Wake up in Your Happy Place

This is not going to be the summer any of us expected it to be, but we can still go to our happy places. Even if, for most of us, we literally can’t. That was the thought I was holding onto when I was picking tracks for this mix. It’s not the only thought I had, though. I was also thinking “this song has a good beat” and “this song talks about being born on a Saturday, which I was, so that’s cool” and other things that really have nothing to do with summer or happy places in general.

That’s how I nearly always approach my mixes: with a broad theme that I will happily ignore if I find a tune catchy for whatever reason. And if you like that about me, then you will like this playlist 🙂

The “happy place” cover photo was taken during a perfect Summer weekend in 2019, when I visited my parents by myself, without husband or kids. I had a refreshing dip in the pool, and stayed overnight. I woke up in my old bedroom (which is now a guest room with infinitely more charm than it had back when I lived in it). I had some coffee with my breakfast crocheting, did some more visiting with Mom and Dad, and then took a relaxing Sunday morning drive back home.

So much has changed since that weekend. The pool had to be taken down, replaced with a temporary inflatable for the time being. My father is gone and irreplaceable. Anything more complicated than simple socially-distanced visits are on hold for the foreseeable future…

So, you can see why this photo, and remembering the weekend it represents, makes me happy.

Oh, still here? Well here’s a bonus playlist that I forgot to share with you when I made it two months ago 😀

I call it Pink Trees and Pandemics, and it’s one of the few examples I have of a themed playlist where every song is chosen because it fits the theme (even if it’s not obvious why to anyone but me). There’s nothing on this one that doesn’t somehow tie into springtime or a world health crisis.

The playlist story goes something like this: Hey it’s spring! Yippee! Oh, wait, something bad is happening. Let’s all keep away from each other. But don’t worry, everything will eventually be OK again. Let’s enjoy some springtime anyway.

Something like that 😀