So here I am at home BLOGGING of all things...! Haven't done this since forever! I am waiting for 5 pans of buns to rise so I can bake them. My dear hubby is off with his new motorcycle 'gang'. I've spent the evening mixing my dough by hand (as opposed to using my handy-dandy dough machine), kneading it and just waiting, then forming all those little round dough balls that will hopefully rise into nice big buns. Okay, I confess, that between the first rising and forming the buns, I played Pathwords on Facebook! But the rest of the time, I've been listening to a mix of wonderful music as I mixed dough, punched it down, watched it rise again, divided it up and cleaned up the mess.



Tonight it's been Russell Watson, Michael Buble, Mozart and a chap named Whintley Phipps.



Russell's voice is so powerful and inspiring, singing mostly in Italian! I don't understand a word of it, and yet it speaks to me. The emotion of it pulls me to where he is, wherever that is... It's wonderful! I love it! I want to sing along in his soulful passionate way. He's one of my favorite singers for when I need to get something done! I should be making baguettes getting out the olive oil and balsamic!



Then there's Michael Buble. Such a soothing mellow voice. He gets me all melancholy. What a romantic fellow! He adds a nice dimension to my bun-making ambiance. LOL Something different. Something fun. I don't really know why I'm drawn to his voice and style, but I definintely am! Hey we all need a little romance in our lives--even while making buns!!



Mozart!! I absolutely love "Alla Turca"! It really gets me moving! Makes me think of my daughter learning that piece when we still had a piano! I LOVED hearing her pound that out! What an amazing piece of music. What an incredible composer Mr. Mozart was!



Finally, Mr. Phipps. Whintley Phipps is an African-American gentleman who has a buttery smooth, gorgeously rich baritone-bass voice. Perhaps his songs have touched me most deeply tonight. He sings a collection of Billy Graham's favorite songs. Turns out many of those songs were songs my parents loved too.



Having recently lost my mother, listening to this particular collection brings about many thoughts and emotions. I remember hearing some of them when we as a family would watch Billy Graham on T.V. I'm sure I even heard some of them when my Dad took me to a Billy Graham Crusade. I also remember my Dad singing "I'd Rather Have Jesus", a song made famous by his own favorite singer, George Beverly Shea. Dad loved to sing and after his death, I found sheet music that he'd apparently used for singing solos in church. I don't have any memories of him singing solos. Too bad. But I do have memories of him whistling so many gospel songs as we traveled hither and yon in the car. Sometimes just for a Sunday drive. Sometimes heading to a new job. Or just on a road trip. One of my most vivid memories is of him seeing a beautiful sunset and whistling "Beyond the Sunset". He had an amazing whistling talent. It was beautiful. It often made me cry. I'm not sure why, but it did.



Since I'm off on this crazy memory tangent, I must write about my Mom too. She passed away on April 16th, 2010. In her planning for her death, she chose which songs she'd like to have sung at her funeral. One of the songs she had written down was "Over the Sunset Mountains". All of us had similar memories of my Dad loving to sing "Beyond the Sunset", so we thought it might have been a mistake. However, after seeing the words to her choice, I think Mom knew exactly which song she wanted. Mom lived to be 90 years old. She had a tough childhood and worked hard all her adult life. With 9 kids how could she do otherwise? She was disappointed to have been left by her sweetheart, my Dad.

Well, today is September 6th. I must've gotten all emotional writing the above.... I think I'll just publish it as far as I got....