Skip to main content

A Jazz Sky

Many a time when I’m stuck in traffic, I look up and name the sky by its characteristics.  With the rain storms we've been having recently, I've been calling it a Mottled Sky--the clouds have been bubbly mixes of charcoal and pale grays. Some past afternoons, as the sun is setting, the color of the sky is painted with light blues, smoky pinks and iridescent purples. These times, I named it an Eye Shadow Sky.
My favorite is a Jazz Sky—that involves fluffy, cottony clouds and a sparkling azure sky.  I came up with this name a few years back completely by accident. On our weekend drives before our son was born, my husband and I couldn't agree on a radio station.  My preference was (and still is) Smooth Jazz, like Spyro Gyra or the Rippingtons.  My husband believes there are two kinds of music to listen to while he’s in the car: Country and Western-- take your pick! Though Country Western music is not my first choice, I do enjoy it; however, my husband thinks Smooth Jazz involves tuning instruments and playing the same chords over, and over, and over again.

One day, as we were driving, the weather was not stormy any more. A welcoming blue sky with white clouds was upon us. It felt great not having the cold rain pelt us and wanted to hear some Smooth Jazz to match the mood. I slipped in a Spyro Gyra CD in the player; the uplifting and tropical Morning Dance filled the speakers. My husband asked me why I switched the music and I announced with gusto, “It’s a Jazz Sky!” He smiled and from then on out, if the day had this Jazz Sky, I had a free pass to play Smooth Jazz. Sometimes, I would try to be sneaky and convince him that a sunny day with wispy clouds counted towards a Jazz Sky.  Alas, the criteria had been determined and George Jones ruled the airwaves that day!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Negative energy in pages

Have you read a book that affected you? I remember a few years back a co-worker had this glossy book at her desk. I looked at its cover, which I found curious. It depicted a calming beach scene with a shark fin prominently in the ocean distance. The novelty of this book was it contained sayings that at first appear positive, for instance “If at first you don’t succeed…” and end it with negative words “…don’t waste your energy trying again.” As I flipped through the pages, I found the sayings amusing, clever and stinging. She let me borrow it so I could read it cover to cover. When I took it home and read a few pages, I began to feel an emotionally heaviness fall upon me. Generally speaking, I see myself as an optimist—I try not to let too many things get me down. However,  after reading a few pages of this book, a dark cloud of depression loomed over me. I decided to quit reading the book—it wasn’t like I was under any obligation to finish it! The very next day, I gla...

A touch of Minx

A few months ago, I, along with everyone else, fell in love with the movie Inside Out .  I also appreciated that one of the main story points was it is  okay to feel sad, sometimes it’s an emotion that cannot be avoided. It was nice to see a movie not sugar-coat tough emotions and show that memories can be shaded with a blend of feelings. I thought the writers were so clever to materialize emotions into characters that kids could understand. Again, I was overwhelmed by their inventiveness that there are little beings living in the main character’s brain. As I watched these colorful characters on the screen, I had a nagging reminder of a comic strip I had read growing up. It was in the British  comic book called The Beano .  Not to be confused with the natural remedy .  The Beano comic book has been going strong for over 60 years in Great Britain. When I arrived home, I looked up these characters. The cast that started me doing comparisons was The Numskulls ...

Lessons from Teachers

Many times when people talk about the teachers they have encountered in their schools, usually the lessons have been of the traditional sort.   A teacher has done or said something inspiring that has changed their lives for the better.   Actually, I have had a teacher show a negative trait that was a positive life lesson to me.   She was my seventh grade teacher.   She was a very large woman—she had to make her own clothes to fit her.   Not only was her physique large, but also her personality.   She was a very aggressive and no-nonsense woman.     “You can’t get away with anything in Miss C class!”   was the comment we heard from previous teachers and older students.   When she hosted detention, she made a sign to put on the clock that read: “Time passes—will you?”             Being in her class, she made it very clear that she was the boss.   Now, most of the time, she wa...