A 14 Hour Musical Journey

 

Song:  Nights In White Satin - Live

Group:  The Moody Blues

Justin Hayward...

the lead vocalist in most of the songs by The Moody Blues...

 and the vocalist in this song...

sings from the heart.

He belts out beautiful melodies with deep emotion...

but all with an effortless ease in his delivery.

He understands it is all about the music...

and not about himself.

And...

it is this that makes him so great.

This is a perfect song.

Take but a few moments of your life to experience this...

with headphones.

If you have never heard this song...

or at least this particular rendition...

you are in for a treat...

as I cannot imagine it not being life changing for you.

I have...

over the course of two days...

listened to this masterpiece of music...

(the included song)...

for over 14 hours.

I just found it on YouTube yesterday...

and it is such a wonderful piece of musical perfection...

that I had listened to it...

as well as watched the reaction videos to it (multiple times each)...

over 7 hours straight yesterday...

and over 7 hours straight (so far) on this night...

simply playing it over and over...

and never getting bored with it.

It is not an intellectual journey...

but a deeply emotional one...

one which evokes profound feelings...

of a transportation to the most beautiful moments in life.

It is the same as seeing a fetching woman...

and simply being transfixed by her siren like qualities...

an epitome of feminine grace and beauty...

and having her continually haunt your mind until you can capture 

but a glimpse of her...once again.

It is something of which one never tires.

True music appreciation is not a subject of study...

but of a deep love of the perfect song...

as such is this.

--------------

I was raised on this song...

and I had always deeply loved it since first hearing it in the late 1960s.

However...

it is this particular rendition...

complete with a full orchestra...

 that I love more than any other version.

Yesterday was the first time for me to hear this rendition...

and I had found it to be so perfect...

that I simply cannot get enough of it.

I am even listening to it now as I write this blog.

The Moody Blues...

is still one of my favorite groups of all time...

right up there with Pink Floyd.

And this song in particular...

is one of my all time favorite songs.

The meaning...

the feeling it evokes within...

just resonates so much with me.

I used to love listening to this song on the radio

(my father had bought me a small transistor radio in the 1960s)...

and I loved sitting out on a curb in our neighborhood late at night

as I listened to it...

especially during thunderstorms

while I wore a rain suit with a rain hat...

as back then, the studio version was played often on the radio.

The streets were deserted...

and the fresh smell of the rain...

all while watching in anticipation for lightning to fill the skies...

was simply magical.

I loved being alone as I listened to music.

The wonderful feeling of solitude was...

and still is...

so intoxicating.

It is what I treasure so much about living where I do.

The rest of the real world melts away...

and I get to indulge in my own inner world

(especially in The Tiger's Den).

-------------

This song is of the flow.

It speaks of true love...

and the deep pain of it never having had been answered.

But true love it was...

and the gratefulness for having had it touch life...

and the changing of life forever for the better...

because of it.

---------

Yes...

I am in a more melancholy mood...

but it is music which is so cathartic for me.

I received word recently from an old friend...

who is now facing her own mortality.

This is one of the sad things about aging...

we must say goodbye to people in life who meant much to us.

But...

there is a silver lining here.

As I talked with her on the phone...

she still seemed satisfied in life...

 not at all bitter or angry...

and not filled with false hope...

but is simply filled with a dignified grace...

and this made me happy...

as it means she has no real regrets about how she had spent her life.

It is this that makes her a true warrior of the heart.

-------------

I cannot express this enough...

take this from the old man on the mountain...

for I have experienced much in life...

as I have lived and loved fully.

I have experienced great love...

and great loss and grief...

and it is only those of whom had done so

who can truly appreciate life and all of the great simple pleasures in it.

 Love truly and fully...

and only once you have done so...

can you ever truly love life...

and this is because...

only with true love...

do you love something over yourself...

and this is the gateway to open your heart to something far greater.

Only with this realization...

does it transform you...

where giving becomes more pleasurable than receiving...

and it is this scenario which automatically doubles pleasure in life.

I love life so much...

the great beauty of sunrises and sunsets...

the soul satisfying tastes of great meals...

the wind on my face...

and the magnificent and transcendent melodies of great masterpieces of music.

They all just fill me with such serene and beautiful emotions

that I cannot help but feel so grateful and intensely appreciative for what I have...

and it is this type of music that I carry in my heart throughout life...

as it expresses my deep love for it...

and for those of whom were a part of it.

First Dusting Of Snow / Veggie And Grain Stews

 

Song:  Heaven On Earth

Artist:  Hilary Stagg

Yesterday...

the temperature began to drop...

and our first light dusting of snow began.

This morning the snow picked up again...

and as the temperature is supposed to be below 20 F to mid 30s F...

although we had originally planned to go into Woodland Park 

to do some shopping...

as we are expecting heavier snow today...

we decided to just stay inside.

The days were sunny just two days ago...

as can be seen out of the kitchen sink window.

My wife was actually planning to make me Okonomiyaki...

but as she didn't have all of the necessary ingredients...

she had instead made thinly sliced pork Yakisoba...

which was delicious all on its own.

Yesterday had started out with a light snowfall.

This is the Japanese chicken stock my wife uses in much of her cooking.

My wife had made some sliced pork stew...

which was hearty and delicious...

with a twist.

She had added oats to the stew...

and it was delicious.

