Hot Blooded Renegade

 

Wow! Sunday was quite a day. Sweet man is exhausted, running on about three hours of sleep if that. I'm beat. Lack of sleep, my ankle had a workout, and I am a little burned by the 78 degree sun we had shining on our faces during the concert. 

First of all, long drive. Three and a half hours there and again on the way home. It's quite a distance to see a concert, but I have to say, it was worth every minute. Every bump in the road, every car we had to pass, and each moment we spent behind the wheel, even until 2:30 in the morning, it was worth it. 

Since this is still our anniversary present to ourselves, sweet man also set up a nice meal. The entire day and night was filled with fun, laughs, great music, and memories. We do love our memories together. 

Traffic was busy in some areas of the drive, but scarce in others. 

Picturesque views along the way. Eastern Oregon, well, Oregon in general is stunning. The green trees, rivers, lakes, and creeks are clear and beautiful. But this drive displayed quite a lot of acres of burned forest. It was a sad sight to see. 

Sorry for the glare, as these were taken at 60 MPH out of a dirty window. It was an apocalyptic scene along some portions of the trip. 

Hidden beneath all the death and destruction lies signs of life. Signs that create a knowing that nature does rebuild and will bring beauty back to these mountainous areas once more. 

Seeing the greenery around the river put a peaceful overlay on the view. 

After mile upon mile of dead trees, we began to see small traces of live fir trees, reaffirming nature will prevail.  

Terry and I made it to Bend, where we found a Mexican restaurant, serving up our favorites. El Rancho Grande reminded us a bit of our Mexican food go-to restaurant in Roseburg, Hacienda Vieja. But, and I hate to say this, I liked El Rancho Grande a bit better. 

Good stuff!

Poor Terry. He can't enjoy a meal anywhere with me around. Breaking out the camera is the first thing I do. 

I even loved some of the artwork. 

We arrived at the venue in plenty of time. Our seats were already assigned, so that wasn't an issue, but we were dreading the thought of having to sit for hours on cold, hard chairs after being so numb from the ride in the car. It's going to be a long night!

We're here, finally! Seating proved to be great, actually, as the chairs were padded. Not bad at all. Music played over speakers while everyone entered the amphitheater. We were very early, making certain we had an easy time with parking and making it into the concert. With my foot and Terry's hip, we weren't sure how long it would take to get in and get settled or how far away we would have to park. 

Easy peasy! We were able to park in the handicapped parking spaces that lie very close to the entrance. One, due to my ankle and two, Terry has a placard for handicapped parking because his hip has bursitis in it and his knee is bone-on-bone. There is one thing good about getting old!

Now comes the hours of waiting. The sun was beating down on us and I knew my face was going to get sunburned. I have very light skin that tends to burn easily. That made the beginning of being in the venue a bit uncomfortable, but we'll work with it. 

Terry brought me some water, although I wondered if it was safe to drink. The name, Liquid Death added a bit of fear to drinking it. But it was cold, good tasting, and made me quite happy. 

Awesome music wafted across the concert space, giving us something to listen to while we waited on the main event. The delight to our ears began with John Waite, known for songs such as When I See You Smile, Missing You, Every Time I Think of You and many others. 

Waite is a British rock singer. As a solo artist, he released 10 studio albums, but is best known for his single, Missing You. Waite played with groups such as The Baby's, Bad English, Ringo Starr and his All Star Band, and Brother Clyde. He played many of his hits and even impressed me with his lovely British accent. 

After Waite came Styx. Styx was formed in Chicago in 1972. They hit the ground running in the '70s and '80s. Styx, of course, is known for Renegade, Too Much Time on My Hands, Lady, plus more hits such as Come Sail Away. Below is The Grand Illusion by Styx, filmed by Terry Macrae.

Mr. Roboto is another fun song by Styx. 

The third and final group was Foreigner. Foreigner was a band that I loved back in the day, and still find their music awesome, even though I have heard most of their songs a billion times over. With hits like Hot Blooded and Cold As Ice, the concert reminded me of the album I had. Hot Blooded and Cold as Ice was played so much I was actually tired of hearing it. Juke Box Hero was always a favorite, but my all-time Foreigner tune is I Want to Know What Love Is. They too, of course, have many other songs that are awesome! Overall, a fantastic band with a great history, just as Styx is. Waite is good on his own too. 

Below is Foreigner singing one of their biggest hits, I Want to Know What Love Is, filmed by Terry Macrae. 

Waiting for a Girl Like You is another great song of theirs. Once again, filmed by Terry Macrae. 

Finally, one more Foreigner song to come. I love this song too. Juke Box Hero! Filmed by Terry. If there are any points in which the camera moves, Terry stood up the entire concert, with his camera held high in front of him, attempting to get the best possible video he could. He did this through Styx and Foreigner performances. I thank him for his perseverance and his desire to fulfill this tiring job.  

All three group performers looked great, played well, and they can still rock. Terry and I were mesmerized. Every puff of smoke from the smoke machine, every light flashing, every note played was greeting our ears and bringing back awesome memories of a time when we were much younger.

