Return of Memoryfest - Day 4/31

[bironic]

4. Kindergarten/Elementary School

In the living room of our old house, there was about a foot or a foot and a half of space between the side of the oatmeal-upholstered couch and the wall beneath the bay windows. In the corner sat the left half of a pair of old stereo speakers, tall and narrow, with wood veneer, a beige mesh front and a black brand label attached to the bottom corner. When I was little and my mom played a record, I would sometimes wedge myself in between the couch and the wall with my face right in front of the speaker, listening, sometimes scratching my nails lightly down the mesh. I'm pretty sure she told me not to do it, but I did anyway. I remember lying there on the carpet one sunny afternoon, happy and peaceful, while Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits played, humming to the familiar melodies of "Mrs. Robinson" and "I am a Rock" and "Scarborough Fair."


ETA: Stealing mer_duff's idea: You can listen to a live version of "Scarborough Fair" on YouTube (only slightly off-key) for atmosphere.

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[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

When we lived at the trailer, we had to clean out the old junk from my mother's childhood to make room for ourselves. THis was before things went bad there, before the holes in the floor and locks on the door. Cleaning out the room that had been my mother's revealed old stuffed animals and blankets covered in mildew and once, an old Heart record.

But of particular note was when we cleaned out the Living room closets. There were two of them, only about the size of coat closets, flanking the frightful green Painting in the middle of the wall. Inside one of them, under old letter jackets, were six cases- one instrument for each of the kids in my mother's family. My Uncle Had a violin, by then a body with strings springing out every which way when the case was opened. There were two flutes (I think one was a piccolo), a saxophone, and two clarinets, all in plastic that is suposed to look like leather cases. One of the Clarinets actully had leather on the case, and was by far the oldest- it had been my grand mother's when she was in high school.

~N~

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Like a treasure trove in your own home. Were you able to salvage any of the instruments?

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

My brother played the sax, And I played the newer clarient. The violin was a little warped, and the repairs were beyond our means. THe older Clarinet went to my grandmother, and The FLute and Piccolo I THINK went to the aunts who had played them in high school.

I only played the clarinet for about a year or two, and I did get a chance to play the clarinet that had been my grandmother's. In any case, the sound wasn't to my taste, and I ended up an auxillery percussionist. :) Either way, I hope that my grandmother still has it and hasn't pawned it off for Bills, Medical expenses, or booze/pot. I'd kinda like to have some of my kids or my sister's kids, if/when we have them, get a chance to play it, if only Mary Had a Little Lamb. :)

~N~