SoCS: Morning Has Broken, Names, and 30 Days of Thankfulness

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “morning.”

 Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Morning has broken, but it’s not broken. It still works just fine. I however do not often see the break of day as I am not a morning person unless absolutely necessary. Or meaningful. It takes a lot to get me up at the crack of dawn or to sleep before midnight.

“Morning has Broken” was first written as a hymn in the early 1900s. Then Cat Stevens made it a pop hit in the early 70s. The hymn doesn’t have the exact same notes, but pretty close. Cat added at least two extra notes in the second mention of morning, (mo-or-or-ning) compared to what I’ve seen in the hymnal. Most of us still sing it the Cat Stevens way.

I just stepped out of the stream of consciousness, having been pulled out by the stream of curiosity, to discover from Wikipedia, that Cat Stevens was born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London. He later took the stage name, of Cat Stevens and now goes by Yusuf Islam. I’m not going to research why, though I could guess, as I am back in the stream of consciousness.

Cat Stevens, as I will always think of him, is a pretty cool dude for someone who has had three names. But maybe that’s an okay thing. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could change our names whenever something significant prompted us to do so? A few of you know that my government name is Joanne, but I choose to be JoAnna here on my blog, because I like it better with the a the end. JoAnna of the Forest. In real life, I have a mini forest in my backyard. The neighbors might say the front yard, too, though it’s very mini.

If you could choose your name, what would it be?

Glinda is a nice name. It floats like a bubble…. I have forgotten the prompt. Must’ve lost it in the stream. Curiosity made me peek. Morning! Morning Star was one of the first veggie burgers. Now, I like Gardein vegan burgers. The Morning Star “sausages” are pretty good.

Does anyone open presents or go to church on Christmas morning anymore? Maybe people with kids. Seems like most of the Christmas stuff goes on on Christmas Eve. That’s good for a night owl. Then you can sleep in on Christmas morning. But wait! One holiday at a time! We haven’t had Thanksgiving yet!

Here’s a little thing I found on Facebook that I’m doing as the month goes along:

Let me see if I can do this in a SoC way without thinking about it. These are things I’m thankful for:

Person: David, animal: dog (Marley, and all of them!), cozy place: by the fireplace with candles or a campfire. Favorite snack: Skinny popcorn. Place: home. Shoes: Oofos! Scent: honeysuckle, pine, clove. Restaurant: vegan. Blog: hard to pick, but I visit http://derrickjknight.com/ daily. (Before that it was: Natalie Scarberry) Time of day: late afternoon. Tradition: Christmas Eve music and It’s a Wonderful Life. Gadget: blender. Something old: my old body. Something new: My compression nano socks. Experience: scuba diving a long time ago. Recipe: lentil wellington. Store: whole foods for good stuff and dollar general for convenience. Quote: Jeremiah 29:11 (God has a good plan for you.) clothing: stretchy yoga pants. Keepsake: My parents’ photo albums. Disappointment/Fear: I’m now thankful for my divorce and time alone to love me again. Book: The Bible and The Language of Letting Go. and many more. Feeling: Joy. Photo: the polaroid Caroline took of me and David in ’72 which became my book cover. Luxury: TV/movies. Charity: The ones that help animals. Song: “Let it Be.” Gift: Mother Earth. Something at Home: Toilet Paper! Most thankful for: Life.

Whew! That too longer than I thought. Thanks for reading.

Here’s a whimsical video:

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For more streams and SoCS rules,

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Staying Home and Watching Christmas Movies

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “home.” Use it as a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Enjoy!

The first thing I thought of was the song, “Home,” by Cat Stevens, from the album, Numbers. I’ll share that at the end of the post because that’s where it traditionally goes. Not that tradition is the be all and end all of everything. In the episcopal church tradition is one leg of the three-legged stool, along with scripture and reason. That reason part is part of the reason I go to an episcopal church as my home church.

I haven’t been to church in three weeks since I’ve been home sick. I like staying home most of the time, but I do miss singing in church. It will be a while before I can do that because of this nagging, dry cough. I got a new medication for it, so maybe it’s on its way out. Ricola cough drops have come in pretty handy.

Yesterday was the first cool day we’ve had here in a very long time. The high was in the 70s! It was wonderful! I love autumn. I got so excited to put in my orange, glowy, flickering light bulb on the front porch. I think I’ll make soup today. Looking forward to pumpkin or sweet potato pie and feeling well enough to walk Marley to the park. When we come back home, and walk through the gate, I tell him, “GO HOME,” at least twice, so if he ever runs off and someone tells him to GO HOME, he will know what that means.

I wish everyone had a safe home, a place where they feel comfortable, at least a safe, comfortable room or corner. Home really should be safe. If it’s not, get help. Please. Everyone deserves to have a safe place.

It is very possible that I have shared Cat Stevens’ “Home” here and not that long ago. Well, maybe everyone didn’t see it or hear it. I don’t mind listening to it again. Here it is: https://youtu.be/OmnIOc3WN5o

I was checking my photos and had taken some of the TV when I watched the Home Alone movies, 1 and 2. They are two of the many movies I can watch over and over again, along with Elf. When my son was about five or six, people were always saying, “He looks like that kid in the Home Alone movie.” He actually did. Now, not so much.

Here’s a picture of my son, age 7, with his new baby sister in 1993: (That was almost 30 years ago!)

1993 Time flies!

Here’s the feel good ending of Home Alone 2. Kevin is giving a gift to the homeless lady who became his friend and saved him from the bad guys.

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For more homey streams of consciousness, visit out host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: The Power of Zero, Cat Stevens, and a “Submerged Object”

 The prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “zip, zero, zilch.” Use one, use ’em all, bonus points if you use all three. Have fun!

Zero is the number of romantic partners I had in the second half of the decade after my divorce. Five years doesn’t seem like such a long time now to be celibate or anything else. In the big picture, five years is not a long time when you have an abundance, a few quality friendships, dogs, and work to do on yourself. I had a romantic relationship with myself and with nature, and spiritual growth that required zero romantic distraction from other people. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time it was happening. There is power in zero, in solitude, in simplicity. Not to say my life was simple by any means.

One is not always the loneliest number, and zero doesn’t necessarily mean zilch. If you add zeros to a number, it increases the value.

Dave at Daily Ramblings shared a short Ted Talk on the origins of the number zero which started as a dot. It got me thinking of the old Cat Stevens/Yusuf album, Numbers, A Pythagorean Fairy Tale, which came out in 1975. The songs sort of told the story of the numbers one through nine and how everything changed when this new dude showed up named, Jzero. I listened to this album a lot in the second half of the decade that was the 70s. It was a confused time of my life when I kept getting distracted from college and from myself. My romantic partners during that time were distractions. I often felt lost or lost my sense of myself.

One of my favorite songs from the Numbers album was, “Drywood.” Part of it went something like,

“Like drywood takes to fire, the truth will come to you.

Like streams that seek the ocean, you will find ways through,

Like morning meets the moon, my love will guide the way.

It’s time to wipe your eyes now, and awake…..”

The song provided encouragement I needed and still holds a special place of gratitude in my heart.

Another of my favorite songs from the album was, “Home.” It’s a sweet song. Here’s an older Cat Stevens, aka, Yusuf, singing it. At the end he whispers, “Peace be with you.”

Well, time to zip up this post. Right after I add a few photos from the beach… Oh, there’s a video at the bottom.

“DANGER SUBMERGED OBJECT”

A submerged rock ?

A chunk of the jetty maybe?

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For more streams of consciousness, rules, and such, visit our dedicated host, Linda Hill, by clicking HERE.