Blue Moon..

Last night was one of those rare nights when I tossed and turned and just couldn't go back to sleep. I don't really mind them too much, because I don't  have to leap out of bed early for work any more,  so I can catch up easily. But last night I was aware of the significance of the full moon - apparently a super blue blood moon, which appears once in 150 years, and there was going to be an eclipse too.
Well, it looked just like the normal moon to me, and I popped out of bed three or four times to check on it. It was very bright though, and I gazed at the stars for a bit, wishing I was in an area with less light pollution so that I could see more of them.
  Back to bed and I ended up trying  to sing myself  to sleep. I go through a regular repertoire, beginning with lullabies I used to sing to the children and often  going on to the complete Ella Fitzgerald song books: Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart etc.. I know all of these off by heart because I had the old vinyl albums when I were a girl, and can repeat every phrase and note still, after all these years. I guess it must  have worked anyway, because I woke again at 8.30, feeling fairly chipper. I can't remember how far I got through the albums, but I know that at one point I was singing:
   "I could cry salty tears, where have I been all these years.." For those of  you who may not know these lovely lyrics, that's from "How long has this been going on?"
  And there's another Blue Moon connection, which funnily enough I was talking to my Sister about
just the other day. She remembered that I used to sing that very song, dressed in  a long, midnight blue evening dress with (wait for it) a boned bodice and wonderfully full net skirt! That was when I  sang occasionally with a local group called the Terry Graham Trio, consisting of Terry Lovelock on drums, Graham Bond on any instrument you could care to name, and Bob Somebody on the piano. (Apologies for not remembering Bob's surname, but it was roughly a hundred years ago!)
  I was about 17 at the time and we used to play for 6th form dances and wedding receptions. And "Blue Moon" was one of our regular songs. Graham went  on to be very famous, he was so talented it was quite breathtaking - he played the piano, keyboards, vibes and all the saxophones, and the trio specialised in modern jazz, so  Ella Fitzgerald songs were a natural choice. I used to get terribly nervous, so I wasn't a great success. but we had such fun. Sadly, Graham committed suicide a long time ago now, though not before he formed the Graham Bond Organisation with Ginger Baker (that old reprobate). Drugs were Graham's downfall and though I saw him a few times during those years,
he really wasn't the old Graham any more. Terry and I have remained friends all these years, and both ended up working in Advertising, which I suppose you could say was another kind of drug - though
not quite as life-threatening.
  Heavens, how time slips away - I've got to get going. Son and family are coming for the weekend before they fly back to Barcelona, so I have a list as long as your arm. I have to get the right cereal, milk (not cow's), bread, fruit and veg. And do a bit of cooking in advance - I might have another try at baking Madeleines, which were quite successful last time. And it's big Grandson's Options Evening at school this evening. I have said I will go and help him and Daughter, so that's my day sorted.