ABC Wednesday and the letter "H"

In honour of the letter "H" for ABC Wednesday, I've chosen a musical theme featuring the words hepcat, hambo and habanera.  You can see those at the end of the post, and, if you have the time, you may choose to listen to and/or watch videos that highlight their meanings.  The link to Herbie Hancock's "Harvest Time" is especially recommended if you are looking for something to hush stresses and soothe your heart while you read the post.  My thanks go out to Mrs. Nesbitt, who created ABC Wednesday seven years ago, and to the fine team of volunteers who work hard to keep it running so successfully.

It was a wet day yesterday.  Not horrifically wet, but enough to.. 

dampen the spirits of these soccer players in the field across from our apartment. After a heroic effort, the game was cancelled.

We did get to Harrison Galleries, our favourite place to enjoy art, lattés, and treats.  We completed most of a crossword, and Bill even came up with the word hepcat that will be further illustrated at the end of the post.  We noticed this art for the first time.  I haven't been able yet to identify the artist, but the initials K.H. gave us a little info to explore later.  In the mean time, we both rather liked the vibrant colours.

I also took a photo of this watercolour by Kiff Holland.  The halation (a new word for me that means "blurring in a photograph due to light reflection") from reflected window light doesn't hide the peaceful atmosphere that comes through in much of his art.

We had to cut our bike ride short after that as Black Jack shivered in her basket.  One of our projects will be to find a way to keep her dry when we ride, as we do hope to continue cycling over the winter.  Just before supper, as I left the grocery store, I saw this rainbow.  Always thrilled to see rainbows, I hurried homeward to get my camera.  The rainbow had almost faded by the time I stepped out on our balcony to take..

these two shots.  I hope you can detect the rainbow.  It made me smile that I caught the "Roundhouse" sign at the bottom of the 2nd photo completely by accident.  The letters look as though they had been printed on the picture.

I tried to catch a few more shots..

to show the warmth in the light..

but the trees in front of our balcony made that a bit of a challenge so I will move on to the musical "H" words at this point.  

Hepcat: This word came up in a crossword puzzle.  The clue was "a jazz enthusiast" and Bill was the one to come with it.  (Yay, Bill!)  I guess you could call Herbie Hancock that! 

I love his piano piece called "Harvest Time" that  you can listen to here.  That recording comes with wonderful paintings of harvests by Lowell Herrero floating by as Herbie's magical playing soothes your spirit, or you can listen to it here with   photographs of Herbie Hancock himself. 



Habanera is defined as a slow, seductive Cuban dance.  If it is seductive you are looking for, the "Habanera" from Carmen, sung by Anna Caterina Antonacci at The Royal Opera in London would certainly qualify.

If you prefer your Habanera to be a little less heated, I think you will enjoy this ballet version of the same music.

Hambo is defned as a Swedish Folk Dance in 3.  Here is a sample below that I found to be most elegant and graceful.

That concludes this week's ABC Wednesday post.  Head on over to that meme if you are interested in the many creative ways bloggers have found to celebrate the letter "H" in their lives.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Wednesday to you!