"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.  Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."  -- Marie Curie, as quoted on my smartwatch on 2/12/2020.  "Peace and Love."  Chase the windmills.  Om.

"It Ain't the Whiskey", by Gary Allen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Xr67jp1Fo

 "It Ain't The Whiskey"

I stood there in the middle of the church of the broken people.
Listened to the walking wounded tell their stories.
My turn came I told 'em my name. I said this ain't my first time.
Then a man started talking how the devil and the bottle was ruining my life.
With last night on my breath I stood up and said...

[Chorus:]
It ain't the whiskey.
It ain't the cigarettes.
It ain't the stuff I smoke.
It's all these things I can't forget.
It ain't the hard times.
It ain't the all nights.
It ain't that easy,
It ain't the whiskey that's killin' me.

So what do you got for this empty spot inside of me?
The deep dark hole where love used to be.
Before she ripped it out and ran into the arms of someone else.
Y'all sit in this room and you talk like you got some kind of remedy.
Well I hear what you're telling me,
But I've got all the proof I need.

[Chorus:]
It ain't the whiskey.
It ain't the cigarettes.
It ain't the stuff I smoke.
It's all these things I can't forget.
It ain't the hard times.
It ain't the all nights.
It ain't that easy,
'Cause it ain't the whiskey that's killin' me.

I've done everything to drown this hurt inside,
But I can't wash you off of my mind.

[Chorus:]
It ain't the whiskey.
It ain't the cigarettes.
It ain't the stuff I smoke.
It's all these things I can't forget,
It ain't the hard times.
It ain't the all nights.
It ain't that easy,
'Cause it ain't the whiskey that's killin' me.

It ain't the whiskey that's killin' me.

Thanks to AshV, Madison Mehlhose, Craig Allen Elrod, Alexis for correcting these lyrics.

Happy Winter 2019!  Today it has been 41 years since Central Avenue and the beginning.

Nostrovia.

Still in North Carolina.  In love with carolina blue skies, and the rest is history.

 The Fable of the Three Sinners, By Tom Cole
The Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine, circa 1978-79.

This magazine arrived just when I had moved into my new apartment on Central Avenue in New Haven.  Sometime I will type in the entire text of Tom Cole's great fable about the three sinners, but for now I will only present the last few paragraphs of his conclusion:

    "This is what happened to the three:  the friar, set free to wander the forests minus his hands, was attacked by a large bear and killed.  He put up no resistance, for he saw it was God's judgement upon him.  
    "The Huntsman vowed vengeance for every stroke of the cruel whip that laid open his back.  He apprenticed himself to an assassin and grew very skilled in the art of murder, until one day he sought the King in his bedchamber to requite the old grievance.  The huntsman, however, was surprised and killed by one of the Royal Guard.
    "The minstrel whiled away the time needed for his eyes to heal by playing.  He became quite accomplished, and spent the greater part of every day thereafter in practice, for other worldly pleasures were denied him.  He serenaded the greatest peers of several realms, and when he died ballads were written of him.

    "MORAL:  Do not go backwards, that is resentment;  do not stand still, that is passive;  go forward, and love your fate."



Thank you, Tom Cole, for your saving words.  

Today's song....


"As Long As I Have A Song" Beth Hart.

Walk into the bar
And shake off my coat
Pull up a chair
And light up a smoke

Where did all those summers go?
Guess I’ll never know
So barkeep let’s give it a go

Pour me a dream
And play me a tune
And I’ll get along
Just as long
As I have a song

Sit by the church
And hear children sing
I like to pretend they’re
Singing for me

Memories of melodies
And words that made me cry
They have all abandoned me
Sit back and watch me die

Pour me a dream
And play me a tune
And I’ll get along
Just as long
As I have a song

The river is wide
And the ocean’s so deep
The harder I try
The faster I sink into the rich of the dark
The cheapest of tricks
I’ve lost the fire
Still I’m sharpening my wick
But it’s just smoke
And that’s all

So pour me a tune
As blue as the moon
And I’ll get along
Just as long
As I have a song
I’ll hum along
And that is how I’ll
Get along

Link to youtube video of "As Long As I Have A Song" 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvAPIPIpusk

Happy New Year 2020?  Peace and Love, Oldbigfoot. 

Melissa, by The Allman Brothers Band....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR5PX-4pcno

"Melissa", Sung by Duane Allman and Jackson Browne...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0GiRGl2dIU


(aka "nostrovia!")

Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah
The gypsy flies from coast to coast
Knowing many, loving none
Bearing sorrow, having fun
But, back home he'll always run
To sweet Melissa
Mmm, hmm

Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same
And no one knows the gypsy's name
And no one hears his lonely sighs
There are no blankets where he lies
Lord, in his deepest dreams the gypsy flies
With sweet Melissa
Mm, hmm

Again, the mornin's come
Again, he's on the run
A sunbeam's shinin' through his hair
Fear not to have a care
Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on
Roll on

Crossroads, will you ever let him go?
Lord, Lord
Or will you hide the dead man's ghost?
Or will he lie, beneath the clay?
Or will his spirit float away?
But, I know that he won't stay
Without Melissa
Yes, I know that he won't stay, yeah
Without Melissa
Lord, Lord, it's all the sameWriter/s: STEPHEN ALAIMO, GREGG ALLMAN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

So obvious now...

"You Were Never Mine"....Janiva Mangess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tYH7tLMbts

You Were Never Mine Lyrics

saw someone again today
Who remembered me and you
They asked all the same old questions
I gave the same excuse
They said what a shame, what a shame
To lose a love so fine
But I never lost you, I never really lost you
I never lost you, you were never mine
I kept on believing
What I wanted to believe
The unspoken promises
That you could never keep
But it's a sin, oh it's a sin
To tell yourself a lie
I never lost you, I never lost you
I never lost you, you were never mineDid you give me all you gave me
Just because I needed you
But when I needed all your love completely
Was it more than you could do

Sometimes deep in the night
When I hold you in my dreams
I get lost in your loving touch, baby
I can't believe how real it seems
And I know, yes I know
I'll have you 'till the end of time
'Cause I never lost you, I never lost you
I never lost you 'cause you were never mine
I never lost you, I never really lost you
How could I lose you, you were never mine

"Nightengale" by Carole King....Nostrovia...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsvrbW5w1sg

"Nightingale"

Like some night bird, homeward wingin'
He seeks the sheltered nest
Like the sailor's lost horizon
He needs some place to rest
The songs that he's been singin'
No longer make much sense
And those strangers' cold perceptions
They've killed his confidence

Nightingale
She sails away upon a sea of song
Nightingale
She serenades his lonely, lonely life along
When his tired voice is broken
His golden hope is gone
She makes a lost soul's simple longing
Somehow not so wrong
Nightingale
Nightingale

He was strong, but he was taken
By the thought of his success
Those spotlight shadows, how they lured him
And took him like all the rest
But that old dream don't look good now
No, it don't seem quite the same
He needs to hear a tender word
Won't you sing him home again

Nightingale
She sails away upon a sea of song
Nightingale
She serenades his lonely, lonely life along
When his strength is slowly goin'
His pride is all but gone
She makes a foolish dreamer listen
To one last song
Nightingale
Nightingale

Getting warm in North Carolina.  No snow.

Furnace running though now.

Of course, to The One Who Knows...:

You Never Even Call Me By My Name(AKA The Perfect Country & Western Song)
©Steve Goodman and [although he won't admit it] John Prine)

(as sung by Steve Goodman in London, Aug 8, 1976)

[spoken] This is a song I wrote with John Prine 4 years ago (1972) and we tried to put into one song, everything that had ever been in any of the country and western songs we had ever heard. Tried to put it all into one song. Serves us right. This is what came out:
Well it was all I could do to keep from cryin'
Some times it seems so useless to remain
You're the one who always tried to change me
And that is why I will always stay the same
Chorus:
But I'll hang around as long as you will let me
I never minded standing in the rain
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
But you never even call me by my name
No, you don't have to call me Freddy Fender
You don't have to call me Charlie Pride
You don't have to call me Merle Haggard anymore
Even though you know you're on my fighting side
Chorus- this verse only:
And I'm gonna hang around as long as you will let me
I never minded standing in the rain (when nights are cold and lonely)
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
But you never even call me by name.
[musical by mouth improv done in a Merle Haggard-like tone -no words]
[spoken] I've seen my name, a few times in the phone book[spoken] And on the neon sign above the bar I used to own[spoken] And there's only one thing I'm really sure of was that sucker
You're gonna hear it when my savior calls me home
[spoken] That's a lot to get into one song. We left out all the good stuff. Dallas, dope, divorce, dead dogs, trains prison Christmas, mothers, farms, and trucks. Mothers, prison, trucks, trains, farms, Christmas, and dead dogs are essential, you can't have a good country song without them things. And with all due respect this song needs mothers, prison, trucks, trains, farms, Christmas and dead dogs and is that it? Whatever it is - it's also 4 minutes long already (they're going 'when's he gonna end, when's he gonna end in the booth back there') So I'll just tack this verse on the end here-
Ever since the dog died and mama went to prison
Ain't nothin' round this old farm that's been the same
[Spoken] You know when mom broke out last Christmas
She drove the getaway laundry truck into a train
Chorus:
But I'll hang around as long as you will let me
I never minded standing in the rain
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
But you never even call me by my name

