that his older brother did. For decades he thought it was because he was not worthy. 

A few years ago, he told me how poorly he was treated in the schools, because he was a little different.  He honestly felt that half of his time in school was wasted, repeating the basics, the fact that he was able to understand that his time was wasted, tells me he was a lot more capable than anyone recognized, they never took the time to listen to him, they were to busy telling him.  All he wants is to be treated the same as everyone, to feel worthy.  

The photo above is from the family archive, likely a special Christmas toy for the first grandson, one that was handed down, and never duplicated in grandeur.  I remember skinning my ankles on the nails used to replace the pins that held what was left of the petals by the time I was the one playing with it.  

Travel Tuesday - George Washington

When I was growing up there was  a running joke about historic places all saying "George Washington Slept Here."  Living 8 miles from what was his home, it is easy to find places he touched, slept or worked.  He was one of the surveyors for the hilltop we lived on, he was part of the survey crew that platted the City of Alexandria, just down the hill from where I live.  The Fairfax family had a house on this hill, about 300 feet from my terrace, George Washington's diaries show he had dinner with them there, about a week before he died.  

George Washington's Mt Vernon estate is owned, maintained and operated by the Mt Vernon Lady's Association. It is all privately funded.  I buy an annual membership, that gets the two of us in whenever we want to go.  Only a few times in the past year, but more often under normal circumstances.  I can easily find places where George Washington slept. 

My Music Monday - ABBA - Dancing Queen | Piano Cover

This one reminds me of my young, slender days, going out, staying out late, dancing until the wee hours of the morning. 

the Sunday Five - Techno World

 I wonder what my great-grandmother thought the first time she saw an automobile, or an airplane? My great-grandparents, and I knew my great-grandmother well, pre-dated technologies that we take for granted. We have a generation graduating from college who have always had computers and access to the internet.  Some of them had email addresses created at birth, that they can use for a lifetime.  

1: What is the device above and have you seen one in action? 

2: When do you think we will have self-driving cars? 

3: Do you use a voice remote or digital search engine like Siri or Alexa, or Hey Google? 

4: Do you think we will return to supersonic airline travel? 

5: What technology that we use today, will be extinct in 20 years? (Interesting question from a guy who bought a Betamax machine, weeks before VHS became the standard.). 

My Answers: 

1: What is the device above and have you seen one in action?  Obviously I have seen one in action (two of them that morning), if I told you what it is, it would spoil it for you, have fun.  

2: When do you think we will have self-driving cars? I think we are probably 10 years away, the experts say 2 to 20 years. 

3: Do you use a voice remote or digital search engine like Siri or Alexa, or Hey Google?  Yes, I have used all of them, Siri is my least used. 

4: Do you think we will return to supersonic airline travel? There is a group of entrepreneur engineers trying again, but I think they will run out of the investors money before they make it work - but enjoy a few years of million dollar salaries along the way. 

5: What technology that we use today, will be extinct in 20 years? (Interesting question from a guy who bought a Betamax machine, weeks before VHS became the standard.) Sadly, I think my desktop computer is one of the last generations, hopefully connecting portable machines to large displays will still be popular, I love my huge screens (I have two 27 inch displays side by side on my desk at home!) I either want them tiny or huge! 

Please share your answers (and silly remarks) in the comments.  

 

The Saturday Morning Post: Twenty One Daily Reminders to Me

1. Have a little fun everyday.
2. Be kind to yourself.
3. Be kind to someone else.
4. Care not, what other's think. 
5. Find the good in others. 
6. Don't get hung up on the daily drama.
7. Take a walk.
8. Savor the good stuff.
9. Read something worthwhile.
10. Forgive.
11. Spend time doing nothing, thinking about nothing.
12. Think outside the box.
13. Laugh. If you can't remember the last time you laughed, it has been too long. 
14. Dream. 
15. Move forward everyday, one step at a time.
16. It hurts sometimes, get on with life. 
17. See the world though the eyes and ears of others.
18. Look up, look down, look right, left and ahead. 
19. Surround yourself with things that make you happy.
20. Play, we don't quit playing because we grow old, we grow old when we quit playing. 
21. Remember, life is a temporary condition, enjoy it while it is here. 

