Elvis
Dear Reader,
Francis gave me a surprise last week. He made an Elvis lookalike and brought him into the sitting room after supper. He knows that I love Elvis dearly, and always have, and I was wondering why he is, and always has been, so very popular with the public. I read that somewhere a woman has a record of Elvis that she plays every day and has done so for over forty years.
Neil McCormick in the Daily Telegraph writing about Adele's latest single says that 'the song and singer deliver a deeply emotional truth from the heart'. And, he argues, isn't that the very essence of what music is, and why it means so much to us? So why do some voices touch us, our hearts and souls, that no other singer does? It is certainly a mystery but I am sure it is a gift of some sort from God, or who ever your idea of a Higher Being is. Songs need a voice that can carry emotion and demand attention. This Elvis did in spades for me and probably for you too.
*
From Gilbert White, October 25th, 1784 in Wiltshire
'Hard Frost, thick ice. In my way to Newton I was covered with snow! Snow covers the ground, and trees!!'
From Francis Kilvert, October 25th, 1874 in Wiltshire
'A damp warm morning steaming with heat, the outer air like a hothouse, the inner air colder, and in consequence the old thick panelled walls of the front rooms streaming with warm air condensed on the cold walls....The afternoon was so gloomy that I was obliged for the first time to have lights in the pulpit.'
*
Blue Gingham Dress
She was wearing
a blue gingham dress
long-sleeved, with lace collar
one summer evening in July.
A sweet smell from lilies
lavender bushes
roses and orange blossom
drifted on the air,
the sea sapphire
played its own repetitive tune
soft and enticing
and a southerly wind blew.
Suddenly he took her hand
drew her near
kissed her gently
then came a call,
they separated
ran back to the house
her heart racing
knees weak, on fire.
The gingham dress
worn and faded now,
hangs at the back of the cupboard,
but the kiss is still as fresh
as it was on that one
summer evening in July.
With best wishes, Patricia
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