The First Sunday in March

Things which sounded like they'd make me feel better but didn't:

• Sunshine on a beautiful March day
• Listening to that last playlist I made on my iPod
• A jalapeno burger from Carl's Jr.
• Laying on my back on the hillside in The Glen watching the few thin clouds pass over the bare uppermost branches of the Aspen trees.
• Phone calls
• A bottle of wine
• Laying in bed for a few hours not doing the laundry, not taking a shower, not finishing the carpet cleaning which I started yesterday morning before everything changed.
• Seeing the park and baseball fields fill up with crowds of people running and playing in the sun.
• Chasing bunnies with Duncan
• A box of Wheat Thins and the really good bad dip from the King Soopers Deli
  
• The movie Singing in the Rain
• Driving with the windows down and my arm hanging out while the song "Against All Odds" played on the radio.
• A visit to Hero's
• Smoking on the patio and watching the thin thread of a spiderweb elongate and shine gold in the afternoon light
• A very long nap, followed by a second one
• A glass of wine in the afternoon
• "Robot Chicken"
• The Winnie the Pooh story which contains the passage, "And then he gave a very long sigh and said, 'I wish Pooh were here. It's so much more friendly with two.'"

The Thing Which Was Unexpected and Brought Sunshine to My Heart:

• Duncan curling himself around me, laying a paw across my chest, licking my cheeks clean and then resting his head quite near my chin, where we both slept, dreaming of other places and other things.

Stripes

Some walks are not spectacular in and of themselves. It's how open to the walk and the world I am that makes them memorable. You'll never find me talking on the phone or listening to a Dan Savage podcast on my iPod. As wonderful as those things can be, they are also isolating and when my greatest walks with Duncan have been the ones in which the world has snapped its fingers at me and called my attention to something I may not have noticed otherwise.

I made it home tonight in time to witness the last of the light leaving the sky. As we trudged through the snow a single stripe of blue light, caught between the black silhouette of the mountains and a band of thick clouds, cut the sky into pieces. I watched it slip away, turning gray, then pale blue and a final fade into a gentle and surprising green before the clouds and mountains swallowed it up. It was shocking and sudden and I marvel that my dog led me to it in his own meandering, iPod and phone-less way.

Night Walk

Autumn is coming and it's coming fast.

It's been a wonderful week in Denver. The leaves have not fully changed and are still hanging onto the branches, while those that have fallen make wonderful music as they crunch under our feet.

Today was sunny and bright and the air seemed to glow with Autumn. But it was windy and only got more so as the day progressed. By the time we went for our night walk at Clement Park, the clouds had appeared over the Front Range and were moving rapidly eastward. But it was still gorgeous. The sky was vast and brilliant and the stars were out. The wind smelled clean and cool and Duncan and I both stopped several times to tilt our faces into it, close our eyes and imagine we were flying.

I did something I said I wouldn't do. I wore my ear buds and listened to my iPod. I've added more music to my Autumn playlist. If you get a chance to hear them and take a walk among the leaves, I hope you can. They're wonderful.

"Autumn Leaves" (Miles Davis)
"Imagination" (Chet Baker)
"Flamenco Sketches"(Miles Davis)
"Love's Melody" (Django Reinhardt)
"Harvest Moon" (Cassandra Wilson)
"Coffaro's Theme" (Bill Frisell, Ron Miles, Curtis Fowlkes, Eyvind Kang)
"In a Sentimental Mood" (Duke Ellington & John Coltrane)
"Autumn in New York" (Billie Holiday)
"Sliding Down" (Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall)
"Slumber, My Darling" (Edgar Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark O'Connor)
"Anthem" (Gabriel Yared)
"You Will Be My Ain True Love" (Alison Krauss)
"After the Rain" (John Coltrane)

iPod Autumn

Ear buds are our new best friend. Everywhere I turn I see them, especially at the park. No one seems to go anywhere without them, iPods strapped to arms or tucked into waistbands and one woman I saw jogging actually fastened her mp3 player to her Yellow Lab.

I don't take my iPod with me on walks. Not when I can listen to the loons and mourning doves and the crickets. I can't make any promises about what I'll do this winter, but for now I'm content to listen to the familiar plodding steps of my boy ahead of me.

But what are these people listening to? I imagine most of the runners have got some upbeat music playing that matches or drives their pace, which makes sense because our music tends to match our moods. I'm in an Autumn frame of mind currently and so I made myself an Autumn playlist. It hasn't made it on our walks, but it gets a lot of play at work.

If you're interested, here's a list of songs and artists that are either about Autumn or have an Autumn feel. I'd also be interested to hear your suggestions. Feel free to click the comment button and let me know what songs or pieces sound like Autumn to you.

"Boys of Summer" (Don Henley)
"Vineyard" (Jackopierce)
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (Green Day--yes it's a cliche and way overplayed, but I can't help like it)
"California Dreamin'" (The Mamas and the Papas)
"Autumn Tactics" (Chicane)
"Wild is the Wind" (Nina Simone)
"Autumn Leaves" (Paula Cole– This one has been covered a million times, and the Chet Baker version is amazing as well, but Paula Cole's is I chose for this playlist)
"No Regrets" (Tom Rush)
"The Late September Dogs" (Melissa Etheridge)
"Blood and Fire" (Indigo Girls)
"Quiet" (Paul Simon– This one reminds me of the October afternoon of my grandfather's funeral, when I went to park named after him and listened to this over and over)
"Living in Twilight" (The Weepies)
"When October Goes" (Barry Manilow)
"I'll Be Seeing You" (Carmen McRae–again, it's been covered by everyone, but I think Carmen's version is one of the most poignant I've ever heard!)