The Sound of Silence.....

This post contains the serious and the silly. I'll begin with the serious, one of our blogging community members, Corey of Tongue in Cheek, lost her father after a valiant and brave fight to survive. These are Corey's words on the subject of her precious father's life being silenced, "We stood by his bed through out the night, in prayer, in silence, letting him go." The sound of silence is echoing loudly for Corey and her family at this moment. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Now for the silly, I in no way mean to make light of Corey's loss by the rest of my post. I have tried every day to be an encouragement to her and said many prayers on her behalf and on that of her father and family, both here in the US and those she was separated from in France as she kept vigil by her fathers bedside. I am in cranky pants mode today, I have been ORDERED to get off caffeine, which right now is the equivalent of detoxing cold turkey and can we say a headache from hades? I had my very last swig yesterday and I greatly fear that the Pepi company will go under without my generous support. I am told they make a caffeine free product that I should try, who knew? Why would you WANT to drink caffeine free drinks? Isn't the buzz the point?I am sitting here picturing that pretty blue can with its dark amber liquid, full of fizz, the first sweet taste, oh yeah, feel the burn, and then the delicious buzz of energy that ensues afterwards. I think I need therapy!

I can just see me laying on the counselors couch. She has a notepad in hand and says, "Now tell me about your childhood." I tell her it all began when my step father started working at the Pepsi company and it became a staple in our household and how I graduated from the high calorie stuff to the no calorie stuff but still had the caffeine and how I now have to have the no calorie no caffeine stuff so what's the point? Where is the meaning in life without caffeine? See, I'm in trouble! Handy hubby brought me home a new kind to try, same name, different color can, it's gold, not so pretty, tastes OK, but not the same.Photo source for ads 1, 2, & 3.

Do you see the slogan in these ads people? "More Bounce to the Ounce" ~ that's because they were consuming caffeine! There will be no more bounces to my ounces now that I am no longer able to sip on this delectable nectar! I am thinking of putting one of those pretty blue cans in a shadow box where I can just look at it and remember the days when I had energy, life had purpose and meaning, to soothe my emotional trauma, and now I find myself having yet another Simon and Garfunkel moment! This is my version of The Sound of Silence:Hello darkness, my old friend,

I'll never have caffeine Pepsi again!

Because a vision softly creeping,

Of me doing nothing but sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone

No caffeine to get me in the zone,

neath the halo of a street lamp,

I laid down to take another nap

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of

A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People drinking Pepsi with caffeine and offering to share
And no one cares
Disturb the sound of silence.Fools said I, you do not know
That caffeine has become a big No No!
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the Pepsi God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, No more caffeine!
It was written by doctors orders!
Much to my lament!
And whispered in the sounds of silence.

Pepsi photo sources 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5.

In case you are wondering about that whole sound of silence thing, for me it is the absence of popping the top of the can and the fizzy bubbly sound, ah sweet music to my ears. These sounds, they have been silenced!

And now for the history lesson, you knew there was going to be one! Paul Simon wrote this song on Feb. 19, 1964 in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. He conceived this song as a way of capturing the emotional trauma many Americans felt. Simon and Garfunkel split up after recoding this song, kind of like me and caffeinated Pepsi, although they reunited, (that was a Peaches and Herb song, by the way), and went on to have a successful partnership, it looks like I will not have the same results.

Here's a listen to the real sound of silence:


Sluggishly yours,
Miss Sandy

P.S. There is much confusion going on about my grandmother, today we get news that she does NOT have meningitis! Don't get me started on what I am about to deem total incompetency in this particular hospital! They were treating her for something she did not have, giving shots to people who were not even exposed or a threat of being carriers and every other day we get a new diagnosis which is taken back the next! Please continue to pray not only for her but for those who are caring (?) for her. I think she needs to be moved to a capable facility but it is not my call. Phew! Lack of caffeine leads to aggression! Sorry, I am not usually a ranter. So much for short and sweet ;)