 

Foodie Friday - Bourbon

There is an old saying that the bitterness of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain price.  

I have a modest "collection" of really good bourbons.  No Jim Beam or Maker's Mark in the house, all really good stuff.  Some of it rare and hard to find.  The good stuff.  Good bourbon is warm, and smooth, it may have a slight bite (from a high rye content,) it should have a vanilla and oak flavor - without the wood overpowering.  I prefer a sweeter bourbon, a higher wheat, lower rye mash bill.  I buy it to enjoy it, but I enjoy it slowly. 

I discovered good bourbon, when I lived in Kentucky.  It does not have to be made in Kentucky to be bourbon, but about 90% of it is.  

Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn. ... Bourbon must be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume). Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels. Bourbon may not be introduced to the barrel at higher than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume). 

The one above was a very limited release, single barrel, barrel strength.  I will open it sometime in the future.  

Dinosaur Parking

I had my second dose of Pfizer Vax a couple of weeks ago.  How long before I start to feel safe? 

I have had the same cell phone number since 1996, it is the only mobile number I have ever had, does that make me a dinosaur? 

I never had an AOL email address, does that keep me from being a dinosaur? 

I have only had 5 email addresses, a University account, 2 work addresses and 2 personal accounts.  I still prefer email to instant messaging or text messages.  I have no idea what SnapChat is, does that make me a dinosaur? 

We still have a home phone. Does that make me a dinosaur? 

I discovered we have a NetFlix account, I rarely use it.  I do use Amazon Prime video and YouTube a lot.  Does this offset my being a dinosaur? 

The photo above, is dinosaur parking at National Harbor in Maryland, funny I always thought the dinosaur parking lot would be filled with Buicks, Cadillacs, and Lincolns.

The Way We Were Wednesday - What do I remember

 This photo was taken before I was born, those are my two brothers and my sister who is about 18 months older than I am.  My grandmother is on the sofa.  

I remember that Sofa. It was a dark green and had a deeply textured fabric.  I remember the feel of the texture of the textile.  I don't often think of textures, but that one stands out, it was both stiff and soft at the same time.  The replacement had a pleated brown wool fabric, with a Walnut frame across the top at the back, across the bottom and caps on the arms, wood legs.  I remember the brown wool being soft to the touch. She bought furniture to last, the brown wool one my father had in his den in the house in Florida for years after my grandmother died, until my mother convinced him she needed the space for a third desk. 

What textures to you remember from your youth? 

Travel Tuesday - April in Paris

 

Actually, I have never been there in April, I have experienced Paris twice, in winter. The first time was in January 1991, during the first Gulf War.  The second time was for Christmas in about 2004.  

The city is delightful in winter, the weather is moderate, not warm, but not cold and snowy (a disappointment the first time I was there, I was living in Florida at the time.) 

I am read to go back. 

My Music Monday - Moon River - I love a Piano Solo

I played the tuba in a school band for a couple of years, not very well, I have visual spatial issues that make reading music a challenge, and the music teacher had no idea how to teach around that.  One of the few modern classics we played was Moon River. 

The Sunday Five - What to Ask This Week?

1. How was your week? 
2. Can you find personalized stuff with your name on it? 
3. Do you have space for more books? 
4. If you could be anyplace in the world today, where would you be? 
5. Radio, streaming music, CDs, tapes, vinyl what kind of music do you listen to?  

 My Answers: 

1. How was your week?  Busy, a little crazy and a whole lot busy. 
2. Can you find personalized stuff with your name on it? yes, easily, this one is from childhood 
3. Do you have space for more books? Just a few, then I need to part with some 
4. If you could be anyplace in the world today, where would you be? Rome, I am in a mood for Rome. 
5. Radio, streaming music, CDs, tapes, vinyl what kind of music do you listen to?  Streaming music, sometimes streaming radio- recently Smooth Radio from London. 

