Transmissions from the Northern Outpost

Tag: music

  • A three-day weekend for both of us!

    Every Thursday, I share three good things from today, in the past week, and/or in the week or weeks to come, to focus on what is good. I encourage you to share in the comments your three good things too, if you want. I was introduced to thinking on three good things for the week by Deb Nance of the blog Readerbuzz who lists hers every Sunday on her blog.

    This weekend, my wife Kim and I are off for three days together, starting tomorrow and going through Sunday. Here are the three big things we have planned:

    Tomorrowland

    It is the second weekend of the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium and we’ll be watching some via YouTube all weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with Tomorrowland, in the simplest terms, it is an electronic music festival that started in 2005 and has spun off into festivals in Brazil and in France, where a winter edition is held. We started watching it before the pandemic and while we like some other festivals more now, this was our first exposure to these kinds of festivals – and so, almost obligatory.

    The Bronx Bombers vs. The Fightin’ Phils

    All three days, the Phillies and the Yankees are playing in the Bronx. The Yankees are, and always have been, my team, but I haven’t always really watched games. This year, thanks to a deal on MLB.com through T-Mobile, I’m able to watch games with the Yankees and other teams all season. Kim has joined me, with both of us finding the game not boring like we once thought. Now, she has selected a team to follow: the Phillies, a team which she grew up with became she lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The Yankees are struggling, while the Phillies, eh, not so much. Both teams have off today so both teams ought to be well-rested.

    Brass Under The Stars

    Sunday night, weather permitting, we will be going to a concert that is part of the Endless Mountain Music Festival at Cherry Springs State Park in nearby Potter County. The park is a Dark Sky Park and often cited as one of the best places in the eastern U.S. to view the night sky. As for the festival, it has 17 concerts in 17 days here in northcentral Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York with musicians from all over the world. Sunday’s concert is one of its free concerts.

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  • Happy anniversary, today off, and Tomorrowland tomorrow

    Every Thursday, I share three good things from today, in the past week, and/or in the week or weeks to come, to focus on what is good. I encourage you to share in the comments your three good things too, if you want. I was introduced to thinking on three good things for the week by Deb Nance of the blog Readerbuzz who lists hers every Sunday on her blog.

    To my sister and brother-in-law

    This past week, my sister and brother-in-law celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary. My brother-in-law was/is off work all week and besides going to a bookstore and out for dinner on their anniversary, they’ve just been hanging out with each other and their kids at home the rest of the week.

    Today, my wife Kim and I were both off work. She went to a local art club, her first time going, then the local produce market. We then watched silly TV the rest of the day. Like my sister and brother-in-law, we are simple folk, I guess.

    This weekend I’m off work and among other things I plan on watching Tomorrowland (a music festival in Belgium), which is still happening despite a fire on Wednesday that destroyed the Main Stage.

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  • Spring, a concert, and off for 3 days

    Every Thursday, I share three good things from today, in the past week, and/or in the week or weeks to come, to focus on what is good. I encourage you to share in the comments your three good things too, if you want. I was introduced to thinking on three good things for the week by Deb Nance of the blog Readerbuzz who lists hers every Sunday on her blog.

    Today is the first day of Spring. That is No. 1. While winter is still hanging on here, predicted temperatures for the next  weeks: 40s in the day and 20s at night, at least there is hope. I’ll take any hope we can get at this point.

    No. 2 is Kim and I are going to see singer Dar Williams Saturday night in our small town. We’ve known for a few months and Kim has gone and caught up with her latest albums in preparation. We’ve also been invited to a table at the concert. The venue where we’re seeing her has tables you can sit at and I believe, bonus, alcohol.

    No. 3 is that Kim is off for three days, starting tomorrow. I happen to work Sunday but we’re off together tomorrow night, all day Saturday, and Sunday night. It’s supposed to be rainy on Saturday, so just a day in and that’s OK too. We’ll be having a Chinese takeout, as has been our custom when she is off so that will “keep us” for food for the weekend.

    I’ll leave you with one of our favorite Dar Williams songs:

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  • Mom, breakfast, and music

    Every Thursday, I share three good things from today, in the past week, and/or in the week or weeks to come, to focus on what is good. I encourage you to share in the comments your three good things too, if you want. I was introduced to thinking on three good things for the week by Deb Nance of the blog Readerbuzz who lists hers every Sunday on her blog.

    Today, and probably always, I’m keeping my three good things simple and off the top of my head. I just got home from running errands this morning: laundry at the laundromat, a grocery pickup, getting gas, and a breakfast wrap from a place in town. So, I’ll stick to today:

    • Talking to my mom on the phone
    • The aforementioned breakfast wrap and place
    • Earworms. Earworms? Really? Yes, really.

    I realized this morning that I hadn’t talked to my mother in about a week. So while at the laundromat, after I put the loads in the washer, I gave her a call. We ended up talking longer than I expected, but it was good.

    She remembered today was her mother’s birthday. Her mother, my grandmother, would have been 100 today. She died in 2003. My mom shared memories of her mother, her father, and siblings (all since gone) growing up, stories – mostly good while acknowledging and forgiving the bad – that I never had heard. It was unexpected – and unexpectedly emotional, with all the feels. I won’t say it was necessarily what “the doctor ordered,” but it was good to remember grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

    We talked longer than expected, which was more than okay. After I put the clothes in the dryer and went to get breakfast. It also was good, very good, and probably not what a doctor would order,especially with high blood pressure, but I’ll take it – and did.

    My friend Kyle’s place, Komodo Gelato, but he doesn’t have just gelato.

    Last and definitely least because you might not want to listen to what I’m going to share are earworms. Today’s were a pair of songs, one on the radio in the laundromat and the other, maybe because the country in the song has been in the news:

    I chose this over the cheesy sexist MTV video. You’re welcome.

    And with that, I’ll sign off for this week and go watch some college basketball (I know I should be watching hockey) as I have the day off.

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