Love Will Keep Us Alive

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I heard someone say how important it is to talk about what you love rather than hate.

There’s too much hate in the world.

So:

I love the night sky in the fall when the leaves are crisp and the acorns crunch under foot.

I love the cool wind in my hair as the Eagles sing about the dark desert highway.

I love that music, words, and pictures bring us together rather than tear us apart.

Look how lucky we are to be alive right now.

Love will keep us alive.

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Huntsville, Alabama 11:29pm CST, October 13, 2020.

🎶Some dance to remember/Some dance to forget. 🎶📸

Replace “dance” with “blog” and you’ll begin to see what it means to me.

#ADayInTheLife

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🎶 Maybe deep down inside, I’m trying for no one else but me. Too stubborn to say, “The buck stops here. It’s not the one you’re looking for.” But, maybe deep down inside, I’m lying to no one else but me. Oh but my back is up. I’m on my guard - with all the exits sealed.🎶📸

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🎶If you stop and listen long enough, you’ll hear your own still small voice. But you don’t have to pray to a little tin god.🎶📸

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🎶Mm, a flood is threatenin’ my very life today. Gimme, gimme shelter, or I’m gonna fade away.🎶📸

Is there a more apt song for today than one recorded 51 years ago? If so, I don’t know it.

And that intro has haunted me all my life.

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🎶Like when I close my eyes and don’t even care if anyone sees me dancing.🎶📸

The Monster Upstairs

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When your boy comes down from his room after having played quietly for an hour, standing in front of you, naked from his bath, saying, “I want broom and dustpan, please,” it’s a moment of conflicting emotions.

On the one hand, you’re thrilled with the clear language and request for tools that don’t often get asked for.

On the other hand, you suddenly know how Brad Pitt felt when he asked Morgan Freeman, “WHAT’S IN THE BOX?????” (Yes, it’s an old allusion. Google it, if you need to.)

Suffice it to say, as your boy takes your free hand that isn’t holding the broom and dustpan, and leads you upstairs, there’s a growing sense of despair. You just know you should have gone up sooner to check on the quiet … .

I walk in and find the culprit. All this time, I assumed the boy had done whatever the deed was.

But no. It was another little monster …

As we shove open the door that’s blocked by basically every blanket in the house, I notice that his room smells a bit nicer than normal. A bit sweeter. Not unlike a chocolate chip cookie.

Then it dawns on me. The container of cookies was missing from the kitchen during dinner.

And there they were.

And the culprit was caught … Covered in cookie powder. With all the cookies crumbled to powder and mixed into the blankets and carpet.

Cause Cookie is a messy eater.

But this is what we call progress in our house. While the boy loves turning poptarts to powder at school lunch, his new teacher has taught him to clean up after himself by asking for, you guessed it, the broom and the dustpan, please.

Ah the joy of childhood, and the bittersweet chocolate of growing up and learning to clean the messes that monsters make.

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🎶 Do you remember The 21st night of September? Love was changing the minds of pretenders, While chasing the clouds away.🎶📸

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🎶 Well darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable And lightness has a call that’s hard to hear🎶📸

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🎶And then he’ll settled down, in some quiet little town and forget about everything. 🎶📸

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🎶 I was either standing in the shadow or blocking your light Though I kept on trying I could not make it right for you girl There’s just not enough love in the world. 🎶📸

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🎶 There’s a battle ahead. Many battles are lost, but you’ll never see the end of the road while you’re traveling with me. 🎶📸

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🎶 Won’t you be the new one? Burn to shine. I take the blue ones every time. Walk me down your broken line. All you have to do is cry.🎶

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🎶 Oh there’s an emptiness inside her And she’d do anything to fill it in. And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now, it’s more like cold blue ice in her heart🎶