Please share your answers in the comments.  

The Saturday Morning Post - April 17

I try to remember to pause, to look up, to look down, to look right - left and ahead.  It is so easy to be focused on one thing, that we miss the wonders around us.  What an amazing ceiling, someone spent days designing it, months maybe years building it.  If I didn't pause to look up, I would have missed it, missed taking this image.  The rear screen on the camera I am using folds out and tilts 180 degrees.  I can point the lens at the ceiling, fold the screen down so I am looking straight ahead, seeing what's up without craning my neck, handy, my balance is passable but not perfect - never will be again. 

The Violets are blooming here.  They were one of my grandmother's favorites.  Violets for color, lilies of the valley for smell. The Violets were blooming 25 years ago this week, when she died. Each spring the Violets remind me of her. They grow here as a wildflower, as they did on the farm.  I miss her. 

Last Saturday on the way home from my vaccine appointment, I decided to avoid the expressway construction and drive home on the back roads, taking me though old Fairfax City, Virginia.  There is a quaint 3 or 4 block area with some building dating back as much as 200 years.  A parking lot with open spaces was there as I was waiting for a traffic light, so I parked and walked around.  There is a coin shop, I have not been in a coin shop in years.   I thought about it, opened the door and took a look around.  It was fun.  It feels strange to stroll through a shop. I bought a proof set for the year J and I moved in together, and a 10-Franc coin from the first year I was in Paris.  I still have cash, shops still accept it.  I have only withdrawn cash once or twice in the past year, I use to do that every week.  It felt good to shop, it felt good to support a local independent business.  

When I was about 10, my grandmother told me if I saved my pennies I would be able to go to England someday (her birthplace.) I have hundreds of pounds of pennies collected since then.  I have thought that one of my retirement projects might be to sit with a magnifying lamp, you know the ones mounted on a spring loaded arm over a desk, and sort them all by date and mint mark. That would keep me busy a couple of hours a day, for a few months.  The coin shop had 5-gallon plastic buckets of coins sitting on the floor that they are sorting by date, mint, and grade.  

I am in a busy work cycle, lots of things going on all at once.  I need to remember to take time, to look up, down, right, left and ahead.  

 

Foodie Friday - Fussy Foods

 I am talking about over the top, pretentious, meals, that are served in multiple tiny courses, filled with flavor and texture, sometimes with ingredients I have heard of, but would be unlikely to find in my local mega mart (well here in the DC area, if you know where to shop you can buy almost any edible from around the world.)  I love it, and when the opportunity presents itself, I love to indulge in this kind of eating.  Fussy food, meticulous service, food you want to take pictures of, then take you time savoring and enjoying. But I never find myself cooking that way.  It is foreign to my midwestern farm boy upbringing, where servings where large and nourishing, and nearly everything fit on one plate (green salads and desserts were the exception).  Maybe I should try slowing down and cooking this way, it is fun to eat.  

The photos above were taken in Normandy, in a restaurant that was definitely trying for Michelin stars.  This was the short lunch menu.  

Oh my dog, the new Washer and Dryer Saga

 When I bought the condo, it came with an older Maytag stacked washer and dryer.  The washer and dryer are in the kitchen, in a small space this proves to be handy (it is unusual in homes in the USA for the washing machine to be in the kitchen.)  I know it was older, the color was discontinued at least 20 years ago, and I think longer.  It had served us well with just one service call.  Recently the timer on the dryer went bad, fortunately the dryer still worked, it just didn't turn itself off.  I decided it was time to buy something new.  

A couple of weeks ago we were out running errands, looked at an LG in Lowes, found no one really helpful when I needed to know the size, space is limited.  We stopped across the street at a local appliance store chain.  The dealer handles mostly better brands.  I told the Sandy the appliance guy what I was looking for and what my concerns are.  Most of the top load stacked machines are cheap, made for apartments, and not the most durable.  The full size front loaders can be stacked, but then the dryer controls end up 6 feet off the floor, and that can be a problem. The LG that we had looked at was a front loader, with controls for the washer and dryer in the middle, easy to reach. But a couple of people I know have had quality problems with LG. 