To me, music is the best way to visualize past portions of your life. Each song brings about feelings and memories of what you were doing when you first heard that song or what you were feeling in that split second. Who you were with. Where you were. There is no doubt that music permeates our soul. It gives us hope, makes us feel better, or is our perfect partner when we are feeling down or lonely. Music is such a large part of life. 

Last time the three will ever tour together and I cannot be happier that we had the chance to see them in one concert. It is a wonderful gift to finalize our celebratory time of us getting married. Great choice, sweet man!

Terry spent time taking videos of all of the songs performed by Styx and Foreigner. I was happy he did! The memories are recorded and we can relive the concert in its entirety through those videos. All of our videos will be posted through our YouTube channel, @psychicpoet0188 or A Psychic and a Poet Walk Into a Bar ... 

Besides videos, there are short vids, along with small posts under "community" in our YouTube channel. Our channel will be filling up soon, as I just found the community section in the YouTube app. Oh, boy! This will be fun! Videos, posts, and pictures, all in one place. Kind of like this blog ... Hmm. 

The videos are not all there as of yet, but will get there eventually. Hey, we have to work too ya know? Life tends to get in the way of the good stuff, right? (Update: Most of the videos are now uploaded to our YouTube channel). 

The drive home was uneventful, but as it typically goes, I had to stop and well, pee. I went to the back of the car since our highway was completely pitch black and deserted. From there, as nature took its course, I looked up at an amazing sky. The stars were more beautiful than I have seen them in a long, long time. There were billions of them that could be viewed from that bathroom standpoint along the way. Once you're out of the city and away from intruding lights, it is genuinely amazing how gorgeous the skies are. Our world is so stunning, but sometimes our "stuff" gets in the way of that view. 

Monday, July 1, 2024

Happy July everyone! Typically I do not post anything on Mondays, but once again, we have some stuff to go into our journal, diary, blog, memory log, whatever it is called during the moment. My grandson brought his beautiful family from Arizona to visit family. Mallory and I hopped into the Sportage and took off for the Emerald City, better known as Eugene. 

Everyone was on the back deck, chatting, playing with the kids, and having a great time. Dawn, Jessee, Brandy, Marina, Keenan and his wife Katie, and the kids all sat around the two tables. It was a nice sight to see. But finally, I get to see the beautiful great granddaughter I had only seen through pictures. Spencer was there and she is even more adorable in person!

Mallory and I sat down in front of this face. Completely bewildered as to who I was, Spencer kept what I call "the Keenan face" throughout the afternoon. Eventually I got a smile, but this was it for the most part. 

I sat by Keenan and watched Marina swing Spencer back and forth in her new swing. Grandma had it all worked out for the visit with many new baby items to keep her and her sister, Elena comfy during their stay. 

Grandma also purchased some adorable little cowgirl boots for the holiday. They were a bit large for her tiny feet, but she will grow into them. I believe she was more interested in the price tags on the shoes more than the shoes themselves. 

Frankie, the St. Berdoodle kept a close eye on the children. He loves them all and wants to ensure they're okay. Marina worked on seeing how the shoes fit. Either way, big or small, those boots were adorable and Spencer was infatuated with them, or at least the tags. 

Brandy and Jess chatted while Elena and Zyrah played with a bunch of toys Marina supplied the kids.  

Mallory hides from me every time I get out the camera! Poor girl. Terry and his daughter both put up with me snapping photos of them all the time, under the guise of, "Blog post!" It's a thing now. A very annoying, but real thing. 

Grandma Marina was holding that baby and playing with Elena as much as she could. She is taking in all the grandchild time she can get during this visit. I can't blame her. The kids are so beautiful and they are here. She was missing them after going to Arizona for a week. Now they're here and she has all the time she wants with them. It's wonderful and I'm glad she gets that chance!

Mallory and I ran up the road to a little farm that sells flowers and produce. I bought some corn on the cob, a tiny tub of blueberries, peaches, zucchini, and a cucumber. Nothing better than farm fresh fruit and veggies.

 We headed back up to Marina's home to see everyone again. Brandy left the house before we left for the farm. Dawn and Jess had to take off as well. Marina and the rest of the clan were sitting around watching a movie. I felt if I had stayed to watch a movie, I would have fallen asleep. 

The exhaustion was setting in. We did not arrive home until around 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning. I woke up again with Terry, who was up and getting ready for work around 7:00. It was an exciting, fun, yet exhausting time at the concert, but worth every second of it. 

We headed home, chatting about the kids and our time in Eugene. It had been a great visit. Katie and the girls are here for about another week, while Keenan has to head back home to work. Maybe, just maybe I might make another trip to see them again. It might be during the time Jess has her new baby, which I am going then. Mallory wants to go too when that takes place. 

The family is blooming! New babies, new life everywhere! Terry and I are enjoying our lives and loving the idea of the family's expansion. I'm just loving the fact that I am alive to enjoy my great grandchildren and their coming into the world. It's a beautiful thing, this thing called life. 

Until our next post, please take care. Spend time loving yourself and those around you. Count those blessings! We are all so very fortunate to live in our picturesque world. Remember to spend time in the forest or a park! Always take some time for you!

Until next time ...