Friday, April 22, 2005

St. James Infirmary was eleventh

I had a dream last night that my wife Kay said something to me that I needed to remember. I woke up thinking what can it be? I already knew it was our wedding anniversary. But Kay would always remind me. Kay died 3 years ago.

I don't much feel like writing anything today, so instead of a cat picture I will do the other Friday placeholder thing, and list the random first ten songs my computer plays for me.

I want to do anything for you/ Toni Price/ Midnight Pumpkin
Wife of Usher's Well/ anonymous singer/ Best of Scottish Folk
El Carretero/ Eliades Ochoa/ Buena Vista Social Club
Geronimo's Cadillac/ Manfred Mann/ Masque: songs and planets
Railroad Bill/ Hobart Smith/ Bad Man Ballads
John Walker Blues/ Steve Earle/ Jerusalem
Down on Me/ Janis Joplin/ Big Brother & the Holding Company
Farewell to Nova Scotia/ Stan Rogers/ Newfoundland Kitchen Party
Gun Street Girl/ Tom Waits/ Rain Dogs
I bid you goodnight/ Blue Murder/ Out on the Rolling Sea

I have an inordinate fondness for traditional folk songs, sung by elderly performers with cracked voices, and I am surprised that, randomly, so little of it turned up. Maybe my computer chose as it did in deference to Kay, who did not share this taste with me, although she liked most of the other music that I do. My daughter, on the other hand, has loaded up her ipod with traditional songs from the Child canon, archaic and obscure, which mystifies her friends. I am pretty sure I passed this virus on to her by singing her songs of adultery, murder, and tragic death at sea in place of the usual lullabies, to put her to sleep when she was a baby.
Otherwise, I am happy to say, she was unharmed by this.

Addendum:
Maybe the dream reminder was about Earth Day, which always played second fiddle to our anniversary, but which should be remembered. Originally Earth Day was supposed to be the day of the equinox, but there is something about us, as Americans, such that we prefer fixed-date holidays. I wonder why that is?

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