Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
Good morning everyone.
Yes, this has been a bit of a odd-bird week. Storm on Monday that turned into not much of anything. Another on Wednesday night that was a true nor’easter, which thankfully made landfall far west of here. The feeder bands are still moving through now and again but they are weak tea compared to those in its path.
The news from this part of the gulf coast is one of relief and clean up. My sister has a downed tree on her property that we will cut up and haul tomorrow and I have plenty of cleanup around my place; otherwise, there are only scattered signs of wind damage here and there. The deeper damage left by a near miss is in the anxiety and pent up fear that we are left with as a result of mentally preparing for a hit. And, of course, the guilt we feel as our friends and neighbors west of us take the bunt of the devastation and hardship.
No one wishes a storm on another. But when one is on its way—particularly one of Laura’s size and strength—there are the silent prayers that it veer east or west, that it slide along the weak high just moving through your area, that it: hit, somewhere, else. And, yes, we all realize that in that prayer for salvation is buried a curse on another. We silently repeat our mantras, though, to delay the inevitable direct hit. We accept that when that one comes again we must forgive those outside the cone for their own prayers of salvation. These are the weeks that remind me that we should be more thankful for unanswered prayers.
I do hope everyone has had a week to remember and that the weekend still holds some surprises.
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From Rolling Stone: "I don't give a fuck about rock & roll," Sting declared unequivocally in 1987. There was, he complained, "no new fuel in rock music." Instead, he said, musicians should be looking outside of rock to African, jazz and even classical music: "Anything! Anything will do."
… Nothing Like the Sun, released shortly after that tirade, was everything but the kitchen sink, a double-album banquet of seductive Hispanic and Brazilian rhythms, exultant reggae, big-band jazz and melancholy Euroballadry featuring an all-star, genre-busting crew: Branford Marsalis, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Rubén Blades and Andy Summers.
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Grab your coffee or tea and join us, please.
What's on your mind this morning?
