Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: The Cure for Summertime Blues Is to Turn Every Day Into a Staycation

Thought for the Day: It is summertime and unlike the words of the song, the living is not always easy. Some people are feeling stressed and depressed. They may be are out of work, having trouble selling their homes or can't afford to go on vacation. Seeing others going on vacation may make them feel the summertime blues. I was fortunate enough to take a few days off from Friday till Monday evening this week. It was wonderful spending time at the beach and exploring the Hamptons. (It lead to my not posting on Monday and Tuesday, but it was a great getaway.) People who own condos there were reporting that businesses are not doing very well this summer. Restaurants are not as busy and even the traffic is a bit less than in previous years. If this is the case in one of the wealthiest areas of the country, my guess is that the economy is impacting on families across the nation. So my words of wisdom today are:

          The cure for summertime blues is to turn every day into a Staycation. 

There are many ways to have a great summer without spending a fortune.

Saturday's Songs for the Soul: A Musical Feast: "Take Five" with a World Beat

Take a Bite of this Musical Feast 
Image credit: LoveIt.com

Thought for the Day: Today's musical selection is a discovery that came from my online social networks. Last week on Saturday I posted a very funny rap remix of Mr Rogers. I don't post very often on a Facebook group from Bellaire High School in Texas where I went to school, but somehow I felt people in the group would like it. One of the members of the group, Jim Simpson, liked it. He shared a link to this rendition of “Take Five,” written by Paul Desmond & made famous by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959. The jazz instrumental has been performed by countless great musicians, but this one is like no other I've ever heard.

Brubeck Room at Wilton Public Library

Before he died last year, Brubeck called this innovative cover by The Sachal Studios Orchestra, based in Lahore, Pakistan, the “most interesting” version he had ever heard. Brubeck lived in Wilton CT & donated a wonderful  listening room to the Wilton Public Library. I have had the pleasure of seeing multiple concerts & movie screenings in this beautiful room. If you are in CT it is well worth visiting, catching a concert or renting for a reasonable fee. Social networking brought you music from Pakistan via Texas to here in Connecticut & out to wherever you are in the world via this post. If we learned to communicate to resolve world conflicts as well as we do about music perhaps we could bring world peace.

If you have an unusual musical cover or an inspirational piece of music, please feel free to share it with me. Have a wonderful weekend!