When I first heard music, I thought it should be very clean, very precise. Something that people could understand, something that was beautiful. Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.
~Charlie Parker~
SMOOTH JAZZ FRIDAYS
Music is supposed to wash away the dust of everyday life. It takes an intelligent ear to listen to Jazz. Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's like a river, it'll kill us all. It has to keep moving, music will always flow.
As I scan the posts on this site, I am reminded of the times my father would take me to Goldsmith's to purchase shoes. The salesperson would measure my feet and sell my father the shoes I wanted. I was not allowed to try them on until I got home. Why? Blacks were not allowed to try on anything. Well, as things changed, I would always tell my father that I wanted walk out of the store wearing my new shoes.
"Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty." Peace is the product of justice and love.
~Oscar Romero~
Silence is the great teacher and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge, and stability that come from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence.
January 22, 2023: In a vision I saw what looked like a horizontal rainbow with layers of transparent color. And the Lord said that these colors represent different levels or expressions of glory. He also indicated that He would expand our understanding of His glory. Ephesians 1:16-19 I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,according to the working of His mighty power.
T H O U G H T F O R C O N S I D E R A T I O N
Where there is discord may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope. Lord, help me to live this day, quietly, easily. To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully. To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously.
Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.
~Mahatma Gandhi~
IT'S NOW TIME FOR
JUST JOKING MONDAYS
I had applied for several scholarships for the upcoming year and was thrilled to learn that I had won one from my school, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Sometimes such awards are named after places. The letter the university sent me said that I had won the Las Vegas Strip Scholarship, named after the street with all the major hotels. When I told my mother about the award she paused, then asked, “Just what exactly did you do to win that scholarship?”
"A warrior fights for something bigger than self, leads by example, and isn’t focused on what they can get but what they can do for others. In a constantly changing world, the traditional warrior concept remains unchanged."
Grief is not a disorder, a disease or sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are testimony, faith, knowledge, wisdom, revelations, miracles, healing, and charity, to name but a few. One of the blessings of the temple is the perspective that it provides. When we go to the house of the Lord, we leave all of our cares and problems at the door. And when we come back out, they’re still there. We have to pick them back up and they haven’t changed, but what has changed is us.
The baby boomers are getting older, and will stay older for longer. And they will run right into the dementia firing range. How will a society cope? Especially a society that can't so readily rely on those stable family relationships that traditionally provided the backbone of care?
~Terry Pratchett~
I'm grateful I've got my mind.
I can take care of my own business.
~John Morton~
The more time spent here,
the better your brain, study reports.
Story by Alyssa Hui
From a stroll through a local park to a few hours spent at the beach, exposure to nature at any age can offer many health benefits—such as increased feelings of calmness, improved attention, lower blood pressure and decreased risk of heart disease. According to new research published in JAMA Network Open, spending time in natural environments may also provide valuable benefits to older adults, including those with neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found living near green spaces, parks and blue spaces like bodies of water may decrease the risk of first-time hospitalizations in older adults for cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“There are no cures or treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, so I think it’s important to detect modifiable risk factors so that people don’t get sick,” said Jochem Klompmaker, PhD, lead author of the study and a research fellow in the Department of Environmental Health. “This study shows that greenness and blue spaces might be one of them.” He added that this study is especially important and useful for policymakers and urban planners because the results may help them consider interventions in natural environments and increase greenness or blue spaces.
“If they increase green or blue spaces in areas, it may prevent Alzheimer’s disease, related dementia and Parkinson’s disease hospitalizations,” Klompmaker said. “When you create these natural environments, you allow people to go out, and be physically active, it may reduce stress levels and therefore can prevent diseases.”
What else you need to know about the study
Klompmaker and his colleagues analyzed 16 years’ worth of data that included nearly 62 million Medicare recipients at least 65 years of age, and mapped locations of natural environments like parks, waterways, rivers, lakes, trees, crops and grass. They used people’s ZIP codes to determine the level of exposure people had to different natural environments. In addition, they used satellite images to calculate the amount of greenness, like vegetation, trees, gardens and crops in an area.
“Greenness in a ZIP code may provide settings for people that may encourage them to go out into a park and be physically active there,” he said. “We know that physical activity is important for [Alzheimer’s], other related dementias and many other diseases.” Klompmaker noted that because they did not analyze how often participants were exposed to natural environments, they cannot make conclusions or recommendations about how often people should spend in these areas to decrease their risk of cognitive diseases.
