Believe it or not, Joni Mitchell turned 70 yesterday. I totally forgot until I was reminded by my long time Coffee friends who know she is my favorite. This is about my favorite song. It isn’t her best song, but for me it is filled with memories, cherished memories.

I had the album Clouds with me in Ghana and played it just about every night. I never tired of it. The beautiful imagery in this song is filled with my memories of Ghana, of the portraits of the day: green oranges in bowls, papers lying waiting to blow away and the street paved with passersby in bright cloths. Ghana filled my senses. Joni knew: “The sun flowed in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses.”