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!

The Warblings of a Meadowlark about Vermont

One of my goals for the year was to discover a place I have never been for each of the 12 months of 2017. Whether it was within my own city or elsewhere, I wanted to be able to see the world with a different viewpoint and so far, my eyes have taken in so much and it has been quite exciting. 

I had been dying to visit the green mountain state. I had been looking for vacation information for Vermont for a little while so that I would visit it sometime this summer, but never expected to find my way there so soon until this week while visiting beautiful Lake George which is just about a little over an hour south of Vermont. Very happy I decided to take the trek up there. I now know why they call this the greenest state in America. 

Vermont has to be one of the loveliest places I have been. It was easy to get to. Little traffic and not many cars on the road made the ride very peaceful. I drove there and it is not that far. From NYC, it is about a five-hour drive. It is said to be the seventh coldest state in the United states but luckily, it was not so bad in July. I didn’t even need my jacket to keep warm for even a little bit. 

One thing I noticed driving through Vermont was that there were barely any traffic lights. You simply drive through while ascending and descending the natural inclines of the mountains and experiencing the calmness of the green mountains.

How nice was it to breathe in the natural aroma of mountain breeze, not in a can. And cool to see the many maple farms while making our way through the different cities.  Vermont is said to be the leading producer of maple syrup.

Vermont borders Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Canada and New York. The 6^th largest body of fresh water known as Lake Champlain, separates Vermont from New York. Its name, Vermont, is a French term, Les Ver Monts, named for the 15,000 feet tall green mountains that run most of the 159 miles length of the state.

My quest was to visit Bromley Mountains. It is a resort there with a cool little theme park located in Peru, VT which I was interested in visiting. And so, I did. One of the best parts of the park was a trampoline, bungee jump ride. You get on and jump about two minutes which is fun, and great exercise. 

The other is the ski lift which brings you about 1100 meters above ground and gives you a gorgeous view of the mountains while ascending. The view is even better going down. However, I chose to be a bit more adventurous and slide down the slope on the alpine slide that brings you 2/3 miles down the slope at about 35 mph +/- depending on your maneuvering ability, which I though was really cool.

Okay, I will admit it. The real reason I was so interested in seeing Vermont was to see what was so amazing about the state that caught my attention in the the unofficial state song; the haiku -like tune,  “Moonlight in Vermont,” which was written by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf in 1944. I wanted to experience the moonlight there so I could actually sing the song with meaning and conviction of having seen it. Vermont is such a beautiful place. I made myself at home in this very quiet oasis and Vermont became part of my heart; beautiful in so many ways. Definitely worth the visit and worth visiting again.

Traveling by Car

Knowing that the drive would be long, I made sure to carry a few snacks and drinks that we could all enjoy on the road. I know there are rest areas along the way but it is not such a bad idea to make good tasting home-made sandwiches to pack and keep fresh in a cooler that you can enjoy instead of the foods at “high way robbery” prices found at the rest stops. And so, I was pretty happy to have my 60-quart Igloo Ice Cube Roller Cooler. 

It is very spacious. I was able to put a good number of things in it and did not have to worry about it being too full or the foods going sour. The cooler fit snuggly in my car and I could easily roll it out to where we would settle for the moments when we needed a break from cruising down the Vermont 7 highway. If you are interested in getting one for your next road trip, get it at Amazon today:

Keeping the cooler cool is easy. You can simply fill it with ice and voila, your foods that need frigid temperatures are kept at a healthy temperature for a good amount of time. I however chose a different way of keeping my foods cold other than the ice. 

I decided to go with 3X Lg. Zero°F Cooler Freeze Packs 10"x14. The cooler shock replaces the ice. You simply add water to the bags, seal them and put them in the freezer. 

They take up less room and keep the contents of the cooler cold. It felt good to not have to load, empty and reload ice trays all day. The freeze packs were easy to fill, light to carry and the best part about it is that they are reusable. 

