At my waking time of 4 a.m. this morning I went out on my porch, as I always do, to breathe the night air and to see if the sky was clear. Always hoping to see the stars. More often than not, the sky in coastal Northwest Washington is clouded over but this morning, just as I stepped out on my porch, I was rewarded with the sight of the first shooting star I've seen in years, just as Orion was rising in the east, with the Pleiades high in the sky. For the last hour, I have listening to the beginning of cover after cover of "Shooting Star," most of them by men, hoping to find one sung well by a woman and am grateful to have found an extraordinary version by Babi Mendez at the end of my searching.
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Then I listened to the original version, remembering the first time I heard it in 1989.
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You're tryin' to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kinda wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shootin' star tonight
And I thought of you
Seen a shootin' star tonight
And I thought of me
If I was still the same
If I ever became
What you wanted me to be
Did I miss the mark
Overstep the line
That only you could see
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
Listen for the engine
Listen for the bell
As the last fire-truck from hell
Goes rollin' by
All good people are prayin'
It's the last temptation
The last account
Last time you might hear
The sermon on the mount
Last radio is playin'
Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away
Tomorrow will be
Another day
Guess it's too late to say the things to you
You needed to hear me say
Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away
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I've come a long way since 1949, since 1951, since 1954, since 1963, since 1966, since 1971, since 1987, since 1989, since 1994, since 2001, since 2003, since 2008, since 2020, since yesterday.
Grateful.
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And something more, with gratitude to Robin for her comment with the word beshert which led me to a short film which shed light on the mysteries of the relationship between R and I and left me weeping with joy. No wonder I continue to feel gratitude to him. R and I were born within 24 hours of each other in 1949.
Yes indeed. It was meant to be.
5 comments:
I love that you saw a shooting star. How wonderful! What a perfect moment to walk out and check the night sky. It yiddish we say, "It was beshert." It was meant to be.
Robin -- Thank you so much for your comment! Yes indeed. It was beshert.
37paddington
I have always loved the word beshert. I was explained to me as destiny, that which you are given, which of course also means meant to be. The shooting star was R waving to you from the place where all is lovingly understood.
That comment above is from 37paddington. Not sure I remembered to identify myself!
37paddington -- Thank you so much for your thoughts about R and the shooting star. It brought joy to me.
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