Category Archives: Memories

75. When the fairies sing

Memories, Song Blog,

White coral bells upon a slender stalk
Lilies-of-the valley line the garden walk
Oh don’t you wish that you could hear them ring?
That will happen only when the fairies sing

My mom didn’t sing to me much, but she did sing White Coral Bells to me when the Lilies of the Valley were in bloom. They grew in a patch of earth near the end of the driveway and we both looked forward their tiny white flowers and sweet scent.

I was weeding the garden yesterday evening and saw that our lilies of the valley were in bloom and I could hear my mother singing White Coral Bells.

Listen to Laurie Berkner sing White Coral Bells.

58. Earth Day

Memories, Music, Song Blog

I remember the first Earth Day. I don’t remember what we did, but I remember thinking it was a new beginning – a way to save the Earth.

In 1986 or thereabouts my husband and I walked from our house in Alexandria to an Earth Day rally in Washington DC. Tom Cruise was there. We walked home too. We got sunburned and blistered feet.

We didn’t do anything this year for Earth Day. You’d think we’d care more now that we have kids and global warming is a reality instead of a theory.

Here’s a song for Earth Day that I found on an IM contact’s weblog:

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr

Memories, Reading

First of all, I had no idea Kurt Vonnegut, Jr was born before my father. I always think of him as young. I thought he was maybe ten years older than me, so when I read of his death on Tuesday at age 84, I was shocked. I would have thought John Updike was older than Vonnegut – or that they were the same age.

I cannot say I was ever a huge fan of Vonnegut’s work, but did read and enjoy a couple of his books in high school – Cat’s Cradle & Slaughterhouse 5. They’ve stuck with me all these years later – certain passages from the novels will always be a part of me.

The tribute on his website, is particularly moving. It is a simple bird cage, the door open with the words Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922 – 2007 underneath.