Memories

Sleigh Ride, Sleigh Ride, Sleigh Ride …

/ Pam Goode / 2 Comments

YES it’s winter AND that holiday feeling is indeed coming my way. If you’re more or less my age, you may even remember all the lyrics to the opening words posted above. And I have to say that not only are they remembered each December, but yes, I still love Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Madly.

It all started when I was a young girl and has lasted prolifically as an old(er) girl. And yes, I still have a few of those albums that were sold at Firestone for decades. In fact, one day not long ago, I dragged my husband over to Firestone to ask if the albums were still for sale there. It was a long shot, sure, but I was hopeful and keen for nostalgia. The man heading the shop lifted his head toward the skies, mulled a bit while rubbing his three days of scruffle, then looked at us and said … “Nineteen … Sixty … Seven …. ” We all laughed, but I would surely have loved to hear those old vinyls again.

For me, it will always be “Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we, We’re snuggled up together like birds of a feather should be. Let’s take that road before us and sing a chorus or two, Come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!

P.S. In the early 60’s Firestone sold Christmas albums to help tire sales. I’m sure Steve and Eydie helped too.

September Sand

/ Pam Goode / 7 Comments

I wasn’t a huge September fan until I became a hardcore beach girl. As children, we always headed out smack in the middle of the heat and loved every minute. Of course now July summers are hotter than hades and a bit less attractive. I might still be willing to go … my mom did it … but I don’t. Instead I dig my toes into sweet September sand and let the softer sun have at me. She loves me, and boy do I love her.

And here’s a secret about September — the beach is almost completely empty. And that is surefire motivation.

The best fun is hanging out with our gaggle of girls, a stash of every kind of art supply, and burying ourselves in all-day creativity (and sometimes all night), conversation, and laughter each week.

And so we come, and we cook, and we eat, and we create, and we walk the empty beach and smile at the wiggly periwinkles trying to dig back into the sand after being disrupted by a wave, and ogle the starfish. But mostly, we laugh. Indeed laughter is so very good for the soul, but it’s also so much more than that — it’s healing and renewal.

Photo: My Mom and Dad on the beach when I was just a tiny thing.

Say Yes

/ Pam Goode / 3 Comments


Life is a funny thing. You can spend the bulk of your days with good friends for 10 years, and then directions and responsibilities change and Oh How You Miss Them! There are memories, of course — laughter, working together on heady projects, communal exhaustion, (and more laughter).

And then there’s this:

You travel 3,587 miles (unless you’re directed, oddly, through London, and then it’s a bit more), and end up spending 33 days in heaven — first with one of your best girls and then with two more.

Who says magic is an illusion?

Unplanned joy is one of the greatest gifts in our lives, and somehow … somehow, the wheels turn quite on their own and and we find our true directions without even looking.

Bliss is everywhere, but you have to be watching for it, and then you have to say Yes.

Always say Yes.


Inspired by a month-long artist residency graciously provided by Olive Stack Gallery, Listowel, Ireland