SoundClick: Kristin Samet "Goin' Nowhere" Top 5 !!!

SoundClick: Kristin Samet "Goin' Nowhere"
 over 56 weeks in the Top 5 !!!

• # 5 in Country out of 58,458 songs /
• # 2 in Country-Pop out of 6,047 songs
• FREE DOWNLOAD :-)  http://tinyurl.com/4v5e58y

HUGE THANKS to my producer, Neil Kaplan, for helping this song come to be!

Autumn in Utah

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus

Photos from a late afternoon drive in Northern Utah, near my house.

Steeple at the end of the corn field



The last of the summer sunflowers



Let the fall colors begin!









Roadside red ivy



Horse herd, from Antelope Island's Fielding Garr farm, heading for the barn at sunset.
Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake, covering 28,022 acres. It is home to bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, bobcats, upland birds, and waterfowl.









Photos © Kristin Samet

Testicle Festival

at least the veterinarian has a sense of humor... but i hope the "20 percent off" refers to the PRICE, not the procedure.


Photo © Kristin Samet

Turn off the NATURE, already! Geez! by Kristin Samet

Being a Miami girl, I'm used to some pretty strange goings on between the animal kingdom and myself.
Like the time my dad brought me a new "pet lizard" he'd caught in a tree somewhere - knowing how much I loved iguanas (since he'd bought me my first one when I was six) he thought this new lizard would be something really cool for me. Cool it was, until I opened the box, stuck my hand in, and that little lizard latched onto my finger like nobody's business and WOULD NOT LET GO!
Being a wimp of eleven, this freaked me out and I started crying - which meant my dad got in MAJOR trouble with my mom, who suddenly appeared on the front steps and proceeded to let my dad know a thing or two. All the while I'm sitting there freaking out with this green reptile attached by the fangs to one of my digits.
I was not favorably impressed.
Here's a picture of the sweet little thing:




Isn't he just a glorious shade of green? Yeah, I thought so, too.
That is, until the cute little thing turned out to be the Dracula of the reptilian world, opened his little green jaws and BIT MY FINGER TILL IT BLED!



INSERT 11 YEAR OLD'S FINGER HERE: ==>>







Ah well, I finally extricated my finger from "Jurassic Jaws" and he was let loose in the big Star Fruit tree in our front yard, where he lived for years and years and became quite large. I'd see him sneaking around the tree trunk in the afternoon, searching for his insect snacks and always had a healthy respect for him after that.

Stuff like that happens in Florida - but when you wind up in some god-forsaken desert in Utah where even the bushes have a hard time growing, you don't really expect to get much nature action. The area I live in DOESN'T EVEN HAVE SQUIRRELS for heaven's sake!

"Why", you might ask?

Elementary, my dear Watson: THERE ARE NO TREES HERE! Just scrub brush and juniper bushes. Not the most squirrel-friendly habitat. It tricks you - makes you become unsuspecting and unwary when nature suddenly rears its head and scares the daylights out of you.

I went out this afternoon to do some shopping - in the middle of it all I got hungry and stopped off at a food joint for a quick sandwich. While I was devouring it, I decided to call above mentioned mother and chat with her while I ate my lunch. Just minding my own business, sitting in my Jeep with the windows down having a nice conversation with my mom, and a *huge* seagull appeared out of nowhere and TRIED TO FLY THROUGH THE WINDOW OF MY JEEP - WITH ME IN IT! Seems old Jonathan Livingston Seagull has a habit of hanging out around the drive-thru window of the food joint and accosting unsuspecting picknickers who are chowing down in the parking lot!

"Seagulls in UTAH?" you ask? Why YES! The state that is home to the Great Salt Lake, is also home to thousands, perhaps even MILLIONS of Salt Lake dwelling seagulls, since the Lake is is LOADED with Brine Shrimp, which just so happens to be MOST seagulls' favorite food. I say most, because wily old Jonathan had developed not only a penchant for fast food, but a quite bold and non human-fearing attitude .. he was ready to fly right through the window of my vehicle and share my sandwich with me. I didn't share his enthusiasm for this adventure. He had a large pointy beak that did not look all that different from the draconian lizard from Transylvania who had given my finger a "what for" many years ago.




