Whatnot Wednesday: Clear Blue Morning, & Dead of Winter at Robbie Cheadle’s

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Hello, all.  On Monday morning as I drank my coffee, the above video drew my attention when it showed up on my YouTube feed.  No matter the genre, I usually enjoy song-videos what show composites of several different singers, harmonizing together from their various locations.  This one, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” is performed by Dolly Parton along with Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire. 

Bald Eagle Flying over Albuquerque 2 men watch by Teagan via Night Cafe

Something about the song and the performance touched me much more than I ever would have expected.  I was so moved that by the end of the song, I just sat for a while, letting my tears flow for a little while.  They weren’t tears of sadness, but they weren’t happy tears either. 

It wasn’t until a few hours later that I realized from which emotion the tears came.  That’s probably because I thought that particular emotion was dead in me, or at least hiding fearfully in the deepest, darkest recess of my mind.  Now I think… that maybe, just maybe… that emotion was hope.

Bald Eagle Flying over Nashville people by Teagan via Night Cafe

Light of a Clear Blue Morning

It’s been a long dark nightAnd I’ve been a waitin’ for the morningIt’s been a long hard fightBut I see a brand new day a dawningI’ve been looking for the sunshineYou know I ain’t seen it in so longBut everything’s gonna work out just fineAnd everything’s gonna be all rightThat’s been all wrong
 
‘Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of a brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningOh, and everything’s gonna be all rightIt’s gonna be okay
 
Woman southwest patio watch Eagle by Teagan via Night Cafe
 
It’s been a long, long timeSince I’ve known the taste of freedomAnd those clinging vinesThat had me bound, well I don’t need ’emOh, I’ve been like a captured eagle, you know an eagle’s born to fly
 
Now that I have won my freedom, like an eagle I am eager for the sky
And I can see the light of a clear blue morningI can see the light of brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morning
Oh, and everything’s gonna be all rightIt’s gonna be okay
 
Songwriter:  Dolly Parton

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Recipes & Books

Today I’m also visiting with Robbie Cheadle at one of her many fine blogs.  We’re discussing how food is used in fantasy novels, including my epic, Dead of Winter.  Please join us for a tasty discussion — and recipes.  

Click Here

Note: The “photo” images that illustrate the song were composed through my imagination in Night Cafe. 

Friendly comments are welcome.  I hope you’ll click over and join Robbie and me in our discussion.   Hugs!

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Of course, since this epic was the inspiration for Robbie’s post, the obligatory shameless self-promotion has to be about it. 

Dead of Winter Omnibus: All the Journeys

The 14 Journeys (novellas) of Dead of Winter in one volume. 

Universal Purchase link (e-book only):  relinks.me/B0FP9XL46J

Audiobook:  relinks.me/B0FPB2L9WV

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Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene.   All rights reserved. 

This work is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

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53 thoughts on “Whatnot Wednesday: Clear Blue Morning, & Dead of Winter at Robbie Cheadle’s”

  2. The collaborative rendition of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning”—Dolly leading with Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire harmonising from separate spaces—lands with surprising intimacy for a remote composite; those layered voices build a swell that feels less like a star-studded gimmick and more like a shared exhale after strain. The lyrics hitting on the long dark night giving way to something clearer resonate hard right now, and your admission that the tears came from rediscovered hope rather than sorrow or joy gives the reaction real vulnerability—it’s the kind of unguarded response that makes music cut deeper than intended.

    Pairing that uplift with the pivot to Dead of Winter’s food-in-fantasy discussion at Robbie Cheadle’s feels like a gentle extension of the theme: finding sustenance (literal and metaphorical) amid hardship. The invitation to join the conversation around recipes and reading keeps the post communal without forcing it. It’s heartening to see a songwriter’s hopeful anthem used not as background but as the emotional anchor for the whole entry. Makes one appreciate how vocal performance, even in a scattered format, can still deliver that rare sense of forward motion.

