M is for Mighty Good Time

I can’t believe that it is the unofficial end of summer. 

Someone said to me that there is no more wearing white after today. Already? School is back in session in just a few days and in a few weeks, the autumn equinox will make its way into the days of our lives. But to think of the fact that I took full advantage of the summer makes me happy. 

I was surrounded by warm, genuine and kind people, and I was able to seize every opportunity of enjoyment that I could possibly have. And though summer is about to part ways with us, I can honestly say that I had a mighty good time and the positive memories of it will remain.

The love that lingers is like a souvenir. My heart still skips a beat for every sunset that I captured and for the day when I was sitting on the bus and saw the actual glimpse of the sunrise with my own eyes for the first time.  

And I still feel so blessed for seeing the result of the hard work of my friend who uses her beautifully landscaped garden for planting and shared a bit of her plentiful harvest with me.  And I can’t help but have this look of delight I have on my face from meeting the smiles of my family in person as opposed to on Facebook or Instagram, and being liberated by every second spent in conversations  and good times during our reunions. Getting together with family always leaves a good feeling in my heart. 

And I still get butterflies when I think of the touch of God’s ocean water on my skin as I took a dip in his ocean all the many times I went to the beach and washed away the weariness of the first half of the year that I was carrying on my back. Nothing like the beach to get me in a somber mood. Something about just letting your foot touch the sand that changes everything. 

And it still knocks me off my feet for all the awesome stage performances that I got to have that were different for me and very much built up my present level of vocal performance expertise a bit more.  

And I still burst into laughter when I think about the medical physician telling me that I am getting old which is not a false statement at all, but something that makes me know that I have to prioritize making it a thing to seize more life events that leave fond memories.

And then I still feel bouts of sadness for the people I have lost to heaven which had me feeling emotionally drained; some even changed my way of thinking about how to approach what is there for me on the road ahead. But, thank God that he always provides shelter from the storm.

And here we are at Labor Day.  It is September; already. Where did the time go? Am I the only one who feels like time is like virtually flying? Did somebody say that the first day of school will be 94 degrees? Can I go to the beach instead of to the class room? 

I guess the change of pace is not a bad thing at all though. But while we have an extra day to let summer out of our system, lets embrace it with our whole hearts. 

Today is the day to take a pause, relax, relate and ease up off work mode for a day to prepare ourselves for all the many tasks that are about to lure us into being buried under piles of things to do. But let's not think about the clutter of the work pile on our desks. It's Labor Day. God bless the child who let’s go for a day and let’s God direct the sails into a moment of rest from the 9-5 environment. 

And God bless the child that can’t get the day off, has to go to work on Labor Day anyway and still has to wake up early in the morning to be to the office at 9AM. And God bless the child who still has not started doing the summer readings and homework that is due when you enter into the class rooms during the first week. Hopefully you will get it together and be prepared for the tests that you might be given based on your summer assignments.  And God bless the child who will enter into the new school year as a teacher or a student with a revivaled interest in participating in the educational process. 

Whatever it is that will be your experience for the rest of 2018, God bless you! 

I dedicate this song to you. It’s a rendition of Billie Holiday’s and Arthur Herzog’s God Bless the Child performed with the New Rochelle Jazz Orchestra at the Hudson Park Band Shell Summer Music Concert Series in New Rochelle and featured me on vocals.  Please check out a clip of our performance here: https://youtu.be/bcrKRwO9TGM

The weather forecast had called for rain that day which would have cancelled our performance but luckily, God had a different story to tell and it turned out to be the most beautiful evening with this gorgeous breeze that just made everything great.

And so, under the summer night sky, we got to fill the park with orchestral sounds and I can still feel the excitement that took over me as I got to sing with with this big band again. 

I had a mighty good time starting my Labor Day weekend off performing with them. What are your Labor Day plans? 

Whatever they are, I hope you have a wonderfully blessed day. Thank you so much for reading my blog post. 

Enjoy!