Sandy said, I have the ideal machine, but it is kind of expensive.  Speed Queen makes a front loading integrated stacked machine, washer on the bottom, dryer on the top. It was, well I will be blunt, and we usually don't talk about money, a little over $3,100, plus tax, plus delivery, plus $20 to haul away and recycle the old machine, all in just under $3,500. I have bought cars for less. I took the information, and the dimensions and went home to think about it.  That is a ton of money, and I am stingy.  I know the brand, they are very well made, made in the country, the machine may well outlive us.  After a couple of days, I decided to stimulate the economy, and went back and ordered it. 

Galloping Gertie was delivered, and before it finished running the first load I was calling saying this is not right.  It shook, it vibrated, it moved itself around the room.  They sent out a service guy, who spent about 5 minutes looked at it and said, the problem is the floor.  It will work fine.  He left, I ran another load, and I was afraid of the  machine. It got worse.  They sent out another tech, who leveled it, and adjusted the legs and said, if that doesn't fix it, tell them to replace it.  It was better, but still it moved 8 inches forward and 4 inches sideways running one load.  I emailed, I was too angry to talk. 

They replaced it.  Tech number 2, did the delivery and set up.  About 30 minutes into it, he cursed, called his supervisor, speaking in rapid fire Spanish about the loco machina. When the call was finished I went in the kitchen to check on the carnage.  He said, this is a new model, the guy who delivered the first one removed the delivery instructions, that had the location of the two new hidden shipping bolts, that have to be removed, or the machine tears itself apart.  He pointed to the bolts in a plastic bag and said, this one will work.  He was right.  It works.   It is fast, quiet, I hope it outlives us.  

The Way We Were Wednesday - Dream House

My mother didn't like taking the kids to an open house. There were four of us, hard to control and keep track of. One with ADHD, one easily led, one curious, one prone to stare off into space (you can guess which one I was.) This somehow was an exception.  This was in 1965 or 1966, on the side of Camelback Mountain overlooking Phoenix.  I don't remember the inside of the house, but I remember the pool clinging to the mountain side with an expansive view of the valley below. I could watch that view for days. A dream house, available at that time for something like $30,000, the property taxes on it would be more than that today.

I remember it, because of the view (I was maybe 7 or 8 years old) and because we were allowed to stop and look.  If I ever win big on the lottery, I will go buy it, or one in that neighborhood with that amazing view to stare off into.    

Travel Tuesday - San Francisco the complicated second visit

 My second visit to San Francisco almost didn't happen, maybe the world was trying to tell me something.  I was scheduled to present a training in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco as part of a consulting contract I had with a national association of retired people.  The plan was that I would fly out, spend a couple of nights in Santa Rosa, do the training, then stay on for a long weekend in San Francisco at my own expense.  As long as the airline ticket didn't cost extra, I could add personal days onto the trip (a rule that changed near the end of the contract - even if it cost more I had to fly home as soon as possible after the work was done.) I searched online and found a great deal on a hotel, between China Town and the business district, as I recall it was $99 a night, pre-paid, non-refundable, no credits, no changes, no exceptions.  It was a really great price, I paid for three or four nights.  

Then things took an odd turn, the local host of the training had a change of staff, a period when they didn't reply to messages, then just a few days before I was set to fly out, we were told that they hadn't told anyone about the planned training and were only expecting 4 or 5 attendees.  The decision was made to cancel the training.  Not my decision, not what I would have done.  I have always felt that if I reach one person who actually does good with what I have to say, and makes someone's life better, my time was well spent. Besides, I was paid a flat fee, it didn't matter to me if there were 5 people or 500 people in the room.  