<<== THIS WAS WHAT I SAW THE MOMENT BEFORE I DROPPED MY PHONE AND MY SANDWICH AND GOT MY WINDOWS ROLLED UP!!! Hours later, back home, I went into the bathroom and my dogs followed me in there - for some reason they're always fascinated by ANYTHING I have to do, so I have no privacy of any kind with these two K9s around. But suddenly I realized that the dogs weren't interested in ME at all - but rather fascinated with the heater vent in the middle of the bathroom floor. I don't mean just mildly interested, either. I mean NOSES GLUED TO THE VENT - snuffling and snorting and tails a-wagging. I'm watching the dogs' interest in the heater vent with some curiosity, and suddenly I heard it: a soft plaintive mewing - then more mewing - and OH NO - someone's cat decided to go UNDER MY HOUSE AND DELIVER A LITTER OF KITTENS! I could hear their little kitten noises coming through the floor, courtesy of the heater vent. My dogs now want to get into the hall bathroom all the time now. I finally had to shut the door to keep them out of there. They just think I'm being mean. They even told me so.
I'm putting out a call to Marlin Perkins' people first thing in the morning - I'm hoping maybe Mutual of Omaha will give me a guest spot on Wild Kingdom. I hear the show is being resurrected just for me.

The Train To Copper Canyon by Kristin Samet

The summer of 1972 was hot. The sun shone overhead mercilessly as I boarded the train to take the scenic ride through the Sierra Madres down to Copper Canyon.
It was a long trip, over ten hours, and the train seats became uncomfortable after awhile - even the spectacular scenery was overshadowed by the need to move about, stretch my legs and be released from my little confined space inside the passenger car.
I decided to take a walk to the dining car and get a cup of coffee. I was surprised when I got there to find that the coffee was served in fancy cups with saucers - I had been expecting something much less glamorous, as this was Mexico - and the touristas had not yet discovered its then unspoiled wonders. Most things were simple there, unpretentious and understated. But here, even the tables had linen table cloths, and the dining car stewards wore tux shirts and cummerbunds.
Sadly, two cups of caffeine was all I could take, and I was not looking forward to returning to my cramped seat. Still a little stiff, I got up to return to my seat and give others my table.
On my way back to the passenger car, I had to pass in between the train cars - which for some would have caused a great deal of anxiety as there was not a lot between me and the ground save a small safety gate - it looked as if one good bump could send me flying right off the train, and it was moving along at a good clip.
I was hanging on to the hand rails and thought I'd stop and have a smoke before I went back to sit down.
.
Leaning up against the back of the train, I lit up and leaned back to relax and watch the clouds race by. Standing there, the wind whipped around me - it was over 90 degrees, and the coolness of the air rushing over my body was soothing. I begin to lean into the rhythm of the train as it went along the tracks, a predictable movement only interrupted by some occasional swaying as the tracks curled around the tall mountains down into the canyon. Relaxing, I realized I now had "the best seat in the house" - no longer impeded by a roof over my head, I could see everything in the entire valley rushing by me - the majestic mountains spread out before me as far as the eye could see.
The sky was a brilliant blue, white clouds floated by - it was like riding in a convertible car. Most people going from one car to the other raced by rather quickly, no doubt feeling the same initial nervousness I had felt at first, had they but only stopped for a minute and given it a chance, perhaps they would have found this place I had found. I was thankful for the solitude, though.
There was a feeling of adventure in my bones as I stood between the cars, hair flying in the wind, sun shining down on my face - a private adventure as I looked out at the expanse of mountain range before me - thinking about the men who had lain the tracks, what life was like there before the railroad was built, and feeling somewhat like the desperadoes of days gone by, secretly riding the rails, perhaps only one step away from being thrown right off by an angry bump, or an even more angry porter catching me hitching a ride.

Most experienced the ride that day within the confines of a steel cage - I experienced most of the rest of the trip outside in the fresh air, feeling wonderful and free.
Taking just a little risk enabled me to see so much more of everything - I felt as if I had been let loose onto a movie set where John Wayne would come walking out any minute, or perhaps if I looked carefully below me, I might catch a quick glimpse of The Sundance Kid hiding beneath the cars.
A trip through the Sierra Madres, a journey of epic proportions, and one lone woman standing in between trains having the time of her life.

© Kristin Samet