Early September at the Duck Pond

And then suddenly the weather turned hot and sticky. It finally felt like August had arrived after all. Except that it was September. Early September, in fact. But September just the same.

I had a late-afternoon meeting downtown, and it was really way too warm and steamy for the likes of me to be out and about. But I parked my car and realized I had just a tiny bit of time. So I snagged 15 minutes to make a quick loop around the duck pond.

There is a large rock near the edge of the duck pond, and it is very popular with the turtles. And of an afternoon, I often see one or more turtles sunning themselves on it. This day was no exception.

However, it wasn't just turtles this time; there was also a mallard napping on the rock, which is a bit unusual. (This is the first time I've seen it, and I've visited the duck pond hundreds of times. Yes, unusual.)

I got as close as I could, quietly, moving carefully, so as not to disturb any of the creatures. Then I got down low on the rock to get a good shot of the mallard. I was happy to be able to capture one of the turtles (and its golden reflection) in the upper left of the shot.There are several orange fish in the water.

I don't really know why, but this picture . . . well, it pleases me. It captures the feeling of a warm and nappish, late-summer afternoon. The duck's eyes are closed, but if asked, it would probably say to me what I say to my husband when he catches me falling asleep in my chair while watching TV at night. "Um no, no, I'm not sleeping . . . "

And I knew that there was a U2 song with those words in it, repeated several times: "I'm not sleeping . . . " So I searched and found which song it is. It turns out the name of the song is Bad. In looking for the best version of it on YouTube, I made a happy discovery: U2 performed the song at Live Aid in 1985! So the version I am including is the version from Live Aid, in Wembley Stadium, on July 13, 1985.

The link I'm including is actually to the full performance by U2 on that day. If all you want to hear is Bad, you'll find it starts at 5:30. The full clip begins with Sunday Bloody Sunday, and runs a bit over 17 minutes. At 13:00, you will see Bono jump down off the stage to pull a girl out of the audience and dance with her; in the end, he gives her a little kiss.

Now I'll share a bit of rock trivia that I'll bet you never knew! "In July 2005, the girl with whom Bono danced revealed that he actually saved her life at the time. She was being crushed by the throngs of people pushing forwards; Bono saw this, and gestured frantically at the ushers to help her. They did not understand what he was saying, and so he jumped down to help her himself." (From Wikipedia.) I never heard this story until today and I find it totally awesome! Not just a dance and a kiss, but a life saver! Rock on, Bono.

It was the mid-1980s, and U2 was just getting big. In 1985, Rolling Stone dubbed them "the Band of the 80s." And what followed was the release of their fantastic album The Joshua Tree, in 1987, which shot them to mega-stardom. They are still turning out some fine music, but for me, the 80s will always be the golden age of U2. (It just might have been the golden age of everything. But hey, that's just one girl's opinion.)

Now, there was some disagreement about whose performance was the best of Live Aid. (But there was no disagreement at all as to whose was the worst: the Led Zeppelin reunion gets that honor.) And remember, it was a concert that took place in two venues: Wembley Stadium in London, and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, and featured a veritable who's-who of rock and roll.

There was another contender for best performance at Live Aid: "Queen's performance on that day has since been voted by more than 60 artists, journalists, and music industry executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music." (Also from Wikipedia.)*

You know what, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with this photo, but here is a link to the Queen Live Aid set as well. You are so very welcome. Now party on, be excellent to each other, and enjoy the rock and roll!  :-)

*Footnote: As a Springsteen fan, I'd just like to add . . . they're all lucky the BOSS wasn't there! If you ever want to talk about best live rock performance ever . . . Springsteen's a contender. But he wasn't there. So I rest my case.