I really DO give up. This is a lot harder than it looks. Don’t ever tell someone who knits on a circular knitting machine that it isn’t homemade.
Mr. FixIt went to the bowling alley to visit with his buddies last night. He left me with the TV remote and I was trying to download something onto an ancient laptop. As usual, when my sweetie isn’t in control of the television viewing, I head to YouTube and promptly fall down a rabbit hole of guilty pleasure…watching any number of videos. Sometimes I just land on the video of a crackling fire and snuggle up with a good book. Other times I search for how-to videos if it will help me with a current project.
Last night, I settled on music videos. I didn’t watch the Grammys this year so I missed the incredible performances of Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs singing Fast Car and the beautiful Joni Mitchell singing Both Sides Now. That sent me on a search of their earlier videos and then I stumbled on Carole King at the Kennedy Center Honors where Aretha Franklin sang Natural Woman and made President Obama cry.
One of my very first albums was Tapestry by Carole King. We had one of those little stereos that would play a record over and over. Drove my dad nuts so I would turn it down enough to keep him from going ‘round the bend. Then I’d lay down on the floor and position a speaker on either side of my head and I was lost in the rhythm and lyrics for hours. It was my coming-of-age anthem album and I loved her to the moon and back.
Life moved on. I finished school, got married, moved to England and listened to Carole and Elton and Rod on an 8-Track as I cooked and cleaned in our little flat. Music was always the undercurrent of my life. It carried me through myriad heartbreaks. It buoyed my spirits and soothed my loneliness and encouraged me to rise up every time I fell.
Music became my love language and during my second marriage, when we didn’t have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of when my husband was in medical school, we always had the radio playing in the background. Musical interests grew and changed as we got older and began to be the thermometer of where we were in our relationship.
After another divorce and a badly bruised ego, live music became an avid interest and I went whenever I could. I saw James Taylor, John Denver, America, Three Dog Night, The Temptations, Anita Baker…so many great concerts large and small. I never got to see Carole King in concert, but I did get to meet her and have an incredible experience. She was campaigning for John Kerry and came to the Daily Bread…a little restaurant on the Main Street of Glenwood Springs.
She spoke on women’s rights and the importance of raising our voices to be heard. Then, she sat down with her guitar and led us in song. We all sang You’ve Got a Friend and it’s a moment I will never forget. This tiny little dynamo of a woman with wild curls and signature sound reminded me…I may be going through a rough patch and a divorce I didn’t want, but I had friends. And that’s not for nuthin’.
I didn’t get much accomplished yesterday. It was Sunday and a day of rest. I chatted with friends and family. I read and listened to music. I didn’t cook…like, at all! I let Mr. FixIt take care of me for a change. It was really nice.
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”Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.“
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV