TAKES THE RED OUT

The apple of my eye... Looking at the world through rose colored glasses... A cherry in the eye?

Why is it always something red in the eye? Even stys. Or abscesses. Cuts, too, of course.

But why the cherry?

I don't know, but it made me think of Anita Baker or Roberta Flack. Some singer who belted out "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". And I wondered, where did all the ballads go? Then I had an epiphany: country music. They still have plenty of ballads.

But they're so different. Most, to me, seem like the singer has a chip on his shoulder. A "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong" genre. A "Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahassee Bridge" lament perhaps rather than a grudge/ get even. But sad, remorseful, undone.

Yesterday marked the first time I ever talked to my youngest granddaughter on the phone. I'm not sure what she said, but at less than two months old when her dad held the phone to her ear, she warbled quite a bit. She sounded happy. I guess no country music contract in her future. But maybe there's a good ballad that she's working on to hit the pop charts in say 15 years or so. But by that time, I'll probably be ready to listen to country music, so I won't limit her.

But she may be too late. She may have missed the boat. You see, her name is Veronica. There's already a girl group called The Veronicas. But they don't sound as good as she.