Just An Old Fashioned Love Song

Three Dog Night's:  Just An Old Fashioned Love Song

June 8, 2012


TGIF!!  It's a cool day in Central Texas.  I wrapped up in a blanket when I headed out to the patio to read and pray this morning.  When I came back inside, Michael had his hand on the thermostat ready to turn on the heat.  Heat??!!??  Good grief, it's June!!


I have been haunted by the song, Just An Old Fashioned Love Song -- especially, when I go out and sit in the casita.  I decided to pull it up on UTube and listen to the lyrics...

Just an old-fashioned love song playin' on the radio
And wrapped around the music is the sound
Of someone promising they'll never go
You swear you've heard it before
As it slowly rambles on and on
No need in bringin' `em back,
`Cause they're never really gone


To weave our dreams upon and listen to each evening
When the lights are low
To underscore our love affair
With tenderness and feeling that we've come to know
You swear you've heard it before
As it slowly rambles on and on and
No need in bringin' `em back,
`Cause they're never really gone


To weave our dreams upon and listening to a song . . (and on and on...)

I thought about where I was in 1971 when this song was popular -- living in Houston, TX; married; two great kids...  I didn't think the year the song was released or my life at the time had much to do with the song.  Maybe, just maybe it had to do with my own journey of loving myself.  I am definitely not a narcissistic person and I had to learn to love me knowing that it was "me" that wouldn't leave me.  Wherever I have gone, I have had to take "me" with me.

The renovation of the casita has been quite an undertaking.  It's the first time in my life that I have allowed me to think about who I am at the core and bring that forth.  To have had to work with a very tight budget making the project even more of a challenge.  Bringing a falling down garage to a place of beauty has become a labor of love.  I deviated from my usual colors of deepness and dug deep into my soul creating a breath of fresh air ... a lightness in every way.  Every board, every nail, every person working on the casita has been bathed in prayer.  The casita will tell my story and the story of where I came from -- it will also be a place where I can pass on stories to my grandchildren.  It truly has been and is a love song.


I visited with Lupe this morning and the casita should be completely finished by this time next week.  The plumber is coming tomorrow morning to install the claw foot tub, pedestal sink, and toilet.  The final paint coat on the walls and minor carpentry work should be done today or tomorrow as well as the flooring laid.  The lights will go in as soon as the painting is completed.  Lastly, the fireplace will be installed.  After a thorough cleaning, I will begin my artistry in creating a unique place that shouts ... MOI!


Yes, just an old fashioned love song ... a song sung in three part harmony.  An undertaking that started with a vision ... a creation I forged ahead on in faith.  My love song to me is that faith ... that hope ... that love that bubbles up inside my heart.  Just as an artist who struggles passionately over a painting, pouring emotion into each stroke and taking joy in presenting it as a work as unique and complicated as the maker, so is the creation of the casita.

It is Friday ... it is a great day to be alive.  I look forward to spending my day in the gardens.  I am set to go that last leg in getting the borders all in.  When Lupe's crew dug the water lines, they left me a huge pile of the most gorgeous dirt.  It's light and fluffy ... perfect for planting!  I've been looking (in vain) for a Turkey Fig Tree.  Might need to go to Plan B.


I hope that you will enjoy your day and your weekend!  Always know you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!

Miss Dottie