Tom is probably too young for a silver sneakers discount, but he falls into the category of the semi-retired. I suspect Tom has always lived a charmed life. During the two-to-three years that I’ve known him, he manages to carve out the time to catch reruns of Andy Griffith, Gun Smoke and God only knows what else? It is really beyond my comprehension. Why is the question I want to ask, but regardless of the answer, it won’t really alter my opinion?
That’s not to say that Tom isn’t a busy man. For starters he is a regular at the gym. You know what they say: “If you don’t ride at least twenty-five miles a day on a stationary bike and subsequently take advantage of all the cardio-machines, then you ain’t been nowhere". Trust me, Tom is riding that train as far as it will take him.
You know the type. They’ve all got a sound system plugged in their ears with the volume on high as they pedal for all their worth. I guess it is a variation of “whistle while you work.” If you’ve got the time to go to the gym at least every other day, you have to be committed. Tom is committed.
He mentioned to me at church that he saw my blog about the Lettermen. Even though Tom would say he is light years younger than me, he reportedly fondly remembers the Lettermen. “So, do you listen to that group while your doing the cardio machines?” He doesn’t. Are you ready for this? Tom listens to Three Dog Night while he does his cardio routine.
I remember a line from a song that asked the question: “How much is that doggie in the window? I think I was in elementary school at the time and I heard the song on the Hit Parade on television. Elvis also sang: “You Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog”. That still leave me one dog short of a three dog night.
Okay, so I may be culturally deprived, but I asked Tom: "What kind of music group is Three Dog Night?" Tom seemed surprised that I didn’t remember the group. After all, they’ve been around since Tom was a youngster. Even though he is younger than me, he is no spring chicken.
So I asked Tom: “What kind of music do they sing?” He smiled and said: “They sing religious music”. I’ve read the book on ascertaining the truthfulness of what someone is telling you by looking at his or her facial expression and lack of eye contact. Even with that body of knowledge, Tom was a poker face. I didn’t know if he was being truthful or not, but Three Dog Night doesn’t sound like the best tagline for a religious music group.
Tom assured me that “Three Dog Night” group sings religious music. “So what do they sing”, I asked? Without skipping a beat, Tom said: “They sing Joy To The World”. Who but Tom would be listening to Christmas music as January turns to February? I guess if reruns of Gunsmoke capture his interest, he might also like reruns of Christmas music. “Different strokes for different folks” is what they say.
I wasn’t the only one asking questions. Tom wanted to know if I knew the importance associated to a three-dog night? Tom has read enough of my blogs that he knows that I’m not an animal lover. He never comments in writing on anything I post, but he enjoys pushing my buttons whenever he sees me in person. He knows where I’m most vulnerable. He had a heyday poking fun at me over my fear that the General’s mother’s cat might be hanging around our house. He assured me that cats have nine lives and mine would be over before we were done with the cat.
Okay, so I didn’t know the importance or meaning of a three-dog night. Tom explained it like this: “A three dog night means it is really-really cold and you need three dogs in bed with you just to keep warm. Please hear me say, I hope that I never get that cold!
So, does Three Dog Night really sing religious music? He quipped something about Jeremiah. Oh, yes, I’ve heard the song. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Did I mention that people from Missouri are really strange? I’ve heard of Jeremiah and I think I’ve heard the line about his being a bullfrog. Finally the dots connected in my head. That is one of the lines from Joy To The World that Tom was talking about.
I woke up dog-tired this morning before my alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. I had an early morning flight to D.C. It was a short night. As luck would have it, the smoke detector in the hallway outside our bedroom started chirping at bedtime. Obviously I needed to replace the battery. Guess what? We didn’t have any batteries.
Of course, you know what that means don’t you? It means I got dressed and went to purchase a battery. Consequently, it was a short night. I looked at the weather forecast for Washington D.C. It may be a thee-dog night.
All My Best!
Don