Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I thought I would share a little bit of one of our days out. Enjoy!

A Birthday Party for Two

This past Sunday my husband and I spent the day and evening in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's not a large town, but it is rich in artistic diversity and culture. Most of the homes sit precariously on edges of hillsides and supported on stilts. The town is old, dating back into the eighteen hundreds and full of history and mystery.


Each year, Alan and I share the same age for two weeks. We decided to celebrate our birthdays together because our work schedules are crazy. When you get our age, it's not that big of a deal anyway, so a two week difference doesn't matter.


At first, I thought we were going out on Saturday night and getting a room with a jaccuzi, but we didn't. I was kind of glad because I had been up since three-thirty that morning and worked until seven that night. All I wanted was a long hot shower and a beer. (They didn't come in that order though.)

We had other options to spend Easter Sunday, dinner at his folks' or dinner at my neice's. The weather was cold, rainy and windy with no signs of a let up. Alan told his mother we wouldn't be coming and I had no idea what time my family was doing theirs. By four Sunday afternoon we left the house to go eat.


We stopped at Forest Hill Court, a buffet style restaurant that also serves pizza cooked in a stone oven and steaks. We got there just as they were switching to the dinner menu. The food was good. I just wish my steak was a little bigger, 6 ounces is not a lot of meat. I loved the beer-battered shrimp, four of them, just enough to satify my seafood pallet. The thing I like the best is their spinach dip served with herb seasoned flat bread. It wasn't ready when we ordered it and the waitress thought we decided to pass it by. After the confusion was put into perspective we left with fresh made spinach dip and flat bread to take home and enjoy later.


If you've read my earlier blog posts, you know my husband is a drummer. His band, Livewyre (I have a video of them in an earlier post, May or June'08). He joined these guys last year, but due to personal and work schedules, the band basically spilt up. Jim, the lead guitar/vocals went on to find another group and finished out the dates with them.


Well, after a few months Jim, Eric, and Alan are jamming together again and everybody is happy. They plan to work on original material and do a few gigs here and there, but they want to spend time working on the show itself. Alan wanted to see what clubs might be open. It being a Sunday few were. We stopped at the Lumberyard, a nice club with the coldest beer around and heaping plates of crab legs. Alan and I both wished we would of ate there. He talked to the bar tender and gave her information about Livewyre. We drank a beer and tossed down a shot of Jose Ceurvo before looking for a new place heading west on the outskirts of town called Marquees.

We have a friend who is a songwriter and he goes out there sometimes. This is where we should have ate dinner! They serve what's called "Pacific Rim" cuisine. Turns out the owner used to be the Head Chef at The Cresent Hotel in Eureka Springs. Alan and he worked together at another club, Alan was in the house band and Marc, was the cook.

Before we walked in we could hear piano music, Elton John's material, being played. Alan knew one of them, the piano player, a former member of a popular local band, Kill Gilligan. You can guesss where we spent the rest of the evening. It was a blast, so much fun. I knew I should have snagged up the camera! We sang more Elton John tunes, some Billy Joel, Alan Parsons and even a Jazz tune which was pretty cool too.


The piano was ancient, but in tune. I finally learned something about the piano I have wondered about for years. What the purpose was for the peddles a pianist steps on. Sound variations. Never knew that, now I do.


I always learn a little bit everyday. It's something few appreciate or pick up on. Knowledge is Power, so it's been said. I think it's a good thing, keeps you young in mind and spirit.


I really had a lot of fun and Livwyre may have a gig there in the future. Can't wait to check out the deck in the back! Thanks John and Curtis for letting us hang out and thanks to Marc and his staff for putting up with us! If you ever get a chance to visit Eureka Springs, check out Marquees, tell them Alan and Connie sent ya!

We headed back to the house weaving in and out of fog banks (bet you thought I was going to say off the road) and rain showers back home. Our cats were happy to see us, and demanded food. Still pumped up from the evening, we watched a music DVD, Cinderella and listened to more tunes. I noticed the time on the clock, twelve-thirty, and I had to be up by seven to go to my last physical therapy session! Ahhh, but the sleep was deep and undisturbed. Other than being a little tired, I was good to go.

Alan and I enjoy going out and doing things together. Those times are few and far between anymore. Many factors are involved, work, band practices and money play huge roles, so when we do go out, it's treasured.
This is my last year of the forties and Alan turns fifty. Fifty! I used to think that was sooo old. It sure got here fast! Each year as another birthday rolls by, I think about things done and not done and each year there are things I would have changed. You can't do that though, the only thing you can do is learn and apply to the future.
Before I go, I want to pay tribute to Billy Powell, piano player for Lynard Skynrd who died last week. May you rest in peace and I hope your heaven is full of music!







Sunday, April 5, 2009

Tree Frogs and Beer

Two and a half weeks after knee surgery, I am back to work. I tossed and turned during the night concerned about taking on a twelve-hour shift. The following morning, I clocked in and made my appearance at the water treatment plant. My co-workers and boss were happy to see me and I have to admit, I was glad to be back. I took it slow, not wanting to slip on wet areas in the plant and trying to climb the stairs one step at a time. The day went on with little incident, but by the end of it, I was ready to get home and put an ice pack on my knee. I was surprised when I woke up the next morning without hobbling too much down the stairs.
I still have stiffness in the knee, that, my doctor told me will be there always and I will experience pain due to arthritis. There is a bit of numbness, I suppose it will eventually go away. However, there is the other knee. It's not as bad as the other one, but it lets me know when I've overdone it. It just confirms I need to get another job that requires less footwork. I'm working on that.
If you want to check out information about the human body go to http://www.innerbody.com/image/skelfov.html
Last night after work, I came home and decided I would enjoy a nice cold bottle of beer. I knew there were two of them in the fridge and so I open the refrigerator, no cold beers. I reflected on the situation. The idea of relaxing and take in the warm evening was appealing, yet I didn't want to drive to the local liquor store either. It was a quick inner debate answered when I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
I picked out a six-pack of Michelob Ultra, chilled to perfection. I paid for my purchase and went back home, grateful for the sun setting low enough on the horizion it wasn't blinding me. With great haste I ripped a beer from it's cardboard carrier and took a drink.
Ahhh.
That first sip was great! (Let me say, I am not a sot, but I enjoy a good beer or a glass of wine on occasion.) I sat with my beer on my porch and soaked in the sounds of the neighborhood. The evening still warm, evident by kids shouting at each other as they rode their bikes past the house. Down the street a hopped up truck rapped its exhaust pipes, and several motorcycles could be heard driving into the distance.
I listened to dogs barking and wondered if they really communicated like they did in 101 Dalmatians. (For those of you who didn’t read the book, at twilight, dogs have their own communication system, sending news by barking.)
Then came tree frogs. Initially, their throaty chirps mixed with crickets and birds finding roosting places. As the evening waned, soon it was just the frogs and me. I listened to them and stared at the stars in the sky. The Orion is getting into his summer path and I was happy to see that. (After twenty years of living in the same place, a person gets to know the paths of the seasons such as sunrise and sunsets, you get the idea.)
I think there were only two “talking”. One had a higher pitch than the other one, projecting the note into the evening air. I listened to these two going back and forth for another three beers before I noticed they had slowed down. By the fifth beer, it was time for me to go inside and go to bed.
That was the best sleep I’ve had in a long time and was proud of myself for not having a hangover.
This does not mean I will do this all the time, which, I think makes the experience that much more pleasant. However, the days are getting longer and sitting outside in the evening listening to nature tempts me.