The David Allan Coe version:

It was all that I could do to keep from cryin'
Sometimes it seems so useless to remain
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even call me by my name.
You don't have to call me Waylon Jennings
And you don't have to call me Charlie Pride.
You don't have to call me Merle Haggard, anymore.
Even though your on my fightin' side.
Chorus: 
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standin' in the rain.
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even call me by my name.
I've heard my name a few times in your phone book
I've seen it on signs where I've laid
But the only time I know, I'll hear David Allan Coe
Is when Jesus has his final judgment day.
Chorus:
Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison.
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But, before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train.
Chorus:
So I'll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standin' in the rain.
No, You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
You never even call me, I wonder why you don't call me
Why don't you ever call me by my name.

The David Allan Coe version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOVRkSCWmg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allan_Coe

The beginning.....Loretta Lynn and Willie...:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfZxnILzN4c

Sah gah poh.  Nostrovia.

To The One Who Knows...

Winter begins tonight, our last Friday night in Maine.  Next Friday we will be at DC hotel.  Then tomorrow will be our last Saturday in Maine, and next Saturday will be our first day in North Carolina.  Life goes on.  The circle of life.

Exactly 40 years ago tonight -- Ben was 5, Ellie was 3,  I was 28, and history was made.  

It all began on Central Ave.    Nostrovia -- sah gah poh.

Peace and Love.

Oldbigfoot.

I hate time changes....what the hell time is it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WteupLn1P24

"My Old Man" by Rosanne Cash, 

The old man is laughing tonight
He's young beyond his fears
But then the smile drops from his eyes
And we all wind up in tears

The old man's crying tonight
'Cause it all happened so fast
He's frightened by the future
Embarrassed by the past

So let him be who he wants to be
'Cause he ain't ever gonna be young again
And let him see who he needs to see
'Cause he never had too many friends
And ask him how he remembers me
'Cause I want to know where I stand
How I love my old man

The old man's restless tonight
Just trying to kill his pain
He believes what he says he believes
But that don't make him a saint

The old man's lonesome tonight
And he just wants to go home
All those fools who stand in his way
Why can't they leave him alone

So let him be who he wants to be
'Cause he ain't ever gonna be young again
And let him see who he needs to see
'Cause he never had too many friends
And ask how he remembers me
'Cause I want to know where I stand
How I love my old man

Written by Rosanne Cash • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Happy Halloween -- Annabel, Olive, Ari, Eva...

Hope you have lots of fun and get lots of good stuff tonight.
Take care, love, Grandpa John

Click this link below to hear a beautiful, wise song.....
May you stay "Forever Young".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frj2CLGldC4

Forever Young

WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

Copyright © 1973 by Ram's Horn Music; renewed 2001 by Ram’s Horn Music

You think this is just another day in your life?  It's not just another day.  It's the one day that is given to you today.  It's given to you.  It's a gift.  It's the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.  If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.
   -- Louis Schwartzberg, filmmaker

Breath and life, and the opportunity to try.  If you have nothing more, you always have that.
   -- Alicia Keys, musician/songwriter

Alicia Keys -- "No One"...click below to hear this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rywUS-ohqeE

"No One", by Alicia Keys

I just want you close
Where you can stay forever
You can be sure
That it will only get better

You and me together through the days and nights
I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be alright
People keep talking, they can say what they like
But all I know is everything's gonna be alright

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I'm feelin'
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you
You, you
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

When the rain is pouring down
And my heart is hurting
You will always be around
This I know for certain

You and me together through the days and nights
I don't worry 'cause everything's gonna be alright
People keep talking, they can say what they like
But all I know is everything's gonna be alright

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I'm feelin'
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you
You, you
Can get in the way of what I feel

I know some people search the world
To find something like what we have
I know people will try, try to divide something so real
So till the end of time I'm telling you

