Blue-Footed Musings

I woke up extra early today. This happens from time to time, but usually I just lie in bed until I finally fall back asleep. Not this morning. Thanks to having watched Mamma Mia! for the first (and last) time last night, the music of ABBA was playing in my head, chasing the sleep away. Watching that movie turns out to have been a mistake on more than one level.

But there was one benefit to my early waking. I went into the mudroom to put something in the mini-fridge and unexpectedly stepped into a puddle of water. Mamma mia! We had sprung a leak. A leaky pipe is no fun first thing in the morning, but it’s better to find it sooner rather than later.

My husband didn’t enjoy being woken up to deal with it. At least he can go back to sleep, though. He doesn’t have Dancing Queen playing in his head over and over.

There ought to be a limit to how many times one’s mind can think the word “tambourine” per day, don’t you think?

Blue, blue my world is blue.

Blue is my world now I’m without you.

These are the opening lines of a song called Love Is Blue (L’amour Est Bleu), which was an easy listening hit of 1968. I loved that song when I was a child. I had it on record, and I used to play it on my little record player. It seems almost preposterous to me that I’m old enough to have used that technology. But yes, record players were still a thing when I was young, and not just for sound aficionados as they are today. Everybody had one, even kids.

Nowadays we stream music. Its cheap and convenient. I can listen to multiple renditions of Love Is Blue right now, virtually for free. Life was different in the ’70s, though. Back then, music was expensive and sometimes difficult to acquire. Once lost, it usually couldn’t be had again. So we treasured our records. Part of the reason I loved that particular record so much was that I didn’t own very many. But I guess I didn’t love it quite enough to take care of it. I left it on the floor.

Do you know what else I had back then? A rocking chair. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. I sat down on my rocking chair. Crack! Good-bye record. I’m not sure which I miss more now: the chair or the record. I eventually broke the chair, too. I wish I could have them both back. Blue, blue, my world is blue. Blue is my world now I’m without you.

The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t leave the things you love lying on the floor. If only I could impart this wisdom upon my children. Everything they own is on the floor! I keep trying to explain to them what will happen if they don’t start taking care of their things. I’d like to spare them some regret, but perhaps this is a lesson that we each have to learn for ourselves. Maybe it only becomes clear when we’ve lost a cherished thing through our own carelessness, and it has made us feel blue.

My goals for the weekend are the same every time. I always plan to do cleaning and laundry, to go shopping, and to make sure the children get fed. That’s all.

Ideally I’d also plan some fun activities, but it never seems to happen. I think part of the problem is that we’re always fighting against our clutter. It’s not just the stuff that we have in piles around the house. Mental clutter is also getting in the way.

So, my extra task for today is to finish gathering all the remaining blog and story ideas strewn about my office, organize the good ones, and throw away the rest. This will require going through some piles of papers, which means I’ll be working toward one of my larger 2018 goals. Today is a day to declutter!

As I was looking through my folder of draft posts today, I found this old list. It ought to have been published earlier this year, but I never finished it. Everything on it still sounds like a good goal, so here it is.

To Do in 2018

1. Finish sorting and dealing with the stacks of paper that have accumulated in my bedroom and office.
2. Bring bags of old clothing and toys to the donation store. They’re all set aside already. They just need to be taken to the place.
3. Finish the novel. I haven’t been working on it, and it’s getting more and more distant in my mind. Not good.
4. Hang up the pictures that are leaning against the wall.
5. Put pictures in the frames that are sitting empty.
6. Sort through my wardrobe. Discard what I don’t want. Buy what I need.
7. Sign the kids up for music lessons.
8. Sign up for an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime vacation for the family. It’s a pricey endeavor, but we’ve earned it.
9. Make final decisions of my piano repertoire and make recordings of me playing it all. I can’t continue to play at this level for much longer, so I want to be able to look back and be proud of what I accomplished.
10. Figure out how to use my new camera and start taking pictures.
11. Broaden my hiking horizons. There are so many places in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to explore.