She started out by sautéing garlic and ginger... 

and then adding shiitake, onions, and leeks

into the Japanese chicken stock base...

and adding thinly sliced pork and tofu...

and then in the last few minutes of cooking...

she added in oats.

When she had first mentioned it...

I was skeptical...

but...

it not only adds to the body of the stew...

but it tastes good...

adds to the texture...

and makes it much more healthful.

-------------------

Yesterday...

my wife had begun making a veggie and grain packed stew.

This is a very tasty and healthful stew which...

after the ingredients are added...

takes about 30 minutes in an Insta Pot.

My wife started out by sautéing three cloves of garlic in olive oil... 

 making the stock with this vegetable soup base...

and then added a whole host of ingredients:

Barley

Faro

Lentils

celery

onions

mushrooms

kabocha

Japanese sweet potatoes

carrots

shishito

bell peppers

bay leaves

jalapeno flakes

and then after cooking...

she added:

Beans (canned)

and Oatmeal.

Bandi loves her great room bed.

We will soon be moving around some things in the great room...

as we are shopping for our great room sofa set.

The snow fall ceased...

and the skies began to lighten...

but more clouds rolled through...

creating a misty...

almost ghostly mood in the mountains.

The finished veggie and grain stew.

My wife's stews are just filled with healthful ingredients...

and with the inclusion of oats in her stews...

it is even more healthful...

especially for the heart and gut...

and...

it is, surprisingly...

very hearty and delicious.

My wife has been incorporating oats into our meals.

We will even snack on thinly cut and dried oats...

straight out of their containers...

however...

we don't eat oatmeal in the traditional fashion

(boiled mush in a bowl)...

which I find to be tasteless and boring.

-------------

My wife is very good at making healthful meals out of whatever

ingredients we have on hand.

She is very creative...

and she constantly searches out new recipes on YouTube...

especially veggie base foods.

Long Mountain Trike Route Drive / White Al Ajillo

 

Song:  Alone

Artist:  Ray Wilson

Today...

I took my wife on a little car ride...

following the long mountain run/triking route we will use in the future.

It is five miles in total...

and it has various declines and inclines.

I took her on a reverse route I normally take with Bandi while triking...

as, at least...

for her first time...

the route in reverse is relatively flat for the first mile

(after a steep and long decline)...

it will allow her to get into her rhythm as she warms up

before she enters the majority of the inclines.

But...

as we drove...

she said that she would like to try both ways eventually.

On our way down our mountain.

As I took the majority of these photos through the front windshield...

whenever we faced the sun...

the bright light through the glass washed out the photos a bit.

We had hit the first T-intersection.

It is where going left runs the course in reverse...

and going right runs the course forwards.

We had gone left for the reverse course.

We then turned off on a side road to begin the long gentle inclines.

The inclines got a little steeper.

And then there was a small portion of declines.

And we finally ended up at the T-intersection...

and where the long and steep incline would begin...

and only end at home.

Just a short ways from home here.

Almost home here...

just around the next corner.

We had just pulled into the lower driveway.

This is my view just to my right as I eat at our kitchen eating counter.

I ordered these heavily padded bar stools last night...

as our present stools are not nearly so comfortable as are these.

I like to eat in comfort.

We should be getting them in a couple of weeks.

As you can see...

some of the Aspens are already losing their leaves...

while some are still developing their full colors.

------------------------

After our drive...

my wife began making my meal for the day...

White An Ajillo.

It was just so outrageously delicious...

so deeply flavorful...

and even though it is an alteration of a Spanish dish...

it is an iteration that all places around the world should incorporate.

It is like a seafood stew...

but I have never had any stew with these combination of flavors.

My wife explained that she had crushed seven cloves of garlic...

and had heated them in olive oil...

and then sautéed three types of mushrooms in the garlic infused olive oil.

She then added heavy cream...

and the seafood (shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels)...

and then brought everything to a low boil...

and then plated and garnished it with parsley and black pepper.

It was ohhh SO good.

What flavor...

and I couldn't even taste any garlic...

but it must have been a large part of the flavor.

This is a high end stew...

the type you would expect in a high end restaurant.

My wife said next time...

she will try the actual Spanish way of making Al Ajillo...

with no heavy cream...

but with just the garlic infused olive oil...

with the mushrooms and seafood.

My wife had made these meal accompaniments last night:

She had diced and air fried:

 Kabocha

Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Purple Yams

And she had also made another batch of Tsukemono (Japanese pickles):

Japanese Cucumbers

Turnips

Daikon

But these had a Yuzu flavor...

as she had added Yuzu juice and Yuzu pepper...

along with her normal pickling ingredients.

They went along so well with the stew.

And for an appetizer...

my wife air fried some calamari rings.

These perfectly complimented the seafood stew.

This Thai Sweet Chili sauce just tastes so good with the calamari.

I am now full...

but even more importantly...

I am feeling fully satisfied.

What a meal!

That was the most delicious stew I have ever had.

And...

my wife has so many more dishes she wants me to try.

Of course!

I am on a delicious adventure...

and loving every meal.

And...

as I always give Bandi little tastes of my food...

she stands near me as I eat...

and then she will rest her muzzle on my thigh...

and if I don't give her another piece of food quickly enough...

that is when she will lift up her upper body...

using my leg as a step stool.

Bandi is just too cute to resist...

and so...

what Bandi wants...

Bandi gets  :)