The Power of Music

Have you ever listened to a song and be transported to a different time and a different place? You hear a song and remember an event when you were listening to the song or maybe the first time you heard the song.

Bluegrass does that for me. Not the newgrass but old Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, etc. I hear that stuff and I am 10 again. I am at one of two barber shops. I can smell the shaving cream and that blue stuff they use to disenfect combs. One of the barber shops is where my dad took me for most of my haircuts when I was young. The other is one that he grew up going to. It is in the middle of a field in rural Alabama. Sometimes when I hear Bluegrass I can almost smell the freshly plowed dirt mixed with the shaving cream and blue stuff at that country barber shop.

Last night was another one of those events where music was transporting me. I needed a break away with dealing with all of the logistics of my other mother's death. Several friends and their wives met me and wifey out for dinner and then we caught Drivin and Cryin's annual Thanksgiving show. DnC was huge here in the Atlanta area in the late 80's early 90's. I was in High School and College then and DnC was a huge part of the soundtrack of that era. Last night was their 20th Thanksgiving show. The proceeds went to Toys for Tots. They played at least one song from each of their albums and several cover songs. I could think of most of the times I have seen them and all of the times I have met them. I had flashbacks of good friends and good times over the last 20 years particularly high school and college. My only regret last night was that I started feeling funky around midnight and had to take the pumpkin home.

Their was other people there reliving their past. People in their late 30's early 40's that heard DNC when they were in school. Some were dressed nice but drunk 40 year olds showing they cant dance or play air guitar are funny to watch. There was one girl that poured herself in acid wash jeans she has probably had for 15 years and were about 2 sizes too small. She worked her way to the front and tried to get the attention of one of the guitarists. "Tim!!!" she would scream in between songs. Occasionally it was folloowed by, "remember me?" Tim either a) didnt remember her b) didnt hear her or c) both of the above. She finally left in disgust after about 30 minutes of hoping Tim would see her and remember her.

My Other Mother

About 12 years ago I met an amazing woman. She had been married earlier in her life but they had parted ways and never had any children. She had no family but claimed dozens of people as her own kids including me. She introduced me as her son so many times that there are several people that think we are related.

A little over a year ago she was diagnosed with the later stages of Lupus. This woman that was so full of life suddenly wasnt. She had good days and bad days. If she had bad days, she would sometimes have to go to the hospital and when she got home she would turn her phone off, not wanting to talk to anybody until she felt better.

Three weeks ago we went to lunch. She seemed to be doing very well and had been doing well for quite sometime. I thought that the worst had passed.

Yesterday, a coworker called me. Nobody had talked to her in about 10 days to 2 weeks. I went over to her condo. I knocked and knocked on the door to no avail. I could see through the peephole that the lights were out and I could see her cat sitting on the back of a chair. The cat looked well fed. I checked the parking lot and found her car in her assigned parking space. I came back up and couldnt find any neighbors at home nor could I find a maintenace man. I called her coworker and told her what I had found. The coworker had called the hospital that she went to and they said she wasnt there.

This morning, her office called the police and asked them to perform a welfare check. They forced their way into her condo and found her dead and lying in her bed.

Last year my grandmother died. I can tell you that losing my other mother has been harder on me than losing my grandmother. I'm gonna miss my mama D.

Johnny Cash

I have always been a Johnny Cash fan. Friday night we went to see the Cash movie, Walk the Line. It is a wonderful movie. Script, story line, and acting are all superb. Although it is mostly about the early life of Johnny it is also a love story. If you didnt know, Johnny Cash was always in love with June Carter. Even as a small boy he loved listening to her sing on the radio and looking at pictures of her in magazines. It was only natural that when he started playing music professionally that she would be touring with him. His first marriage ended and June forced him to get clean and sober before finally marrying him.

Whenever I see biographic movies I am always worried that they wont treat the person fairly. Johnny and June's son was a big part of this movie, making sure that the adaptation of Cash's autobiography was true to the original.

Long story short, go see this movie. You wont regret it.

Grandma

So for the few Hockey Games that wifey and I have went to, there is always an older lady (mid to late 60's) there. She sits behind the home bench, talks to the players, yells at the officials, and looks like she is having the time of her life. She also wears a personalized jersey that has the number 1 and "Grandma" across her shoulders.

At last Friday's game, I told wifey that the next game we go to it is my goal to meet Grandma and have my picture made with her. Wifey laughed but knew I was serious so she encouraged me to go on over and introduce myself but I didnt because I didnt have my camera with me.

Saturday night was an away game and we watched it on the telly. Grandma had made the 5 hour drive and had alot of tv time. It was great to see her on television cheering on her Thrashers.

TodayI had some business to take care of on the NE side of town. I looked it up and found out that the Atlanta Thrashers' practice facility was nearby, there was a practice today and that it was open to the public (as all of their practices are). How could I resist?

I show up at the facility and find about a dozen people watching the team doing drills and stretching. I looked in the stands and saw Grandma so of course I had to sit next to her. She is an awesome lady. After the practice was over, the players would stop and sign things on the way to the locker room and the majority of them came over to say hello to Grandma. They all knew she had traveled to see them in Carolina and thanked her for her support.

I cant imagine being able to be that close to professional athletes as often as you can at Thrasher practices (like 3 or 4 a week). Or that they would know one specific fan and feel it neccessary to say hello to her.

I had the pleasure of shaking hands with and getting the autograph of Ilya Kovalchuk who was named the NHL offensive player of the week after scoring 4 goals last Friday and 2 on Saturday. Last season he was the leading scorer in the NHL and I (as well as the other fans that show up at practice) are able to watch him practice and then get his autograph. Not too many professional athletes can you say that about. Not too many professional sports have a "Grandma" either.

Nothing much

Went to a Hockey game last night. Refs didnt call many penalties unless it was very obvious. I liked that refs were making sure the game kept going and didnt nitpick penalties. Atlanta and Tampa (our opponent last night) are both big, quick skating teams. Atlanta player scored 4 goals. When he got the hat trick the ice was filled with hats that people were throwing. When he got his 4th goal the place went nuts. Tampa is the defending NHL champs so it was good for the hometown Thrashers to win.

Took a client last night. He was curious how someone born and raised in the South would like Hockey so much. I told him I just liked the speed and skill.

You Dont See That Every Day

We had a friend in from Seattle the last couple of days. She was in town for a work related conference starting Wednesday and then Friday through today she stayed with us. Yesterday we drove up to the mountains to get some apples and to look at the foliage. Very pretty day.

On the way home our friend asked "was that a parrot on that man's shoulder?" I immediately started looking for a pirate ship with men wearing patches and a peg leg. We slowed down and let a truck catch up with us and sure enough there was a parrot on his left arm while he (the man, not the bird) drove with his right arm. The man was talking to the bird as they rode on down the road. The parrot kept looking at the traffic and scenery they passed.

Trick or Treat

Last night was our first Halloween to be at home since we got married and bought this house. I was surprised at how many trick or treaters came to our house. Tons and tons of kids came by.

The first was probably the cutest. She was barely old enough to walk and was dressed as a candy striper, with a tiara. She was just precious and left with a ton of candy from me.

As the night wore on, we had kids that were not dressed up (mostly in their late teens) who wouldnt say trick or treat but instead demand "give us some candy" and then no thank you for giving them candy. Some of them I asked what they were dressed as but after a while I gave up on that. Of course the teenagers only got one pack of candy. If you were in costume you got multiple candy packs. A thank you got you more candy. I had also bought two different kinds of candy, one kind was for kids in costume and who said thank you, teens in jeans and t-shirts got the other.