So there I am left with a hotel room paid for in San Francisco for the weekend.  I spent a few minutes being upset, and mad, then thought, well why not go anyway?  I checked and Delta had frequently flyer seats available. I checked with my sweet bear, who said GO!  So I did.  I had a wonderful time in San Francisco.  Saw sights I had not seen on my first visit, and really enjoyed the weekend.  The room was nice, with an amazing view of Coit Tower and the Bay.  

On the trip home, things took an unexpected turn.  Someplace over Texas, at about 38,000 feet, the movie stopped playing, the lights went out, then about 10% of the lights came back on. I was watching one of the Lethal Weapon movies, they had just shot up the bottom of a swimming pool, I never did see the rest of the movie. Within a couple of minutes the flight crew came on the public address system, and said there was a problem with the electrical generating system, and rather than going to Atlanta, we would be on the ground in Dallas shortly.  They weren't kidding we went from 38,000 feet to on a runway in Dallas in about 10 minutes, when we taxied up to a gate, there was smoke pouring out from the engine on my side.  Apparently an alternator had failed, and the other one overloaded and failed.  

In Dallas I was redirected onto another flight going to Atlanta.  I missed the last flight out of Atlanta to my home airport. Delta put me in the nicest Hyatt near the airport for the night, flew me home the next morning.  

An interesting trip that almost didn't happen, almost didn't end well.  

My Music Monday: HAUSER - Can't Help Falling In Love (SLOW) Exclusive!!!

This one is short, and very sweet. 

Sunday Five - Rest

We need rest, without it, we die, lack of it impacts our physical and mental health.

1: What time do you usually go to bed? 

2: What time do you usually wake up in the morning? 

3: Do you set an alarm to wake up in the morning? 

4: Do you wear anything to sleep in? 

5: Do you sleep through, or get up in the night? 

My Answers: 

1: What time do you usually go to bed?  Around 9 PM, what was punishment when I was a child, is now being nice to myself. 

2: What time do you usually wake up in the morning?  Around 6 AM 

3: Do you set an alarm to wake up in the morning? Not usually, only for an early flight or meeting. 

4: Do you wear anything to sleep in? I sleep as nature intended. 

5: Do you sleep through, or get up in the night?  Very seldom. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

I have a file of incomplete draft posts, I started this one back in 2018, and just couldn't find the questions, I opened it this week, and the words just flowed.  

The Saturday Morning Post - Home

Looking over a week's photos, the spring transformation is absolutely amazing.  Getting out and walking, nearly everyday, in the same place, with the camera in hand, I am becoming very intune with the landscape and the season.  

I have joined a Facebook group, Virginia and Virginia Photographers and I am enjoying both posting and seeing what others post.  I am not from here, but I have grown to feel comfortable here. Northern Virginia, the DC metro area is a modern world Capital, an easy place for me to be comfortable.  Rural Virginia is harder for me, generations of racism, sexism and isolation make it culturally and socially backward. 

The simple question, where are you from, often brings an answer from me of "that's complicated." I have lived in 5 states, mid-west, southwest, south east and mid-Atlantic.  I have no desire to return to the place I was born in Michigan, if not for family I would almost never visit.  Phoenix was 55 years ago, though the landscape still makes me homesick.  I will be forever connected to Florida (I have a professional license there,) but I have no desire to return to living in the hurricane zone, and the conservative nutters have taken over state government.  I will be forever connected to Kentucky (I have a professional license there,) but we never wanted to live there, we went there for opportunities (that treated us VERY WELL.) So here I am in the DC burbs, for a dozen plus years now. My job requires me to live here, and I hope the job lasts another 3 years (then I will retire - promise!) But is it home? 

So is home where I am now? Where I am from? If so which place that I am from? Where I want to be? My father use to answer, "home is where I hang my hat, and I don't wear a hat anymore."

For me, for now, feeling a connection to a place, feeling intune with the season and the landscape, makes me feel at home.   

Do you live in a place that feels like home for you?     

