San Luis Obispo County Sunset, Avila Bay

   The new HBO series ‘True Blood’ has become a weekly favorite program in our tiny household.

   I also like the great variety of music showcased on the program… last night’s episode had an episode name taken from one of the songs by the ‘Cowboy Junkies’, one of my favorite bands.

   Cowboy Junkies have such beautiful words to their lyrics… the poetry and depth of feeling drips with tears.

‘To Love is to Bury’
~Cowboy Junkies~

I buried him down by the river
’cause that’s where he liked to be
and every night when the moon is high
I go there and weep openly

He and I were married
By this river ‘neath this willow tree
and with God and friends witnessing it
He pledged his life to me 

To me he was Earth
and I rooted in his soil
I to he was Sky vast and free
of the burdens from which he toiled

 

Then one night a terrible fight
Words spoken better left unsaid
With his wedding vows ringing in my ears
He gave his life to me

 

They say to love is to bury
Those demons from which we all hide
But tonight by this river ‘neath this willow tree
Becoming one of Earth and Sky

  We just buried my Uncle Bob this weekend in Los Angeles.  He was a fun loving guy.. always joking and messing around. I suppose when people have lived through horror, they tend to swing to one extreme or another. And Bob had seen his share of horror…. he was in WWII and spent time during the war in Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and Italy. He was awarded four Bronze Stars for bravery… this was a surprise to all of us. He never ever really spoke of the war, and even the fellows closer to his age (92) did not know of the Bronze Stars.

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‘Fiddler’s Green’
~John Conolly~

As I roved by the dockside one evening so fair
To view the salt waters and take in the salt air
I heard an old fisherman singing a song
Oh, take me away boys me time is not long

Wrap me up in me oilskin and blankets
No more on the docks I’ll be seen
Just tell me old shipmates, I’m taking a trip mates
And I’ll see you someday on Fiddlers Green

Now Fiddler’s Green is a place I’ve heard tell
Where the fishermen go if they don’t go to hell
Where the weather is fair and the dolphins do play
And the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away

Now when you’re in dock and the long trip is through
There’s pubs and there’s clubs and there’s lassies there too
And the girls are all pretty and the beer is all free
And there’s bottles of rum growing on every tree.

Where the skies are all clear and there’s never a gail
And the fish jump on board with one swish on their tail
Where you lie at your leisure, there’s no work to do
And the skipper’s below making tea for the crew

Now I don’t want a harp nor a halo, not me
Just give me a breeze and a good rolling sea
I’ll play me old squeeze-box as we sail along
With the wind in the riggin to sing me a song

Yeah, ever since that first time I saw Endless Summer, so many years ago, I’ve wanted to just chuck it all to the sun, and follow my whims and the currents.

   I saw this in our local edition of Craigslist…..

Surf Trip October 20th through November 20th (Baja, Ca)

PostingID: 831400170

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   Yeah,

  Sounds like fun.

California Coffeeberry

   No, it’s not coffee at all. It was just named that due to its resemblance. It is a wild shrub in California, and has an attractive foliage all year long, and at times has these very attractive berries that are food for much wildlife. We have many of these plants on our property, they are one of the plants I resist removing or cutting.

   This is not a plant to eat… the berries will cause intestinal problems that can only be resolved by sitting on the toilet for many, many, many hours…. and you might wind up in the hospital… so don’t eat these!

 

 

   You can click the image to see it much larger.

   This is the ‘Rhamnus californica’  subsp. occidentalis   species

~David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Paul Kantner~
‘Wooden Ships’

If you smile at me, I will understand
‘Cause that is something everybody everywhere does
in the same language.

I can see by your coat, my friend,
you’re from the other side,
There’s just one thing I got to know,
Can you tell me please, who won?

Say, can I have some of your purple berries?

 Yes, I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now,
haven’t got sick once.

Probably keep us both alive.

Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy,
Easy, you know the way it’s supposed to be,
Silver people on the shoreline, let us be,
Talkin’ ’bout very free and easy…
Horror grips us as we watch you die,
All we can do is echo your anguished cries,
Stare as all human feelings die,
We are leaving - you don’t need us.

Go, take your sister then, by the hand,
lead her away from this foreign land,
Far away, where we might laugh again,
We are leaving - you don’t need us.

And it’s a fair wind, blowin’ warm,
Out of the south over my shoulder,
Guess I’ll set a course and go…

 

 

 

 

The Harbor in San Diego California hosts a meeting of the big masted sail ships every year. A fellow from there took video of some of the ships, and put it on YouTube with the song ‘Wooden Ships’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  The song is great, the video is pretty well done, and the ships filmed are impressive…. if you ever get a chance to go to San Diego, do go. It is a fun town, and the weather can be counted on to be great. The harbor is fine, the people seem to enjoy to party… it’s a different kind of town… I’ve enjoyed it any time I’ve been there.