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  3. That song was beautiful, and what a great collaboration. I didn’t know they recorded a new version of it—awesome! Thank you for sharing. The video clip of your novel was awesome, too, by the way. Have a great weekend, Teagan.

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    1. Hi, Edward. You’re ahead of me, because I had never heard the song at all. Admittedly, I’m not current with TV or music…

      I really appreciate your great feedback about the book trailer. I enjoy making them. A splendid weekend to you as well. Hugs. 🤗

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  4. Teagan, I love your post! As a child I was odd (over here in England) as I was a huge Dolly Parton fan and recently I’ve had a chance to relisten to her albums on my new turntable. A joy! How have I never heard ‘Light of a Clear Blue Sky’? Wow! Thank you so much for sharing and I’m feeling a lift too – yes, HOPE! hugs winging their way to you. xx ps. Just heading off to Robbie’s post and see what you’re both up to!

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  8. Teagan, your reflection is profound. What you described feels so true in my experience. That quiet, surprising moment when hope reappears without fanfare, not as joy exactly, and not as sorrow either, but as something braver. I love how you honoured the tears without rushing to name them. I find that hope doesn’t demand certainty. It doesn’t insist that things are fixed or finished. Sometimes it’s simply the courage to feel again, to let something stir where we thought nothing could. I LOVED post! Sending many hugs on speedy wings to you and the Scoobies.

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    1. You are so kind, Rebecca — thank you. Thank you for not just reading but feeling my words. “Something braver?”… Yes, it think that might be precisely it. I think hope, by definition, must bloom amid the uncertain and the unfinished.
      I agree and admit the importance of hope. Although this year I’ve been trying to work with the concept of “assumption.” That is, putting oneself in the feeling of what it would be if (whatever) was already achieved or already happened. That way of thinking holds that hoping and wishing keeps the desire forever in the future. This is actually from “law of attraction” thinking, even though the idea says the same thing about “attraction” as hope — as being always in the future. The concept is from the same teachings from the late 1800s and early 1900s (and the much, much older writings and Bible verses). Sorry for my tangent. I figure it’s worth a try. 😀
      Anyway, you made me feel good about this post. Hugs winging back to you. ❤

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    1. After the effect that song had on me, hearing it the first time… it was mandatory, critical that I share it, Denise. Heartfelt thanks for your support at the other posts. I treasure your reviews of Dead of Winter series. I hoped this omnibus would reach new readers, or people who don’t like a series, and the ones who said “I’ll read it after it’s finished.” At any rate I had promised to do the omnibus, and I finally did. Big hugs.

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    1. Heartfelt thanks, Jan. I agree, Dolly said it perfectly — and what a fantastic arrangement and collaboration of vocalists. I really didn’t connect the song to Dead of Winter, but now, yes… it makes me think of Emlyn and the clear blue morning after the end of her epic story. Hugs.

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      1. Thanks, Teagan. I definitely remember snowmaggeden since I lived near DC then and had for a number of years. I never remember us getting two blizzards in the same week and four in one winter. I hear that our latest snowstorm is being spawned in New Mexico and will travel West. Hope it is not in your neck of the woods of there might be another chapter or two in one of my favorite serials of yous. Hugs by return pixels.

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        1. Huh? Thanks for prompting me to check the weather forecast, Pat. (I don’t have any kind of cable, so I don’t receive news and weather — or anything else that I don’t go looking for — usually on YouTube clips.) We’ve had bitter temperatures at night, but the days have been nice. But you seem to be correct. It’s predicting 1 to 3 inches of snow Saturday. That won’t last through the day. The sun in NM is so incredibly intense… Once when I lived in Albuquerque (before DC) we got 10 inches that accumulated even though the temperature was around 40 (it fell so hard and fast that it didn’t have time to melt — although the temp soon dropped to freezing) AND it was gone by the next day. Although I’m sorry if we’re sending you a monster. That really was a terrible year in DC — I still have the 3 inch scar from my broken wrist as a reminder. Stay safe and warm.

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