Seeing is Believing

Coburn and Coffee ©2013 Gary Garbett

From the time I was a little boy, album cover art has inspired me. There is something about the size, the packaging, and the square format that has always intrigued me. It still does.

Yard Sale Groovy ©2013 Gary Garbett

Santa brought me my first record player when I was 3 years old. It was a Beany + Cecil box style record player by Vanity Fair. As my adult years passed and my music collection grew, I promised myself that someday I'd have another Beany + Cecil record player.

Fifty Christmases after Santa first delivered my original player, my wish came true. Ironically, it too is a fab package in a square format and chock filled with great design.

Beany + Cecil

Winter Survival

I have a list of favorite things that wrap themself around my life. Even after deleting a few of those faves from my youthful years, my list still stretches longer than I can reach.

Following last night’s wintery weather, I spent today’s lovely Saturday morning with a few of my listed items. Each of these faves played a big part in preparing my breakfast feast of egg, bacon, and mozzarella on thick cut fresh baked whole wheat bread; arugula, spinach, and avocado salad with balsamic and parmesan; navel oranges; and steaming pot of freshly ground java all accompanied by a soundtrack of Grover Washington, jr. arrangements.

It’s important to note that these are in no particular order of preference since each carries about the same weight of goodness in winter survival… or for any day.

• cameras of various kinds

• a spinning turntable

• aromas from the kitchen

• snow

• hot coffee

• warm socks

• deli cheese

• fresh produce

• obedient pups (who also scored breakfast eggs for their good behavior)

• bacon

• more coffee

• a record collection of 43 years

• a flickering fireplace

• me time

• love of life

sum of the day

My tendency has always been to load up my two-day weekend checklist far beyond any possibility of achievement. For whatever the reason, this weekend has been different.

Saturday offered a perfect day for relaxing. After more than seven hours of listening to vinyl records and playing with my buddies, the hour hand began to cast a shadow on the afternoon. The cold damp day affirmed my decision to still be in my flannel pjs as a second pot of coffee began brewing. Though denim was eventually exchanged for flannel, our day of comfort was well maintained into the evening.

We're in the early hours of Sunday morning and there are plenty of naps taking place all around me. Faded blue jeans and a secondhand t-shirt have committed themselves to my day's fashion statement. A stack of selected vinyl await their turn to spin goodness at 33 and a 1/3rd and my coffee cup has once again promised to stay full all day. I’m not too sure what else I could ask for, so I won’t. It’s good to be with friends.

Perhaps removing expectations can sometimes deliver the greater return.