Musette’s Musings

It’s been awhile since I subjected you to a chapter of Musette’s Musings so buckle up, Buttercups, it’s time for a whirl through the sieve-like Mind of Musette!

1.  I love talking to my bfffe, Missy Denise.  Only she, when confronted with my musing about being able to hear what hummingbirds are thinking would say, without missing a beat, ‘but you wouldn’t be able to understand what they’re saying, they’re so skittery’  – and, watching them, I tend to agree.  It would be like listening to a blender whirring on the highest speed.  So I’ll just look and leave the chatter to other of their charm.
2.  Bird flock descriptions.  Speaking of ‘charm’, I love the sometimes crazy terms used to describe groups of particular birds.  Pretty much everyone knows that ‘murder’ is a designation of a group of crows (many ideas of how this came about, the most intriguing is the folktale that crows will gather and decide the capital fate of another crow (and that doesn’t sound ominous at all, does it?) – I lifted that little notion from pbs.org- for more intel, look here. )  A Banditry of Chickadees, though?  That one is mystifying.
3.  Things people do to mess with my mind:  take Mr Michael Franks.  So, y’all know I’m a  fan – I love his contrapuntal approach to music/lyrics and his devotion to All Things Bossa Nova.  He sings like I think (like, about things like mice).   And he’s Easy Ears at its finest (and ain’t nothin’ wrong with that, especially in these perilous times).  So imagine my surprise when I recently heard his tune ‘I Love Lucy’.  Written in a soft samba style, it wasn’t immediately discernible and, to be honest, I was in traffic, so I wasn’t really listening.  The underlying thread of the tune was familiar, though…..hmm… so I played the CD again, when I was safely back in my driveway – and, yep, it was a samba version of the eponymous theme song.  But, since Michael Franks is, first and foremost, a singer…there were these insane, insipid little lyrics, so different from his normal wordsmithing & phrasing!  So I figured he’d taken some peyote, binged-watched some old Lucy..and come up with this crazy (but fabulous) song.
4. I love when I’m wrong:  turns out I. Wuz. WRONG.  At least about the lyrics (dunno about the peyote and ain’t mah business).  Turns out….well!  Eliot Daniel composed the score, which premiered in the second season – it’s the score that all Lucy Lovers know.  But!  In the THIRD season, Harold Adamson wrote the lyrics for a Lucy birthday episode.  Desi sings it to Lucy and, understandably, sucks ALL the sexy out of it (omg, the hoops TV had to go through in the 50s & 60s).  Michael put it back it – but!  What I want to know is….what on earth prompted Michael Franks to root that song out in the first place?  Was he taking peyote and bingeing on Lucy episodes and thought ‘hey!  that would be fab in Bossa Nova style!’?
5. Why that rabbit hole is so dangerous.  That Lucy thread went to perfume.   I thought she might have had a celeb perfume, but no.  Apparently she loved Florida Water (which makes perfect sense, considering her 20yr marriage to Desi) but this photo shows what I figured would be on her dressing table – the vaunted No5
   

   American actress Lucille Ball (1911 – 1989) with her husband Desi Arnaz (1917 – 1986), circa 1955. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

   and, yes, there are actual threads devoted to this.  Of course there are.  Very comforting to know.

6. Weather & The Garden:  It’s rained nonstop (and HARD) for about 2 weeks.  The ground is like a sodden mattress.  My garden is a jungle.  But.  omg.  The smell of emerging blossoms in the warm Spring rain.  My rugosa, TBug (Therese Bugnet) is  9′ tall, in full bloom and stankin’ up the garden somethin’ wonderful, with its soft Damask/Myrrh fragrance!  Syringa in the Long Border, wafting on that soft breeze.  My deep yellow bearded irises, which I moved last Autumn, are in full swing.  Iris.  How amazing they are.  They mostly do whatever and will survive a polar vortex, sitting atop a compost heap (ask me how I know that 😉
7. You.  What are you musing about?  Are you have a wonderful Spring?  Are you even having Spring?  This is one of our longest Springs in forEVAH!  and I am here for it!  A bit wet – but a small price to pay for the extended beauty of the early blooms.  Let me know what’s going on in your little hummingbird minds.  Mine is skittering all over the place!  And I love it!  You know The Girl is itching to pull a winner!