Soundtrack Sunday
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The first summer of us living in our home in Illinois are some of the happiest memories I have. It isn't because our house was super fancy, because it wasn't. It was just OURS. We had been living in the ghetto where we were the only white people in our building. I was called "Mista Lady" and Thing 1 was referred to as "the white girl".
Oh the stories I have to blog with regards to our adventures living in that complex. From the attempted home robbery on the 23rd of December, to our neighbors getting arrested for drug dealing...multiple times. Then there was the constant din of drunken students bellowing past our windows and the parade of gangsters in and out of the apartments.
That is why, I suppose the move into our new home was so wonderful. The photos hanging our walls no longer shook from the beat of the music being played outside. We were no longer being awoken at night from sirens bellowing past our town home or hearing the screaming, fighting drunken people.
That first night in our home was the best nights sleep we had had in 3 years.
We spent that first summer in our new home being lazy and swimming in our pool. We grilled every night and ate every single meal on our porch out back. We would just sit after dinner and BE. I have to say that I miss that. The kids would either be swimming, or chasing the fireflies all over the backyard trying to catch them for their collections.
Our tiki torches were always going in the evenings and the music was playing from the inside of the house, which came serenading us through the windows. It was a wonderful time. It was the same, every night. We would sit out back until the kids fell asleep. Then we would carry them upstairs to bed, and we would go back outside and listen to the night noises. Often times we would look at each other, and say to each other: "You feel it? The feeling?" and then we would smile that knowing smile as if to say: "If this is what heaven is like, then sign me up, baby".
Saturdays varied only slightly. Instead of our regular radio station that would serenade us, we would tune in to A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He is an amazing story teller, and the music he spotlights is superb. We never missed a show. Our children have grown up listening to the stories of Lake Wobegon, and dancing to the Powder Milk Biscuit commercial.
We can't help but, every time someone asks for ketchup, finish the phrase by saying: "It's a natural mellowing agent,you know!" I love the little "commercials" that they do about the Ketchup... and the song is quite catchy! We sing it to each other often... especially when someone is being grumpy... the rest of us will start in on "You need more ketchup, its a natural mellowing agent, you know!"
Prairie Home Companion has become a very integral part of our lives... an anthem of sorts. The stories that Garrison (look at me talking like we are tight like that) tells are wonderful. He is the only person that can make the Midwest sound romantic. Which he does... brilliantly.
I love the way he tells stories. I could sit and listen to him for hours... and I have. I saw him once, live, and he has no notes when he is up telling his stories of Lake Wobegon. They are all just rolling out of his brain. I am sure he wrote them down, and practiced them, but the mere fact that he is up there sans paper makes the stories that much better!
Thing 1 told me that she used to hate this show... but now she loves it-- and Thing 2 does as well. They moan when they hear the opening music play, but everyone gradually gathers in the kitchen so we can eat and listen. I think now they just do it for effect, but secretly they love the show as much as their Dad & I do. I am thrilled that we are passing on a love for this show... the good stories, the music, the old time radio show... It is a wonderful way to use your imagination and to spend a lazy Saturday evening.
Oh the stories I have to blog with regards to our adventures living in that complex. From the attempted home robbery on the 23rd of December, to our neighbors getting arrested for drug dealing...multiple times. Then there was the constant din of drunken students bellowing past our windows and the parade of gangsters in and out of the apartments.
That is why, I suppose the move into our new home was so wonderful. The photos hanging our walls no longer shook from the beat of the music being played outside. We were no longer being awoken at night from sirens bellowing past our town home or hearing the screaming, fighting drunken people.
That first night in our home was the best nights sleep we had had in 3 years.
We spent that first summer in our new home being lazy and swimming in our pool. We grilled every night and ate every single meal on our porch out back. We would just sit after dinner and BE. I have to say that I miss that. The kids would either be swimming, or chasing the fireflies all over the backyard trying to catch them for their collections.
Our tiki torches were always going in the evenings and the music was playing from the inside of the house, which came serenading us through the windows. It was a wonderful time. It was the same, every night. We would sit out back until the kids fell asleep. Then we would carry them upstairs to bed, and we would go back outside and listen to the night noises. Often times we would look at each other, and say to each other: "You feel it? The feeling?" and then we would smile that knowing smile as if to say: "If this is what heaven is like, then sign me up, baby".
Saturdays varied only slightly. Instead of our regular radio station that would serenade us, we would tune in to A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He is an amazing story teller, and the music he spotlights is superb. We never missed a show. Our children have grown up listening to the stories of Lake Wobegon, and dancing to the Powder Milk Biscuit commercial.
We can't help but, every time someone asks for ketchup, finish the phrase by saying: "It's a natural mellowing agent,you know!" I love the little "commercials" that they do about the Ketchup... and the song is quite catchy! We sing it to each other often... especially when someone is being grumpy... the rest of us will start in on "You need more ketchup, its a natural mellowing agent, you know!"
Prairie Home Companion has become a very integral part of our lives... an anthem of sorts. The stories that Garrison (look at me talking like we are tight like that) tells are wonderful. He is the only person that can make the Midwest sound romantic. Which he does... brilliantly.
I love the way he tells stories. I could sit and listen to him for hours... and I have. I saw him once, live, and he has no notes when he is up telling his stories of Lake Wobegon. They are all just rolling out of his brain. I am sure he wrote them down, and practiced them, but the mere fact that he is up there sans paper makes the stories that much better!
Thing 1 told me that she used to hate this show... but now she loves it-- and Thing 2 does as well. They moan when they hear the opening music play, but everyone gradually gathers in the kitchen so we can eat and listen. I think now they just do it for effect, but secretly they love the show as much as their Dad & I do. I am thrilled that we are passing on a love for this show... the good stories, the music, the old time radio show... It is a wonderful way to use your imagination and to spend a lazy Saturday evening.
Sit back, relax and enjoy a small sampling of Prairie Home Companion.
See if you don't find it enchanting as well. .
And, here is The News From Lake Wobegon
