St. Charles County Living

Since other bloggers list what they are currently listening to, I thought I would write about what’s been hanging around my CD player lately.

Cantos by A. J. Croce, son of late guitarist/songwriter, Jim Croce.  A. J., short for Adrian James, is a pianist/guitarist/songwriter, influenced by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. I must say, I didn’t get much Jim Croce sound out of him, but I enjoy the CD still the same.

Let the Good Times Roll by B. B. King. Love his version of Caledonia…(What makes your big head so hard?)

I’ve got two Stevie Wonders going at once…
A Time to Love and Stevie Wonder Song Review, A Greatest Hits Collection
On A Time to Love, I enjoy track #12, So What the Fuss (with Prince and En Vogue). It’s funky and they sound like they are having such a good time.
For the Greatest Hits CD, I just can’t get away from Superstition and Sir Duke.
So much fun!!

Crash by Dave Matthews.
I play #1, So Much to Say, immediately followed by #4, Too Much.
Later, on a DVD of one of his concerts, I saw him play the two together. Maybe those two songs naturally pair up.

And for the guitarist in me…
Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar I love it all!! Of course, the Pink Panther Theme is on there, but so also is Moon River and Peter Gunn—all acoustically done. Love it.   L o v e  i t !

Ottmar Liebert’s Innamorare: Summer Flamenco. You go, Ottmar!

Music is life!!  Ciao Babies! 

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We are suffering what some people call “peak everything.” Peak climate, peak food, peak oil, peak water, peak electricity, peak people. Just one of those “peaks” is important. Stir them all up and what are we in for?

Prices are skyrocketing. The mortgage crisis, credit crunch, gas prices, natural gas prices, electricity rate increases, milk, eggs and higher meat prices have been making our lifestyle difficult lately.

Now the price of typically inexpensive staples, such as flour and pasta, are increasing, too.

The experts aren’t giving any indications that these situations are temporary. In fact, a lot of them say there is more to come.

How well we fare with these new circumstances is directly related to how prepared we are.

It’s time to live locally—

Buy produce from a farmer’s market and support nearby small businesses, for they are the heart of our local economy.

It’s time to get to know your neighbors—

Don’t complain about barking dogs or call code enforcement on your neighbors about petty, superficial things. You might soon need to borrow that proverbial cup of sugar. Make all the friends you can.

It’s time to learn sustainability—

We can’t expect anyone to take care of us. We must be responsible for ourselves. Try a garden. Turn off the air conditioning on those iffy days. Stock up on canned goods.

It’s time to get strong—

The weak won’t make it. No victim mentality here. Buff up, physically and psychologically.

It’s time to really get into voluntary simplicity—

It’s better to enjoy living simply in preparation for a time when the simple lifestyle might not be so voluntary.

We can fear the future of a world of possible hardships...or we can embrace what we’ve been given and be thankful for it.

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