Remembering Singer John Denver on his New Year’s Eve Birthday

Two months before his death, singer/songwriter John Denver wrote a letter to his mother on her birthday and told her, “I would not be the man I am, nor would I sing the way I do, nor would I have written the songs I have written without the influence and inspiration you have been to me. I want you to know that today there are hundreds, if not thousands, who join me in saying, ‘God bless the day that you were born.’ ”

Today is John Denver’s birthday, born on New Year’s Eve in 1943. John Denver — forever in our minds as the youthful, blonde-headed, wire-rimmed granny glasses-wearing troubadour — would now be a 74-year-old grandpa if he had lived. His daughter Anna Kate, 41, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Jaime Hutter, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Eloise, on December 21, 2011.

Remembering Singer-Songwriter John Denver On His New Year’s Eve birthday

By Lynn R. Mitchell

“I would not be the man I am, nor would I sing the way I do, nor would I have written the songs I have written without the influence and inspiration you have been to me. I want you to know that today there are hundreds, if not thousands, who join me in saying, ‘God bless the day that you were born.’ ” – John Denver’s birthday letter to his mother, two months before his death

Today is John Denver’s birthday, born on New Year’s Eve in 1943.  John Denver — forever in our minds as the youthful, blonde-headed, wire-rimmed granny glasses-wearing troubadour — would now be a 73-year-old grandpa if he had lived. His daughter Anna Kate, 40, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Jaime Hutter, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Eloise, on December 21, 2011.

Perseids Meteor Showers: ‘I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky’

In the words of John Denver … far out! It was “rainin’ fire in the sky” over the Shenandoah Valley tonight as I watched the Perseids meteor showers. We had gone outside around 10pm to look at the night sky but a bright sixty percent moon highlighted the heavens and dimmed the stars.

I waited until after the moon set at 1:00am, then went out on the deck for about 20 minutes and saw half a dozen brightly burning falling stars with long tails of fire — it was amazing! Mr. Mitchell crashed hours ago so I didn’t stay out long because it was a bit creepy thinking about the black bear under the deck a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t quite the show I had hoped for but the meteors I saw were beautiful, not to mention the brightness of the stars in the dark night sky as I looked at the various constellations.

At 3:00am I decided to try again just in case I was missing the prolific showers that were written about. In about 15 minutes I saw another half dozen — beautiful displays but still not in the amounts mentioned in astrology articles. In the middle of the night it was still a comfortable 74 degrees with a slight breeze as the loud sounds of tree frogs and crickets filled the night air.

It is said John Denver and his friends were camped out in the Rocky Mountains when they saw the Perseids meteor showers and he wrote it into the song, Rocky Mountain High. In his autobiography Back Home Again, he wrote:

Waynesboro’s Wildlife Center founder inspired by John Denver’s music

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I found it very interesting to learn that Ed Clark, founder and president of Waynesboro’s Wildlife Center of Virginia, was inspired in his life’s work by the music of singer-songwriter John Denver.

Since Denver was my favorite singer-songwriter, I sat up and paid attention when I saw the title of this piece written over at the Wildlife Center’s website. It is so good I’m going to post it here in full — there is no name attached to it so I don’t know who to give credit to other than the Wildlife Center. The pictures are theirs, too. This organization was included on my Summer 2016 … 40 things to do in and around Staunton, Va post.

Take a few minutes and read this inspirational piece.

The moon and the stars are the same ones you see….

By Lynn R. Mitchell

[From my Wednesday night Facebook posting.]

There’s a full moon tonight over the Shenandoah Valley and it brings back a memory. John Denver told the story at his Red Rocks Concert on July 5, 1982, of being in China and seeing the full moon while thinking about Annie back home in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

“The moon and the stars are the same ones you see, it’s the same old sun up in the sky” … he sang “Shanghai Breezes” that night under the Colorado night sky.

My sister Gail, my husband, and I were on the fourth row in front of the stage — first come, first serve seating so we were there when the gates opened, and saw the sound check in mid-afternoon with John.

Here is part of that magical night.

There are additional links to the July 5, 1982, Red Rocks concert in this post I wrote several years ago on John Denver’s birthday (see Remembering singer-songwriter John Denver on his New Year’s Eve birthday). We were visiting with my sister who lived in Denver at the time … we were part of that crowd of cheering fans on that night long ago in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

I think my sister said it best:

Wow, have never seen this footage. We’re somewhere in that bobbing herd of fans down there in front. Hard to remember a time when all we had to worry about was saving a space at Red Rocks. And I would swear that’s my “woo hoo!” at the point there when he holds the note on “true love is still the only” etc. What a wonderful night that was.

A wonderful night, indeed. Sweet memories….

Remembering John Denver: 1943-1997

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It’s been 18 years since John Denver died.

He was a story teller, a master guitarist, a song writer, a singer … and his music still captures my heart today as he sings of the mountains and nature and youth and growing old and wheat fields and Colorado and Alaska and all the things I love. He was John Denver who died October 12, 1997, at the age of 53, in a plane crash off the coast of California. For me, that was the day the music died.

Even now, when I pull out my guitar, the first chords I strum are John Denver’s music … the songs I most often sing are his. Even though I disagreed with some of his politics, I never stopped loving his music. He took the ups and downs in his own life and put them into melodic, sometimes hauntingly emotional choruses that comforted the hurting souls of others … songs about love lost, then found … breakups and reconnecting … children … old cowboys … the ocean … flying … his beloved Rocky Mountains.

‘Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Remembering singer-songwriter John Denver on his New Year’s Eve birthday

By Lynn R. Mitchell

“I would not be the man I am, nor would I sing the way I do, nor would I have written the songs I have written without the influence and inspiration you have been to me. I want you to know that today there are hundreds, if not thousands, who join me in saying, ‘God bless the day that you were born.’ ” – John Denver’s birthday letter to his mother, two months before his death

Today is John Denver’s birthday, born on New Year’s Eve in 1943.  John Denver — forever in our minds as the youthful, blonde-headed, wire-rimmed granny glasses-wearing troubadour — would now be a 71-year-old grandpa if he had lived. His daughter Anna Kate, 38, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Jaime Hutter, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Eloise, on December 21, 2011.