"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free"

Written by: William Eugene Taylor & Richard Dallas

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free

I wish I could break all the chains holding me

I wish I could say all the things that I should say

Say 'em loud, say 'em clear

For the whole round world to hear

I wish I could share all the love that's in my heart

Remove all the bars that keep us apart

I wish you could know what it means to be me

Then you'd see and agree

That every man should be free

I wish I could give all I'm longing to give

I wish I could live like I'm longing to live

I wish I could do all the things that I can do

Though I'm way overdue, I'd be starting anew

Well, I wish I could be like a bird in the sky

How sweet it would be if I found I could fly

Oh, I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea

And then I'd sing 'cause I'd know, yeah

Then I'd sing 'cause I'd know, yeah

Then I'd sing 'cause I'd know

I'd know how it feels

I'd know how it feels to be free, yeah, yeah

Oh, I'd know how it feels

Yes, I'd know, I'd know how it feels

How it feels to be free

"Fear Eats the Soul"

The Funny Truth About Marriage..."

Yep, this is a real married couples thing...

My husband rarely drives both of us anywhere; that's my job. But once a year during the second week of May he always drives us to the nursery in his pickup truck to shop for the summer annuals. The nursery is about 40 miles from home and over the years I've learned to just close my eyes and pray.

😕😕😕

"The Things That Love Says..."

 "Lover's moon is high on the sky...143"

Stephen Christopher Harris

"I Am Always Remembering..."

You told me not to think about it...

I tried

"The Truth About Me..."

Hmmm....

At various points in my life, I needed one or more of these labels to warn others not to fu*k with me

Nah, just kidding... I've always been an old softy

"The Imitation Of Life..."

Heated Rivalry is the Brokeback Mountain

of its generation.

I remember sitting in the theatre some twenty years ago (along with many other gay men) and realizing that tears were streaming from my eyes as I identified with the plight of Jack and Ennis and along with everyone else accepted their unhappy ending.

And then a generation later, it happened again, I watched a love story (actually two love stories) blossom on the screen and once more my tears flowed as I could so easily identify with Shane and Ilya and their dreams of men still young. And now, we have love with happy endings that seem possible for any of us to attain and that is the significance of this evolution in the telling of "our stories."

I am thankful that I have lived long enough to see this day, when gay love stories with happy endings can be so widely acclaimed and accepted. And indeed, possible for the dreamers among us.

"The Things That Love Says..."

If I had only known

It was my last night by your side

I'd pray a miracle would stop the dawn

And when you'd smile at me

I would look into your eyes

And make sure you know my love

For you goes on and on

If I had only known

If I had only known

The love I would've shown

If I had only known.

"This Made Me Smile..."

I've been toying with the idea of getting back into running myself... From my 20s to mid 40s I ran every day, some days up to 5 miles. Now that I'm in my 60s, I've been wondering if it's too late to get started again. Now that Spring is near and the weather is getting better, I may soon decide to give it a go... 

What's the worse that could happen?

"Jesus, is that you?"

"I Am Always Remembering..."

"Lover's moon is high on the sky...143"

Stephen Christopher Harris

"This Made Me Smile..."

You'll only get this if you were watching Saturday morning television 50 years ago...

"I Am Always Remembering..."

Nearly 20 years have passed, and nothing has changed about my love for him...

If I could, I would.

"This Is A Love Song..."

A Valentine's Blast From The Past...

When I was a young man, I loved the songs of Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show

When I listen to them now, they take me right back to the troubled days of my youth when I was dreaming of love, while never believing I would know true love. Interestingly, I was never into music television so I had only heard these songs on the radio or on a record I'd buy. I was amazed when YouTube came along and I could see video of their performances and see that lead vocalist and front man  Dennis Locorriere always had founding bandmate Ray Sawyer by his side even though Sawyer typically only sang backup and added occasional percussion accompaniments. As I've watched their videos in later life, I've felt a certain vibe between them that seems like love. Then I discovered this video where they affectionately sing this hit love song to each other and I wondered was this their brave telling of a secret in plain sight. Sadly, we'll never really know, but it definitely changed the way I now listen to all of their songs that I thought I knew so well.

Love Is Love...

"The Truth About Me..."

My biggest OGT is that I have absolutely 

NO INTEREST

in sports...

This is my idea of a big game

But for those of you watching, enjoy!

"The Truth About Love..."

Do you know how many ways love can hit you? So it makes you happy, or miserable? It makes you sick in the belly or hurt in the heart. It makes everything brighter and sharper, or it blurs all the edges. It makes you feel like a king or a fool. Every way love can hit you, it's hit me when it comes to you.

- NORA ROBERTS

"The Truth About My Time Of Life..."

You have the dreams of men still young,

and you want to believe...

This is the illusion and the curse of old age

"A life lived in fear is a life half-lived"

"I Am Always Remembering..."

"Lover's moon is high on the sky...143"

Stephen Christopher Harris

"Thoughts To Ponder..."

 

A couple of weeks ago, Husband I were in Orlando so I could attend a work conference. While I worked, Husband spent his days at the resort's pool enjoying the Florida sunshine. We stayed a couple of extra days because Husband wanted to visit the Magic Kingdom, and this was without a doubt my favorite part of the visit:

It's a Small World

 

 It might sound silly, but riding through this magical hymn to peace and unity moved me to tears... It reminded me that we all want the same thing:

   

The freedom to be happy

"The Truth Today..."

Lest anyone think I'm oblivious to what's happening in our nation, I am not... I simply understand how little ability I have to affect it.

It all reminds me of the title of the longest book I ever read more than 40 years ago...

Poor Fellow My Country

"Fear Eats the Soul"

"We're Living In The Age Of The Machines..."

AI takes us back to the 70's and worlds collide...

I've clearly entered the reminiscent phase of my life because lately I've found myself really enjoying the music of my youth which I really didn't much listen to when I was young. Soul Train was more of an annoyance to me on Saturday afternoons because it was the least offense choice on tv even though I didn't much care for dance shows. Now on YouTube there are lots of live performances from the likes of shows like Soul Train, American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, et al, and I'm enjoying them these days much more than I ever did at the time.

"The Views From Home..."

Yep, we're those people...

Our winter pots typically stay illuminated until just after Valentine's Day

A couple of weeks ago, before the current blast of winter weather, husband reworked all of the winter pots to change the color scheme from Christmas red, green and gold to winter whites