Kathy Mattea and Suzzy Bogguss sing "Teach Your Children Well."

Just a beautiful version.

Enjoy!

As a West Virginia gal, it is a song near and dear to my heart…even if John Denver didn’t know the difference between western Virginia and my home state.

Go figure.

Anyway, thought I’d pass along a lovely listening experience to everyone for their Sunday morning smile.

Enjoy…especially the part at the end of Country Roads where my friend Davin works in a little of Simple Gifts.

Gorgeous shot via AmpamukA.

I have been on a travel book kick of late. It’s a bit of escape reading for me, really, without having to actually leave the house.

There is a line in Out of Africa where Karin Blixen is asked whether she’s traveled much — she’s being teased about bringing Limoges to Africa to set up house.  She replies that she has been "a mental traveler," meaning she’s done a lot of travel reading but never done much of the actual travel itself.

I fall into that category, partly because of budget constraints but, mostly and in all honesty, because life takes over and you forgo travel when you choose to do other things.

Some of my favorite books are those of Paul Theroux, whose acerbic wit and snarky attitude matches up so well with the idiocy of inane logistical snafus and rustling sweatsuit-clad tour groups with large cameras and tchotchke-seeking rapacious consumerism on their minds.

When I travel, I like to observe and soak things in where I happen to be in the moment, and so nattering on about the next shopping excursion down the road drives me batty.  Theroux captures that irritation hilariously.

One of my all-time favorites of his is "Riding the Iron Rooster."

I re-read it recently when we were on the train back and forth from New York City. It turned out that both Mr. ReddHedd and The Peanut had caught the family ick that had gone around just as mine was beginning to ebb. What ended up happening is that both of them slept a lot on the train both ways, which gave me some quiet, uninterrupted reading time.

Despite the coughing and motherly worry, it was heaven. And I managed to read the entire book, cover to cover, from the time we left until just before we pulled back into Pittsburgh.

Another that I found enthralling was Colin Thubron’s "Shadow Of The Silk Road," also about China (I’m sensing a trend here.). His historical background is amazing, but it is his capacity to see both the good and bad in people that is captivating. For a more recent take on China, try Rob Gifford’s China Road — I’ve always loved his NPR reporting, and his book is a fascinating glimpse, especially about AIDS, Chinese bureaucracy and the difficulties in reporting real life details anywhere.

Two of my favorite books on the Afghanistan/Pakistan region capture difficulties — and historically inspirational underpinnings — as well. Jason Elliott’s "An Unexpected Light" remains a long-time favorite of mine precisely because his capacity for joy in the face of really tough odds is contagious. And I defy anyone to read Greg Mortenson’s "Three Cups Of Tea" and not come away inspired to do more, to be more. (more…)

I have an unexpected “on the road” day today. And I’ll be out of pocket for news for most of the day, unfortunately.

Allow me to leave you with a lovely piece of music.

A reader sent this along with a note that this reader is one of the musicians in the ensemble.

Via my SIL Amy, your Sunday morning smile. Enjoy.

This is a hoot and a half…

Neville Brothers perform “Fire on the Bayou” live, 1995.

Out of town this week in New Orleans. Thought folks could use a discussion thread.

Sting.

Live.

Singing “A Thousand Years.”

What’s up with you?

No matter who you are, no matter where you rest your head, no matter what your color or creed…we’re able to sing the same song at the root of it all. We just have to try to do so in harmony.

And when we do? It’s just beautiful.

Had to share this video with everyone this morning.