Links between natural environments and reduced hospitalizations
More studies are needed to understand how exposure to natural environments could decrease hospitalizations. However, experts believe being in these spaces may reduce stress, improve mental health, and provide settings for physical activity and social interactions—all of which can be helpful in reducing the risk of hospitalizations and developing neurodegenerative conditions. “Getting patients up and active can be super helpful in reducing risk for hospitalization. Likely those things reduce the associated risk of things like delirium. People who are also getting outside and being active are mentally stimulated,” said Stella Panos, PhD, neuropsychologist and director of neuropsychology for the California-based Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center.
Other experts say being in nature can trigger people’s positive emotions (such as happiness) and reduce negative emotions (such as anger). Natural environments can also help with stress, anxiety disorders and depression, which can be triggered by things we encounter every day in cities, like noise, pollution, congestion and crime. “There is increasing evidence that mental health is negatively affected by urban environments,” Pablo Hernandez, PhD, lecturer in landscape planning in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield, told Seasons. “Essentially, nature can act as a buffer for a stressful urban life. Green spaces have a lot of well-known benefits, including cooling the city, capturing CO2 and pollution, and increasing water infiltration.” Hernandez added exposure to nature after stressful events helps reduce the body’s stress responses, including lowering cortisol levels. “These well-researched mechanisms might help people to end their constant state of stress and its harmful effects on physical and mental health.”
How to spend more time outdoors
⦁ Go for a walk or bike ride in your neighborhood or at a local park.
⦁ Take a break and sit outside on the patio, porch or front yard.
⦁ Schedule a trip to the beach.
⦁ Go fishing at a lake or pond with grandkids or other family members.
⦁ Try gardening.
⦁ Visit the arboretum or botanical gardens.
⦁ Plan a nature trip that can feature boardwalks and other accessible trails.
⦁ Have lunch or a picnic outside.
⦁ Sit outdoors during meetups or family visits.
⦁ Bring nature indoors by adding plants and flowers to your home or living space
If you eat Chinese food, your farts come out like Chinese food. If you eat Mexican food, your farts come out like Mexican food. And milk, it’s like - you can smell the warmth in the fart. Try and stay away from dairy - especially if you're a woman! It's really hard on your hormones. There are a couple of different types of food I eat a lot. I was raised in the South, in Tennessee, so I’m going to go with comfort food, soul food. I would probably start with collard greens and candied baby carrots and then have some biscuits and white gravy - and for dessert, probably blackberry cobbler.
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Music, the greatest good that mortals know and all of heaven we have hear below.
~Joseph Addison~
SMOOTH JAZZ FRIDAYS
Jazz is the continual pulsation of the now. True Music, like all true Art, is an experience to be shared, not judged, for praise cannot make it better, as blame cannot make it worse. The guitar is of no great importance to me. The people it brings to me are what matter. They are what I'm extremely grateful for, because they are alive. The guitar is just an apparatus.
Death surrenders us totally to God: it makes us enter into him; we must, in return, surrender ourselves to death with absolute love and self-abandonment since, when death comes, all we can do is to surrender ourselves completely to the domination and guidance of God.
I call you once...you never dialed back. Twice...you never dialed back. Saturday morning, live, I'm on Soul Train, talkin' to Don Cornelius. Saturday night, my phone rings...Saturday night, I won't answer. Saturday night, my phone rings again...Saturday night, I don't answer.
~Kool Keith~
Saturday morning, you knew what was cool by what was on 'Soul Train.'
Grief is never something you get over. You don't wake up one morning and say, 'I've conquered that; now I'm moving on.' It's something that walks beside you every day. And if you can learn how to manage it and honor the person that you miss, you can take something that is incredibly sad and have some form of positivity.
"Warriors On The Move"....Contributions welcome!!!
Beauty is the oracle that speaks to us all. Life deprived of beauty is not worthy of being called human. A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy. I think that the ideal space must contain elements of magic, serenity, sorcery and mystery.
~Luis Barragan~
With the blessings of a year round favorable climate, fellow gardener John Thomas, has made his second best move of the growing season. Now that the weather which contained rain and snow bomb cyclones has passed, John was able to organize seeds and transplant some groceries for the next harvest.
Broccoli, turnips, mustards, collars, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, cabbages, cauliflower, spinach, artichokes, okra and herbs, such as oregano, thyme, mint and rosemary have graced the awaiting soil. Bonnie, Patricia, Cloyd, Jimmie and Robert, we must prepare ourselves for the upcoming season. Thanks John T for the inspiration, we await our season of opportunity, fervently.
