i always do the title last, when i see what the photos are all about and what the story might be. turns out, this one is about music (for the most part, although there is a teaser towards the end) ~
we did a fair amount of singing when i was growing up. i remember singing in the car (we tended to take loooong road trips) & have more than passing familiarity with many folk songs and children's songs because of this. it is how i know all the verses to
this song and many others. i was in choir my last years of high school and still recall a few of those diddies...however, only the alto part, so that's tricky. and i have fond memories of going out with my family and neighbors to carol around the neighborhood at Christmastime, stopping at the houses of older neighbors to sing a song or two. in general, there is no such thing as too much singing.
this isn't singing, but it sets the tone (of sorts) for this post.
the boys and i had a lovely (and musical) trip to see my parents
and to enjoy a little Christmas at my childhood home.
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| my stocking (made by my grandmother), hung by the chimney with care |
my youngest keeps growing!
so does my oldest!
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| Mom at the piano |
caught this scene as i was coming down the stairs
(that's my mom you can hear, on the piano)
we were, originally, going to go on the weekend - but, when the weather looked terrible, we switched to a couple days later. and so did the weather.
however, more than making up for the drizzle & fog was the opportunity to join my parents at the home of close family friends for....caroling!
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| the libretto in my lap |
it was round-robin with instruments to boot!
~ a good time was had by all ~
my friend's collection of stars
at one point, we strolled through the nearby shops, thankful we were not looking for a parking space. there were some decidedly uncheerful drivers who
were looking. it was slightly nerve-wracking to be a pedestrian, but we survived.
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| the drug store used to be here, where i purchased many a Tiger Beat and 3 Musketeers chocolate bar. |
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| the kind of shop that sells precisely 17 party dresses not made of burlap |
they have, recently, built
incredibly TALL condominiums on either side of a main street near the shopping center. it is slightly disconcerting, and i feel a bit like a grumpy old-timer....
remember when? but i guess i'll get used to it. i did console myself by going to the subterranean antique mall that's been there since almost forever. i love that place, and afterwards i felt much better (somewhat like
the very hungry caterpillar and that nice green leaf...chomp, chomp, chomp).
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| pretty baubles |
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| do you see them? those big-city condos? how can you not. |
so, my parents are about a block away from all this razzle-dazzle. i love their neighborhood, which was just beginning to rebound from decades of decay when we moved there in 1979. well, it has rebounded and then some, quite keeping pace with the boutique shopping nearby....there are still one or two (that's about it) ripe-for-the-renovation properties in the neighborhood. this is an awesome one (but not yet available) just up the street from my parents. such potential! and a double lot to boot. over the years, i have loved watching houses like this one turn back into butterflies. (again with the caterpillar reference! maybe that's the theme instead of music.)
my parents
always oblige their grandsons with a fire, either outside or in depending on the weather. with this in mind, the boys helped select the dinner menu of roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, not necessarily in that order. & the adults dickered over who got to stoke the fire, as we each have a tad of the pyromaniac in us.
~ the cozy scene ~
this next is not about music but of other creative endeavors - some of my favorite things on the walls of my parents' home.
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| by a friend & the hostess of the caroling party. you can find her work at this address. |
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| i have no details about this little oil painting, other than it has been in my life for what feels like forever. |
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| a newer acquisition that i think is simply exquisite. |
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| the sweetest dog in the world. she has been gone for a long time. |
you can make this series of photos
musical in your head
if you pretend my parents are popping out
from behind my sons
to say "cuckoo!"
they weren't,
but you can imagine it i bet.
since i began this post with the boys playing trumpet together in an interesting, staggered way (an attempt, i think, to get me to stop filming them), i will end it (almost) with some of the same (after they gave up attempting to thwart my filming).
so, here's the teaser photo.
my parents continue to delve into their attic, finding wonderful
treasures. the most recent discovery is a box full of letters mostly
written by my parents to my father's mother, ranging from their
newly-married days in Boston all the way up to our years in Raleigh (my
father's mother died in 1995). i only was able to spend about an hour
reading them, but they are....without compare. a window into the past
when i know how the story ends. there may be a later post about the
letters. perhaps a few that might have enough distance or anonymity of
events that you could imagine it as your own family's story. or
fragments that, when soldered together, bend the light in a new way.
but i think there's a story here ~
