CC

I remember my first trip to Washington DC. I was in 5th grade, and my class and I stopped by the Arlington National Cemetery. It was here that even as young and rowdy elementary students, the class fell silent as we gazed upon thousands of graves lining the acres of land to encompass the cemetery. As I gazed upon the many graves, my 10 year old brain tried and failed to comprehend the reality that each one of these graves held a person who once lived, died, laughed, and cried. Each one had a unique story, loved ones, bad habits, favorite snacks, a song they liked to sing. Even now, I struggle to see these graves as people, as we often struggle to see the importance of each individual person each day. But perhaps it will help to hear them.

I was first drawn to this photo of Arlington Cemetery by its beauty, and due to the fact that it has no humans in it, which makes it even harder to imagine real people. Along this photo, I have attached an audio file of a busy street in New York City captured in 2008. The most populated city in America, New York City stands as a witness to the immensity of life, with millions of people from different backgrounds and walks of life living and walking side by side together on a busy street. Placed side by side, one can imagine each one of these graves as a living and breathing person walking the streets of New York, going to pick up a bagel, running late to work, on their way home to their kids. Any of these people could be a friend, an enemy, or a co-worker given different circumstances. It bears as a stark reminder, life is precious and every person’s life is extremely important. The next time you pass by a cemetery, try to imagine the lives lived by those in the ground. Perhaps you can pray a brief prayer, that they may rest in peace and their families be comforted. And most of all, be kind to those around you. We, as human beings, are trusted with the immensity of life. I pray we live it well.

The Angel Oak Tree in Charleston, South Carolina caught my eye when I was looking through pictures of oak trees. Thirty-two years ago, at Texas A&M University, I met Bob and we started dating. When he decided to propose, he took me to The Century Tree on campus. It was one of the first trees planted on the campus and it holds a special place in my heart and the hearts of Aggies everywhere. It is said that if a marriage proposal takes place under the tree, it will last forever. We’re 27 years into forever!

I decided to add the sound of a mockingbird to my picture for a couple of different reasons. The mockingbird is the state bird of Texas and Florida. Also, Texas A&M’s campus has lots of trees throughout and therefore there are always birds singing and flying around campus. Mockingbirds are among the many you see each day and this audio clip makes me feel like I’m back on campus.

Being a Native Texan and a Texas Aggie hold a special place in my heart. I also enjoy traveling and spending time out in nature. Through this blog, I am bringing together some of the things that make me who I am and bring to mind the love of my life, Bob.

I searched the Creative Commons site for images of “Japan” because it is my favorite country and many images from there are my favorites. I saw a lot of interesting images with stories to be told, but this was the most beautiful. It’s just so amazing in a sort of grand, otherworldly way. Then I searched CCmixture for some music. Initially I searched for “japan” again, to get a feel for what was out there but none of it felt quite right. Then I refined my search to “koto” because I knew I wanted some traditional instrumentation to go with the very traditional image. But I also wanted something with a more modern feel to enhance the experience of the image. I listened to a number of audio-files, several by this same user, but this was the one that spoke to me the most. I think that the dreamy meditative quality of the music fits well with the dreamy feeling of the image. But the addition of a glockenspiel adds a bit of a twist to the image, suggesting a more international flavor to a thoroughly Japanese image.

You probably think you know everything there is to goats. Who doesn’t? We all know that goats are the greatest of all time (GOAT) when it comes to animals.

But did you know that goats have been known to perform opera? Probably not.

But I promise you they are.

I’ve been to a goat opera. It was in Hell, though, where goats typically feel most at home. In Hell, goats are some the realm’s best musicians. The goat featured in the photo above is one of Hell’s most famous. His name is “Pretty Baby-waby.” Pretty Baby-waby (PBW) has won the majority of the vocal performance awards in Hell. The photo above is a snapshot of PBW after his first performance. The guy next to him is his agent, I.M. Herderson. I have no doubt that this sounds all weird but if you listen to following recording below, you’ll hear PBW’s glorious and soothing voice.

Indeed, one wonders how this might even be possible. The answer is simple. Goats have an uncanny ability to emulate humans when they are singing. You wouldn’t know this if you’ve never heard a goat sing. Like I said, goats are most comfortable in Hell. They are also most comfortable singing in the Netherworld, too. PBW not only has won the majority of vocal performance awards but also has teaches performance at the Hadean Institute of Fine Arts and Automobile Repair. PBW also runs a day spa on the side for extra cash. It was at the day spa where I met this fine goat named PBW. I was getting a massage when he started singing to me. I’d never been so enamored by music before. After an amazing massage her gave me an autographed version of the picture above and I bought a boxed set of his most famous performances from Amazon. Now that you know, I hope PBW brings you as much joy as he brings me.

As some of you may know I am a certified scuba diver, and this image above represents one of many beautiful animals or creatures that a scuba diver may encounter while traveling under water. Most animals in the ocean have predators and one way for the sea turtles to avoid predators is diving in deep depths. The further you go down into the ocean, light dissipates ranging from 200 meters to 1000 meters and below depending on the ocean layout and other circumstances. Most sea turtles can dive approximately 290 meters which translates around 960 feet and some species of sea turtles can dive to 1000 meters approximately (3000 ft).

I picked the song Black Silk because it describes the color black in a different light than maybe most of the world sees the color black. People often miss represent colors with different feelings like red being angry or green and feeling sick. The color black has often been described as dangerous, unsafe, evil, and despair.

As a twist, the color black can actually be represented as strength, authority, and power. For some animals like this sea turtle it represents safety away from predators. It also represents comfort being able to get cooler temperatures, and helps keep the sea turtles safer, avoiding predators while searching fro prey. In a world that puts labels on everything or often sees things from one lens we hurt ourselves by not seeing or understanding the different perspectives of others. Black is beautiful.