The Blizzard

So this weeks 'Song of the Week' is The Blizzard originally sung by Jim Reeves.  I'm embarrassed to say I first heard this song a couple of years ago during Christmas.  It hit a chord for some reason, and every time I hear it I can't help but cry.  I mean not just teary eyed, but full on holding the tears back as best I can.  I'm the kind of person who cries over horses dying in movies, but not always for the people who do.  This is pretty much the same thing.  I can't say I've ever been stuck in a harsh blizzard but as a child I always knew if I ever got lost that my old gray horse would always take me home.  For true horse people horses are more than just an animal we ride, they are our best friend, our confidant, our compass, our portal to a life long gone.  Hell, I'm tearing up right now thinking of that man not abandoning ole' Dan.  So without further adieu, here is;

 The Blizzard
by Jim Reeves
There's a blizzard comin' on how I'm wishin' I was home
For my pony's lame and he can't hardly stand
Listen to that northern sigh if we don't get home we'll die
But it's only seven miles to Mary Anne it's only seven miles to Mary Anne
You can bet we're on her mind for it's nearly suppertime
And I'll bet there's hot biscuits in the pan
Lord my hands feel like they're froze and there's a numbness in my toes
But it's only five more miles to Mary Anne it's only five more miles to Mary Anne
That wind's howlin' and it seems mighty like a woman's screams
And we'd best be movin' faster if we can
Dan just think about that barn with that hay so soft and warm
For it's only three more miles to Mary Anne it's only three more miles to Mary Anne
Dan get up your ornery cuss or you'll be the death of us
I'm so weary but I'll help you if I can
All right Dan perhaps it's best that we'll just stop awhile and rest
For it's still a hundred yards to Mary Anne it's still a hundred yeards to Mary Anne
Late that night the storm was gone and they found him there at dawn
He had made it but he couldn't leave ol' Dan
Yes they found him there on the plains his hands froze to the reins
He was just a hundred yards from Mary Anne
He was just a hundred yards from Mary Anne

                      Dan                                            

XO Loves,




Me

California Snow

Well Hello there!  I do so apologize for not at least posting a 'Song of The Week' last week.  It was finals for me at EOU, and as is my usual I procrastinated terribly.  I stayed up past midnight three nights in a row, studying and finishing up last minute projects.  Then on Friday my cousin and I left LG at 7:00 pm headed for home.  There's several problems with that; 1. the roads were awfully slick and you don't get very far driving 35 mph 2. the sleepy little towns we rolled through roll their streets up at like 7:00!  We wasted almost an hour in John Day trying to figure out what in the world we were going to do!  We had a quarter tank, and 75 miles to the nearest town with a gas station that would actually be open.  Our 11 hour trip slowly turned into a grueling 15 hour journey.  If it was rough for us, I can only imagine how exhausting it was for the five horses in the trailer.

So without further ado I present this weeks Song of The Week, California Snow by Tom Russell.  I find this song super fitting being as how I am in California for break and we have snow! Check out the video HERE. 

California Snow by Tom Russell

I'm just trying to make a living
I'm an old man at 39
Two kids and an ex-wife
Moved up to Riverside
Working down on the border
Driving back roads every night
Mountains east of El Cajon
North of the Tecate Line

Well the California summer sun will burn right to your soul
In the winter you can freeze to death
In the California snow

I catch the ones I'm able to
Watch the others slip away
I know some by their faces
And I even know some by name

Guess they think that we're all movie stars and millionaires
Guess that they still believe that dreams come true up here

But I bet the weather's warmer down in Mexico
And no one ever tells them 'bout the California snow

Last winter found a man and wife
Just about day break
Laying in a frozen ditch
South of the interstate
I wrapped 'em both in blankets
But she'd already died
Next day we sent him back alone
Across the borderline

Don't know where they came from
Or where they planned to go
But he carried her all night long
Through the California snow
Sometimes when I'm alone out here
I get to thinking about my life
Maybe I should go to Riverside
And try to fix things with my wife
Maybe just get in my truck
And drive as far as I can go
Away from all the ghosts that haunt
The California snow

Well the California summer sun can burn right to your soul
In the winter you can freeze to death
In the California snow
In the winter you can freeze to death
In the California snow 

