Saturday 9 and Mighty Clouds of Joy

Saturday 9: Mighty Clouds of Joy (1974)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 

I remember this song and now I think I need to add it to my Pandora list!

1) This song celebrates serenity. Are you feeling peaceful this morning? 

Yes! I am a peaceful person 95% of the time, I would guesstimate! 

2) The lyrics include allusions to sun and clouds. How does the world look where you are? 

My world is peaceful. 

Is it sunny or cloudy?

As I write this, it is a gorgeous day, perfect blue sky, with fluffy white clouds. The temps are to reach 70 and everything is greening up outside from the recent rains.

3) This week's featured artist, BJ Thomas, is in the Grammy Hall of Fame for another hit record that uses weather as a metaphor, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head." Make up a Hall of Fame that you believe you should be inducted into. (For example, Crazy Sam has inducted herself into The Meme Mistress Hall of Fame for her service to Saturday 9.)

In light of what our daughter-in-law shared with me the other day, I will say Nonnie has inducted herself into The Baking Cookies for Neighbors Hall of Fame. Amy said that their neighbors are moving and she told Kate that when new neighbors arrive, she will have to bake some cookies to take to them. Kate replied to her, "Mom, if you're gonna give cookies to the neighbors, then you will need to get Nonnie to bake them!"

4) When Crazy Sam hears this song, she always sings along ... loud. Is there a song you simply cannot resist singing along with?

Too many songs that make me sing along and out loud … especially when in the car!! Just about any song from the 50's and 60's, or a good old gospel song to belt out or a praise song! One of the songs from a group called the Mighty Clouds of Joy is one of those gospel praise songs! Everybody Ought to Praise Him!!!

5) BJ Thomas has performed this song at The Grand Ole Opry. The Opry has been broadcast on the radio every week since 1925, nearly 95 years ago! Of course, back in the 1920s, radio was the only broadcast media. Today we have other choices. Is listening to the radio part of your daily routine? 

When I'm in the car, I sometimes tune in to listen to someone like David Jeremiah or Charles Swindoll. If they aren't on, I plug in my phone and listen to my favorites on Pandora, depending on my mood.

6) Though their dress code is lenient, country music fans who attend the Opry for a live show are warned: "Just remember, there's one rule we take very seriously here at the Grand Ole Opry -- you must wear something." Easter Sunday is a day many of us dress up. What will you be wearing today? 

Saturday I will be wearing jeans and a top. On Resurrection Sunday, I will be wearing my Gracekids t-shirt with jeans as I will be serving in preschool. 

7) Easter is recognized as the start of the spring season. What are you looking forward to this spring?

I am looking forward to my brother and sil coming to visit for my birthday! I am also looking forward to visiting the nursery to buy some plants for the patio.

8) Lilies are popular at Easter. Do you have a favorite flower?

I love roses, peonies, bougainvillea, and at Christmas, poinsettias. Seeing the roses bloom in the spring is something I miss.

And watching the peonies pop up out of the ground. Last fall everything in front of the house was dug up due to a water leak. We had new landscaping put in, which I am pleased with, but I noticed yesterday one of the four peonies we had before is making its way up behind a new shrub. Anxious to see how it does. The flowers that come up after such trauma are a kind of picture of how life works for us after difficulties from which we think we can't recover.

Hoping to see some blooms again!

Really, flowers are something I enjoy no matter if it's the wildflowers, bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes, I think they're beautiful!

9) Which would rather find in your Easter basket: yellow marshmallow chicks (aka Peeps) or a plastic egg filled with pennies? 

No contest … a plastic egg filled with pennies … anything but those Peeps!