January 29, 2023: Prepare to make changes that can strengthen your position in health, relationships, and finances. I do not speak of great, sweeping change, but of tweaking your current state of being. These will be small adjustments that will reap great rewards. Be flexible. Jeremiah 10:23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
T H O U G H T F O R C O N S I D E R A T I O N
Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts. Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.
~Marianne Williamson~
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice,
but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
~Elie Wiesel~
The most miserable prison in the world is the prison we make for ourselves when we refuse to show mercy. Our thoughts become shackled, our emotions are chained, the will is almost paralyzed. But when we show mercy, all of these bonds are broken, and we enter into a joyful liberty that frees us to share God's love with others.
~Warren W. Wiersbe~
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.~
Commentary Special to TSDMemphis
Attorney and former Shelby County Commissioner Walter L. Bailey Jr. in a letter to MPD Chief Davis: “Sadly, too often I have seen situations where decent police officers succumb to ‘group dynamics’ that cause them to become cowardly susceptible to the most heinous conduct. Here I am experiencing what appears to be a tragic occurrence like the one that occurred 52 years ago when Elton Hayes, a black teenager, who was apprehended in connection with traffic violations, met a similar fate as Tyre Nichols.” Congressman Steve Cohen, from the floor of the House: “We have a new D.A. We have a new U.S. Attorney. And we have a new Police Director. They are the right people at the right time to bring about reform and to deal with this case to see that justice is rendered. “I grieve for the life of Tyre Nichols, whose life should not have been extinguished. He was an outstanding young man and it’s extremely sad that he was killed. “I pray for my city.” State Sen. London Lamar after Monday’s press conference/rally at Mt. Olive Cathedral C.M.E.: “But what I’m hopeful is, is that justice will be served, that they have a team of lawyers and community members who are going to hold everyone accountable to a timeline that they promise. Allow them the space to see through the process so that these officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. “So, I’m doing what I can in my role to offer support in any way that I can, but I’m hopeful and optimistic that justice will be served. “There is still work we have to do when it comes to police accountability and … we have to make sure we stay vigilant and make sure that we communicate and come together around keeping each other safe.” State Sen. Raumesh Akbari: “Justice is people in this community having trust that our police officers will first police themselves. No one should fear for their life during a simple traffic stop or be afraid to even engage with our officers. “So instead, today we begin the long act of healing our hurting community, Tyre’s mother and family, and ourselves. We cannot move forward together unless we are willing to do the work to hold our police department to the highest ethical standards and uproot any existence or acceptance of police brutality. “This is our call to action and we must be vigilant.” Rep. Antonio Parkinson: The recent tragedy involving Tyre Nichols has been weighing on my mind. I’ve seen too many stories in the last several years about African Americans unjustly murdered by police. It weighs on my mind that this happened in our community, just like the shooting spree this summer by Ezekiel Kelly, the September 2021 mass shooting at the Kroger in Collierville and the murder of Eliza Fletcher in September as she went on her morning jog. Here’s what else weighs on my mind. It bothers me that five Black police officers were the only ones involved in this senseless tragedy regarding Nichols’ death.
Maybe it’s where my cultural habits and biases kick in, but I just didn’t expect to see five Black faces on my TV screen. I thought there may have been one at most, because this is not what “we” do. Why am I more hurt about this death, than I have been about the deaths of Black people that occur daily in our city at the hands of other Black people? All the lives of the people who died at the hands of others in our city had value. Where’s the outrage? Where’s the hurt for them? Why are we hurting more in this situation? Where do we go from here? How do we ensure that we not only stop another death like Tyre Nichols, but all Black-on-Black deaths.
I like to thank Kenneth for his acknowledgements and kind words. You must understand the true benefits of gardening itself is not just healthy food for the body, It’s great excise for the body, stimulation for the mind, along with spiritual awakening for the soul. And it is not cheap. I thank God to be able to do this year-round.
Common sense is the guy who tells you that you ought to have had your brakes relined last week before you smashed a front end this week. Common sense is the Monday morning quarterback who could have won the ball game if he had been on the team. But he never is. He's high up in the stands with a flask on his hip. Common sense is the little man in a grey suit who never makes a mistake in addition. But it's always someone else's money he's adding up.
~Raymond Chandler~
IT'S NOW TIME FOR
MONDAYS
A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads “Talking Dog for Sale.” Intrigued, he walks in. “So what have you done with your life?” he asks the dog. “I’ve led a very full life,” says the dog. “I lived in the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now I spend my days reading to the residents of a retirement home.” The guy is flabbergasted. He asks the dog’s owner, “Why on earth would you want to get rid of an incredible dog like that?” The owner says, “Because he’s a liar! He never did any of that!”
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