Midweek Rambler

Just got in from a brisk walk of the dog. The weather is my favorite kind of walking weather. 30's to 40's, a fairly brisk wind making a little whirring sound in the pines. Perfect.

My sister or someone else not too long ago suggested posting "five things you'd never catch me saying", or something like that. I was hesitant to respond since, among other things, I'm liable to say just about anything. So I have not given deep thought to the assignment. Here is a stream-of-semi-consciousness response, with commentary attached.

1. You want fries with that?

The economy is taking a turn for the worse, especially here in the Great Lakes region where good old Big Three automakers have been the engine (literally and figuratively, I guess) driving the whole shebang. Anyhow, I have made a solemn vow that, should I ever have to strap on that parachute, gold or otherwise, I will not join the fast food industry. Or I should say, rejoin, as I served a hitch with Mickey D's back in the college days. I was, in fact, a french fry specialist. The worst part was pretty much taking the big box of fatty lard like substance and smashing it into the french fry vat. I will say, however, that McDonalds fries are probably about as good as any in fast food land. Except maybe those curly fries at Arby's. I'm partial to those. (BTW, I was not kiddin' when I titled this midweek RAMBLER.)

2. Take my dog...Please...

We were raised in a cat household. We had two cats in succession. The first one was named "Five"; she was the fifth member of the family and thus was assigned that number. She was a great cat; my favorite ever. She loved to lie down and curl up in boxes, mainly those clothing gift boxes we all are going to amass very shortly, most likely. She also hung out in my room a lot. So one day I got about seven or eight boxes and laid them down all over the room and experimented with the frequency with which she would recline in each box. I have no idea what the findings were but they are written down around here somewhere. As is everything I ever wrote, I think.

Five was followed by Pineapple (due to her color). She was also a decent creature, but I was not living at home for much of her life, so my recollections are more vague and scattered. I know in later years she was thirsty a lot and they kept the tub spout dripping so she could grab a swallow or two at any time. Also, seeing as how Five met her demise by running into a car while beelining in on a bird on the other side of the road, Pineapple learned to enjoy her outdoor experiences while tethered to a string. This is not a bad idea, considering all the strays that cross our yard (see proof two posts back).

Anyhow, we have made this transition in our own homes, from the cats of my youth to the dogs of our adulthood. For us, there is an allergy issue; Linda and our daughter sneeze quite often around felines. Plus, Linda came from a dog family, and someone had to cave, so I caved. Glad I did. Dogs are cool. I am convinced that if you catch them in the right spirit and get their attention and then blink slowly at them, they blink back, as do several other species (my favorite blinkback so far has been from a Bengal tiger). I have convinced absolutely no one in my family of this. Anyway, despite the fact that our canine shows some signs of, if not dementia, quite a bit of goofiness, she is still lovable and good company and of decent temper, a great friend, and a few laughs to boot. I think dogs really do lower the blood pressure a few notches. Most of the time.

3. Music....Who needs it?

Well, I, for one. If there is any sort of life theme, or passion, or addictive need (yes, Linda, of course I mean aside from the things that REALLY matter) in my life, it is music. I have collected music, on reel to reel tapes, cassettes, LPs and singles, CDs, and now on bits and bytes, since about the time the Beatles sang "I Want to Hold Your Hand". I have hundreds of CDs, maybe 1,000 by now. Lots of rock and pop, a decent amount of classical, a good dollop of folk or "singer/songwriter". I have been known to tolerate country, especially if it tends toward the bluegrass end of the spectrum (Nickel Creek did some excellent stuff; Chris Thile is a wizard of the mandolin). A couple dozen Christmas CDs about to get their seasonal spin.

And I have always dabbled in playing music and making stuff up. Mostly keys, but I like to hack around on guitar too. The best description of my playing is "noodling". I basically love to take a chord progression that strikes my fancy and run the sucker into the ground. A buddy and me, growing up back in Baltimore, had a "band" called the Electronic Trashcan. Others wandered in and out of the band. Another kid up the street got a drum set one Christmas, so he was automatically in for a while. We wrote and recorded maybe 100 to 150 songs. I would like to think that the best twenty were actually not bad. It was fun.

In the past 15 years or so, it has been hard to take the time and energy to really create new stuff, but I still hold out hope. However, I have found a really fun and fulfilling outlet through the creation of a new "contemporary" service at our church, where I was recruited (based on what, I am not sure) to play keyboards for the house band. The pastor is an accomplished drummer; we have a killer father and son guitar combo; the leader of the whole effort plays a mean bass and also arranges the music; and we have three women who are also in the choir who harmonize like angels. Ok, I am biased. Anyhow, we haven't gotten a pink slip yet, and people keep coming back on Sunday mornings, and it probably helps that the pastor is actually party to this affair, so we continue... Last night we worked up the Barenaked Ladies' version of God rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings. Pretty cool.

And I can't count the times that a good musical score made all the difference in allowing a movie to emotionally connect with me. A case in point for me was "A Beautiful Mind." Love that soundtrack.

OK, that's three. I have not made it to five, but I am thinking that no one really wants to continue reading at this juncture. We will return with the final two at some future time.