Xo Loves,

Me

Teddy Bear Song

 Song of the Week

Barbara Fairchild made this song a Number 1 hit in 1973 and it's actually her signature song.  I just think it's the cutest song ever, but what makes it really special is that my sister used to sing it to me.  Sissy is 10 years older than me, when I started talking I actually called her Mom too.  When I was a baby only her and my mom could hold me, I screamed if anyone else touched me.  I have fond memories of her singing this to me while she laid me down for a nap.  I think she had the tape, because I also remember singing it in the pickup while we went out to feed cows.  She's been an exceptional role model for me growing up and I'm finally at an age where our age difference doesn't seem to matter as much.  Which is wonderful!  Make sure to click the title of the song to watch the video.

BARBARA FAIRCHILD
"Teddy Bear Song"

I wish I had button eyes and a red felt nose
A shaggy cotton skin and just one set of clothes
Sittin' on a shelf in a local department store
With no dreams to dream and nothin' to be sorry for
[Chorus:]
I wish I was a teddy bear
Not livin' or lovin' nor goin' nowhere
I wish I was a teddy bear
And I'm wishin' that I hadn't fallen in love with you
I wish I had a wooden heart and a sawdust mind
Then your mem'ry wouldn't come around hurtin' all the time
I'd have a sewed-on smile and a painted twinkle in my eye
And I never would have ever had to learn how to cry
[Chorus]
I wish I had a string you could pull to make me say
Hi, I'm Teddy-ain't it a lovely day?
Then I'd know every time I spoke the words were right
And none would know the mess I made of my life
[Chorus]
And I'm wishin' that I hadn't fallen in love with you


Xo Loves,

Me

A Cold Winter Day

I'm sure a couple months ago I wrote a post stating that fall is my favorite season.  I may have been lying.  I know, we shouldn't lie, but fall really is quite lovely.  I think the reason it's my fake favorite is because it leads up to my actual favorite season, Winter! Whoop whoop, yes siree, winter is here my friends! 

We had several snow days last month up here in the far reaches of Northeast Oregon, but two nights ago the temperature dropped drastically and it started snowing.  The freeway was actually closed most of the morning.  My little home sits on a knoll over looking the town, and consequently the freeway.  So I know it's open now, because there's actually traffic going by.  The suns doing it's best to poke through the heavy clouds, but it's all for not because the mercury is telling me it's 25 outside and that's not warm. The winds blowing, as always, so I'm not sure if it's snowing right now or if there's just snow blowing around.  Either way, it's cold and snowing and I couldn't be any happier.  I'll try to refrain from using exclamation marks on every sentence, as I'm want to do. 

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sleeper.  Pretty much one of my favorite past times is sleeping, or napping, basically I love how the the back of my eyelids look.  I didn't have class today but I had to be at the transmission shop at 9 am.  No sleeping in for this chica.  So I headed out, slid about on icy corners and struggled to see through my frozen windshield which refroze after defrosting.  Don't worry, I made it perfectly safe, and the good news is I Don't need a new transmission yet.  I just know though that, that dang thing is going to wait until the most inopportune time to give up the ghost.  Oh well, being stranded alongside lonely roads is also a lot of fun. 

I have even better news though, by Wednesday it's supposed to drop below 10 degrees every night.  Originally the 10 day weather forecast said that next Wednesday we would have a low of -8.  Can you believe it?! I LOVE IT!!!  It's pretty common here to get a snow early in the winter, get really cold then stay frozen until late May or so.  I remember my first winter here.  I got off work at 10 pm, drove out to feed my horse, and my Chiweenie locked me out of my pickup.  It was grand because the wind was howling, bitter cold and the temperature was barely hovering above 0 degrees.  To top it off I wasn't really dressed for the elements.  Thankfully I had my cell phone in my pocket, so I hunkered down in the front of my trailer while I waited for AAA. Lil'Anne wasn't cold though, I'd left the heater running Haha. 

Really though, Eastern Oregon is awesome, I love the winters, and I love it here.  I had a super productive morning, now I'm drinking coffee and typing.  Fabulous, just fabulous I say!  Here are some pictures from this morning.

Enjoy your day folks, even if it isn't snowing and cold where you are :)

Xo Loves,

Me