There ain't no one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I'm feelin'
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh) oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh (oh) oh (oh) oh (oh) oh

No no no oh oh

Hear Kathy sing her beautiful song....click below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_rtKD8aEsY

Love Chooses You

Kathy Mattea

Love comes unbidden, can't be forbidden 
It takes you and shakes you right down to your shoes 
It knows heartache and trial but accepts no denial 
You can't choose who you love, love chooses you

In the wink of an eye love looses an arrow 
We control it no more than the flight of the sparrow 
The swell of the tide or the light of the moon 
You can't choose who you love, love chooses you

Tell me now if I'm wrong 
Are you feelin' the same 
Are your feet on the ground 
Are you callin' my name 
Do you lie awake nights 
Please say you do 
'Cause you can't choose who you love 
Love chooses you

Love cuts like a torch to a heart behind steel 
And though you may hide it, love knows how you feel 
And though you may trespass on the laws of the land 
Your heart has to follow when love takes your hand

And it seems we're two people within the same circle 
It's drawn tighter and tighter till you're all that I see 
I'm full and I'm empty and you're pouring through me 
Like a warm rain fallin' through the leaves on a tree

Tell me now if I'm wrong 
Are you feelin' the same 
Are your feet on the ground 
Are you callin' my name 
Do you lie awake nights 
Please say you do 
'Cause you can't choose who you love 
Love chooses you

No you can't choose who you love 
Love chooses you

Songwriters: Laurie A. Lewis

Love Chooses You lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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"I am part of the resistance..." Read the essay below...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

To the author of "I am part of the resistance....":

-- "Man the Barricades"  "Carpe Diem"  

-- signed, John Margoles, Oldbigfoot, 9/6/2018

Take this link below to hear Johnny Cash and Rosanne Cash sing their great song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WilM6ljUg

"September When It Comes"

Rosanne Cash

There's a cross above the baby's bed,
A Savior in her dreams.
But she was not delivered then,
And the baby became me.
There's a light inside the darkened room,
A footstep on the stair.
A door that I forever close,
To leave those memories there.

So when the shadows link them,
Into an evening sun.
Well first there's summer, then I'll let you in.
September when it comes.

I plan to crawl outside these walls,
Close my eyes and see.
And fall into the heart and arms,

Of those who wait for me.
I cannot move a mountain now
I can no longer run.
I cannot be who I was then
In a way, I never was.

I watch the clouds go sailing
I watch the clock and sun.
Oh, I watch myself, depending on,
September when it comes.

So when the shadows link them,
And burn away the clouds.
They will fly me, like an angel,
To a place where I can rest.
When this begins, I'll let you know,
September when it comes.

Songwriters: John Leventhal / Rosanne Cash / Roseanne Cash

September When It Comes lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Words & Music A Div Of Big Deal Music LLC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHQ_aTjXObs

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyrics

Play "Simple Man" on Amazon Music

                                                           "Simple Man"

Mama told me when I was young
"Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day"

"Oh, take your time, don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You'll find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget, son, there is someone up above"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

"Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

Oh yes, I will

"Boy, don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

Baby, be a simple, be a simple man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby, be a simple kind of man

On Monday morning in Arizona, Senator John McCain’s former campaign manager Rick Davis, acting as a spokesperson for the McCain family, read aloud the text of the late senator’s final letter to the public. “These are John’s words,” he said. What follows is a transcription of what Davis read:

My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, thank you for the privilege of serving you, and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead.

Thanks for signing up!

I’ve tried to serve our country honorably. I’ve made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them. I’ve often observed that I am the luckiest person on Earth. I feel that way even now, as I prepare for the end of my life. I’ve loved my life, all of it. I’ve had experiences, adventures, friendships, enough for 10 satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life in good or bad times for the best day of anybody else’s.

I owe this satisfaction to the love of my family. One man has never had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America to be connected to America’s causes: Liberty, equal justice, and respect for the dignity of all people brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth were not circumscribed, but are enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.

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• 

  Trump’s Contempt for the Law Will Be His Downfall

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Fellow Americans, that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history, and we have acquired great wealth and power in the progress.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down; when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

We are 325 million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before, we always do.

Ten years ago I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening. I feel it powerfully still.

Do not despair of our present difficulties. We believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit, we never surrender, we never hide from history. We make history. Farewell fellow Americans, God bless you, and God bless America.

Video of McCain's saving Obamacare....