There is not too much thinking or worry involved in this which made my travels even better. These ice packs might be just the thing you need to make your next road or camping trip that much easier. Here is the link if you are interested: 

Don't worry, I will share with you about Lake George in a future post because that part of 

upstate New York is worth talking about also. I just thought it as a nice thing to have met a 

travel destination goal for this summer and to have really loved it more than I thought. 

Thankful for every moment and even more grateful to be able to share my experience. 

Take Time to Enjoy the New Season of Summer

As the quiet hush of evening came on June 20^th, it was safe to say that summer had arrived.

Let’s set the agenda for some cool things to do in the sun. If the essence of your work requires you to be indoors, take a break and enjoy the vitamin D outdoors because it is good for the heart. Don’t allow the only thing to raise your interest level be the commercials for upcoming episodes of “Kendra on Top.” Find places to escape where you can enjoy life and appreciate the new season that God has blessed us with and try your best to stay positive and keep your hopes as high as the rising sun.

Perhaps the summertime is a great time to break out of your comfort zone and try something you never have; like an outdoor yoga class or taking photographs of beautiful scenery in a place that is foreign to you where you have never been. 

If you were in a doubtful place during the winter and experienced a spring renewal, then the summertime seems like a great time to press through and reignite the flame of love with life and the world around you. Redefine the landscape of your reality and make life meaningful. The truth is, our lives may never truly fit into a box of perfection. But, so what. Stand firm in the fact that the best is yet to come and allow peace to freely flow like the summer breezes that blow through your hair while lying on the sand.

A smile makes a huge difference in any day. If anything has a representation of valuing the day, it is a smile because it shows that you have found something to be joyous about. This summer, fully commit yourself to finding simple reasons to humbly radiate. Let joy take residence in you and just "Smile". 

(A cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" performed by Stephanie Jeannot

and the Dr Jazz Band at the Irkutsk Philharmonic in Siberia 

https://youtu.be/6vHRNauinc4)

It is time to celebrate. It is the summertime. It is barbecue season. It is the season of family reunions and fun in the sun. It is time to be outside and having a good time with the young people in our lives playing basketball, hide and seek, kite flying, or other things that fit the season. It is time to go to the beach, lie on the sand and swim in the ocean. It is time to go to outdoor summer concerts and enjoy the beauty of the summer nights. It is time to enjoy ice cream with family and to sit outside enjoying the evening breezes. It is time to go on vacation and explore the world and see different things. It is time to take on those amusement parks and to spend time with the family doing good things. 

It is the summer time. Make sure that while you are doing all the work that is required in your busy schedule, that you are also taking time out to appreciate the season. Find joy in the beaming rays because once the joyous weather goes cruising by, you lose it. Remember to embrace the summer sun and to find reasons to smile.

Happy Summer!

Summertime, Archways & JNote Music

Wow! Thank God for the protective cover of the archway to allow us to sing outdoors in the "summertime," rain or shine; even through rain, thunder, lightning and sounds of the D train above us Down under the Manhattan Bridge. I've been to a few concerts in the rain, holding up an umbrella just to see artists I like. Ironically, today was mine.

Grateful to the Harlem Swing Society for using me for this cool summer outdoor concert in my hometown, Brooklyn and to the awesome musicians that killed it on every song. Love you all.

https://youtu.be/PsTHZ2xzMwo

Stephanie Jeannot Performing Live This Thursday, August 13th, 2015 at Harlem Summer Stage Jazz Night

Hey friends.

This coming Thursday, August 13, 2015, I am excited to be performing live at the Harlem Summer Stage Jazz Night event happening in front of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr State Bldg on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell in Harlem, NY at 5PM

I will be doing a mixture of originals and vocal jazz covers and am very happy that I will be on stage with Michael Collins, George Gray, JazzEMatt, Daltheanette Munlin, Mark Payne, & Alvin Rogers performing promptly at 5pm. Say you'll be there! I truly hope to see you there friends. Until then, peace! ‬ ‪