“Whimsical Thoughts”

Friday, August 23, 2019. 3:12 PM.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Dear Sandra, Hi.

I walked for 42 minutes yesterday. The walk began at 7:07 PM. Didn’t take my usual route around the Clinton/Social block. Instead, went down Clinton to Cumberland Street and took a right and walked all the way to Cady Street which is after Aylsworth Avenue off Cumberland Hill Road heading toward Cumberland. I was too tired to walk up the hill at Cady; so, I just stopped at the corner and looked up the hill to see the house where my sister Lesley lived in the 1970s with her husband and their first child, my niece Becki. And as I was looking at the house from far away down the hill, I recalled that we had been there in 1974 for Christmas dinner. My dad was there too with all the family. Remembered sitting on the couch after dinner. My dad was right beside me. He said he didn’t feel well. Three days later he died of a heart attack. It had not occurred to me before that that may have been the last time I ever saw my dad alive. Just remembered, Becki wasn’t born until 1977. Lesley moved to New Hampshire with her husband and two young daughters in the late 1980s. Her husband died several years ago. My mom died last August 15^th. She was 88. My dad was only 49. Lesley and her daughters still live in NH.

I wrote something and posted it on my blog yesterday and thought you might find it interesting. Its title is: “If This Be Mental Illness . . .” My departed cat, Charcoal, is a main character in the story. In the story, I say hi to her as I’m waiting to fall asleep. And she replies to me, in the silence of my thoughts. Her name is now Cathy – in the story. She’s four-and-a-half years old. She got born again as a girl. She tells me how things are going with her now. There are many songs in the story — and movies, too – like: “The Wizard of Oz” and “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever” — with a scene of Barbara Streisand’s character speaking with a doctor hypnotist; and a song sung by Lea Salonga; and Neil Diamond also sings the same song – but with an important change in a few lyrics. “I Dreamed A Dream” is the song. And a child music prodigy being interviewed by Ellen DeGeneres in a YouTube clip. And she plays the violin. And she also plays the piano in another performance. She began receiving inspiration of melodies at a very young age and soon began writing operas. Her first name is Alma. Alma Deutscher. The last four letters of her last name are the same as mine. I cry silently while watching and listening to her performance on the piano. I often cry silently while enjoying music. Sometimes I cry silently while sitting alone having a cup of tea. The address of my blog is: https://marksimaginings.com/

“All my best love” [Sandra’s complimentary close in her letters to me from yester year]. The 1980s.

“And tears more than smiles have comforted me.” -Sandra also wrote that in one of her letters. Never forgot it. Wish she would write to me again. It’s been about 36 years . . .

Mark

August 21, 2019 12:17 AM.

PS. The only song I can recall you mentioning in your writing, Sandra, is: “The Rose.” I wrote to Amanda McBroom through Facebook Messenger and asked her if it was OK that I changed a few words of her song in something I wrote on my blog. She wrote back and let me know it was OK. I also saw her acting in a TV episode of ”Star Trek -The Next Generation.” She is the only professional singer/song writer/actress I ever wrote to.

“The Rose – by Bette Midler + lyrics”

“Star Trek: The Next Generation – Sentient Being”

Sandra, did you ever hear Renee Maurice singing “Alfie”? Her voice is crystal clear and her [I don’t know the word for it] way of delivering the song from her heart is the best I ever heard that song sung. She sings it with “all her best love.” It’s hard to find her “cover” of the song on YouTube. “Alfie – Burt Bacharach (With Lyrics)” Her singing this song touches my heart. I just listened to her again and thought her voice and perfectly distinct pronunciation would be just right for school teaching; and also for radio broadcasting. [Some folks on the radio talk too fast and in their hurry they just don’t pronounce their words distinctly enough for my 67-year-old ears]. This morning I was thinking seriously of ear-mailing, err, I mean emailing the Boston radio station and letting them know. Just noticed something else. The same number of letters in the name “Alfie” as there are in “Sandy.” And the same number of letters in “Love” as there are in “Mark.”

“What’s It All About, Sandy Love?” hmmm . . . maybe the title for a new love song.

Jesus set my spirit free to write.

Maybe it’s all about him and his heavenly Father, the Father of mercies, and their Holy Spirit. And the coming of his Kingdom, the kingdom of God, that will be so glorious and so much better than the world is.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019. 11:57 PM.

Sandra: It is now 11:59 PM. In a few seconds it will be midnight. Remember the Cinderella story, Sandra?

It is now 12:00 AM. Remember the story of Sleeping Beauty, Sandra?

There is also a Hardy Boys story titled: “What Happened at Midnight.” I read it so many years ago, I can’t remember what happened.

Sandra, will you ever wake up?

Will you ever write again?

Do you have writer’s block?

Sandra Jeanne, remember the song “Jean”?

“BOBBY GOLDSBORO – JEAN”

“. . . and run if you will to the top of the hill . . . “

Sandra, would you walk with me up Cady hill? We’re not so young anymore. You/we don’t have to run. It would be exciting enough just to walk with you, Jeanne . . . Sandra Jeanne.

Remember your invitation to come to Lake Hiawatha in 1980 and walk with you around “the pretty lake near your home”? In the song “Jean” there is a pretty lyric “come out to the meadow, Jean.” Isn’t there a place on the far side of Lake Hiawatha called Cranberry Meadow? I imagine you find these thoughts scary. We don’t have to walk around Lake Hiawatha. I understand that, since you haven’t written to me in about 36 years, you mustn’t be enthusiastic about walking with me around a lake – or even up Cady Hill. They’re only my thoughts, my whimsical thoughts. Like: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water . . . “ Did you ever wonder what the name of that hill was? Could it be Cady Hill? Or, Hiawatha Hill? Sometimes, I think of a different name for Lake Hiawatha: Lake Higher Water.

“The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – FULL Audio Book”

Speaking of movies . . .

Oh, we didn’t speak of movies, did we?

Well, anyway . . . we did speak of Lake Hiawatha – and did you know there is a Disney animated movie from long ago that is called “Little Hiawatha”?

“Silly Symphony Little Hiawatha”

“True beauty dwells in deep retreats,

Whose veil is unremoved

Till heart with heart in concord beats,

And the lover is beloved.” -William Wordsworth.

[That sounds so beautiful!]

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

“This is the way we break our hearts, break our hearts break our hearts

This is the way we break our hearts so early in the morning . . . “

“This Is The Way We Go To School | School Songs | Songs for Kids | The Kiboomers”

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

“you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

“a broken and contrite heart,

O God, you will not despise.” -Psalms 51:15-17. NIV Study Bible.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’

“He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” -Matthew 18:1-4 NIV Study Bible.

While thinking of Lake Hiawatha, I vaguely recalled that someone wrote about “Hiawatha”. And so, I went to Wikipedia to search for more about that name: Hiawatha. And discovered that an American writer from Maine had written about this subject. And his name, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, brought to my attention the name of another writer, William Wordsworth, who wrote poetry about spiritual things like love and the heart and soul. And he wrote with remarkable perception about these human-and-spiritual things.

“Longfellow Reads Longfellow: Song of Hiawatha”