 

Foodie Friday - Soft Fruits

 There was a Britcom from the mid 1970's, that aired in the USA under the name The Good Life in the UK, The Good Neighbors in the USA,  the premise is that Tom Good decides to chuck his job designing toys to go in cereal boxes, for self sufficiency, turning his suburban lawn into a market garden.  At the end of his first growing season a local restaunteer advises him to grow things that are hard to grow, limited in supply, like soft fruits.  Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries.  The good stuff.  

On the farm when I was growing up, we had a small raspberry patch, blackberries grew wild (as they do along the walk from the condo to the metro station), and at one point we had a couple acres of strawberries, down from five acres before I was born.  Blueberries we didn't have on the farm, there was a pick-your-own commercial blueberry farm about 20 minutes away and we went several times.  

We keep a covered bowl of soft fruits in the refrigerator most of the time.  Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries most of the time.  We wash them, lightly sweeten them.  A bowl of them is often my breakfast.  

Thursday Rambles - Mating Season

 The Birds and the Bees, 

Honeybees have a rather boring sex life, a Queen mates several times, generally all on one flight, and is fertile for life. In cold climates when rearing a new queen is not possible over the winter, the workers force all of the drones (males) out into the freezing cold. They they will raise more men in the spring when they might need them.  

Birds, a few weeks ago I saw two male geese fighting over a female, I had never seen that.  The male cardinals molt and have the brightest red feathers of the year, showing off, looking for a mate.  The male cardinals call is distinctive, but delivered with little apparent effort.  The male Red Wing Blackbird, really does not change much in appearance, but the mating call involves the entire bird.  From the tip of the beak, the the tip of the tale, the entire bird convulses. 

Then there was this in the parking lot at the wildlife refuge.

  

The Way We Were Wednesday - GB Dupont

 If you drove or rode in an american made care in the 1960's or 70's, odds are some the bolts or screws that held it together, well to the extent American made cars of that era didn't just rattle apart going down the road, were made by the G.B. Dupont Company.  They had to manufacturing plants, one in Detroit suburb of Troy, one in a tiny farm town north of there called Lapeer.  The building the background was the Dupont plant in Lapeer.  Why there?  G.B. as he prefered to be called, loved to fly.  When he was looking for a second location, he spotted a small country airport and a couple hundred acres of land for sale.  I bought it, built an industrial building, improve the airport paving the main runway, took on dealerships for Piper, Beech, Money, and eventually Cessna. My father learned to fly closer to the city, but Lapeer was his home airport for 20 years.  Through the 60's into the early 70's they would keep a couple of new "demonstrators" that were available for rent.  When they sold one, they would put another one on the line for rent.  It was nice flying new, or almost new airplanes in an era when most rental fleets were filled with flown out - worn out planes.  

G.B. got lost between cloud layers in the middle 1970's and narrowly found his way to an airport.  After that the company provided him with a pilot whenever he wanted to go anyplace.  The screw and bolt company was sold to a mega conglomerate in the mid 70's, the airport was operated by G.B.'s son Kent for another decade or so, then sold.  

   

Travel Tuesday - Iconic

The Spirit of St. Louis, would you recognize the name, what about just the shape.  It was not the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic, it was the first to cross the Atlantic solo.  The year my father was born.  

It is known, it is iconic, because of publicity.  Part of the deal to raise the funding to build it, and fund the trip, was a commitment to publicity.  A long publicity tour.  The goal was to make St Louis famous, the plane the pilot are become famous.  St. Louis?  It does have the Arch, and a train to the airport.  

My Music Monday - This is Me [The Greatest Showman] - Welsh of the West End

Conwy Castle, in Wales.  Near John Gray, home to this wonderful virtual chorus. Next time I want to spend more time in that part of the world, it was wonderful to see, I want to see more. I committed a long time ago, that anytime I could travel, I would, I wouldn't wait until I had more time, I would fill the time I have.  I was working with a young construction manager, I had taken a quick trip to Amsterdam and Paris. He said he was waiting until he could do it right, go for a month, one day he collapsed and died, a burst aneurysm. I decided at that point, that if a day was what I had, I would enjoy the day, there is no guarantee of enough time to do anything right.