Music takes me...

Music seems always to have been a part of my life.
I cannot carry a tune in a bucket tho.

In middle school, I remember memorizing songs with my best friend.
We played Elvis and Barry Manilow for hours.
Singing at the top of our voices, over and over again.
I still know Copacabana word for word!

I remember receiving a record player one Christmas.
It came with headphones, as bit as cats.
Tons of padding all around the ears.
I would go to sleep listening to all my favorites.
As the years went by, I used those same earphones with the radio,
and listened to old radio shows like the Shadow and Alfred Hitchcock  Presents.

One year in sixth grade, my bestie and I did a presentation for the class
of the opening song from All in the family.. What a hoot.

When I got into high school, I became a band buddy, added to my many differing groups of friends.
Now, I could not play any instrument, but was a color guard, flag waver for three years.
I dated a drummer, two trombone players, a tuba player,
had a crush on a trumpet player, and most of my friends were in the marching band.
There is a whole book of the adventures had in marching band.

I remember during free periods, and I seem to have had quite a few free periods,
I would go down to the band room and just listen to the classes.
Once, Mr McIlroy even let me play the bells!
The stage band director, Mr. Bianco, was also my Shakespeare teacher,
and he also allowed me to oversee the practices.
I tried to play the trombone once.
You really need strong lips to play that instrument!
And I could never quite get the rhythm of the double bass on the drums!
Although I tried.

When I was a young mom, after the kids were in bed,
I would pour myself a Jack and Coke (a tablespoon Jack to 12 oz coke)
and sway and twirl in the kitchen to country music.
I was of course living in the deep south of Alabama in those days.

I listened to bluegrass band practice every Friday night in the funeral home.
My in laws, and a cousin who was the funeral director, were in this band.
At first I was content minding all the kids,
with moments of sitting and doing cross stitch while humming along to
I'll Fly Away and Country Roads.

Eventually, I took guitar lessons from my sister in law, who tried to get me to sing soprano.
I took finger guitar lessons for about a year.
I practiced for hours on the front porch swing while the kids played in the yard.
I sang loudly, as the only person close enough to hear me was
Mr. Perrigan, across the street.
Puff the Magic Dragon was one of the only songs I learned to pick pretty well.
My kids have many memories of me singing Meet Me in the Middle, trying to learn the harmony.
John Deer Green was also a favorite of the Ballard girls!

I belonged to a women's traveling choir for a few years.  I sang alto, but God help me,
I sang with whoever I was standing next to.
I still do.

When we moved North, my music taste moved to emo and punkish tunes that the kids listened to.
I'm glad that didn't last long, but Jack Johnson and other groups occasionally are played still.

I have always loved REAL music from the Rat Pack!  Dean and Frank are almost always on
a play list close by.

My theme song since middle school has been Simon and Garfunkel's the 59th Street Bridge Song.
If you know me at all, you know how true this is.
Even without this song playing, I move through life with this attitude... :)

Last night my friends and I went to the South Bend Symphony.
The theme was James Bond.
These two hours brought me right back to the good ol days I have been missing.
Images, songs, feelings, rushed in.
I have been a bit depressed lately with both of my girls so far away,
and this winter has been brutal, with me mostly hibernating for months.

It was good to feel the music again.
You can find me bopping, swaying and dancing in the church pew
 to contemporary Christian music,
 as well as twirling around my kitchen, singing to Charlie.

For someone who can't carry a tune, I sure love music!
I am blessed!