It may have been tongue in cheek, but he mentioned the walls rattling to the sound of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. He actually may not have mentioned the walls rattling, but that was the conclusion I drew rightly or otherwise. Later as I reflected on his sermon that was not about music, I had a flash back to the roll music has played in my life.
My first sound system was not high end anything, but a stereo I purchased with money I saved from my after-school job at Otto's Ice Cream. I was fourteen years old when I started working and had a driver's license. I did not have a car. The job paid fifty cents an hour, and it opened the door to my having my own money. I learned much through that experience.
Our pastor mentioned that his dad kept his coin collection in a cigar box. Interestingly, so did I. While I was working at Otto's, a man paid for his family's ice cream and burgers with new silver dollars. With the owner’s permission, I took the silver dollars in exchange for some worn bills I had in my wallet.
Of course, the keep sakes I kept in my cigar box were not limited to coins. That was sixty years ago, but I still have one of those silver dollars. The remainder of the keep sakes, along with the cigar box are long gone.
Until twenty years ago, I still had every album I purchased from the time I first owned a sound system. When we moved into our last home, I dispensed with the turn table and no longer had need for the vinyl. Your right, I have "STUPID" tattooed on my forehead.
Okay, so it falls into the category of a regret. My taste in music is very eclectic, and I could have looked at every album in the collection and pinpointed the things going on in my life when I purchased it. Dispensing with it was like throwing away a part of me and triggers to a host of memories.
Years ago, before our family moved to Austin, I was in Austin on a temporary assignment that took weeks to complete. After work one day, I went with colleagues to a concert at the Armadillo World Headquarters. It was located a block or two from the office where I we were working. I was told the evening’s venue was country-western music.
The music was not what I expected, and the venue was surreal. Though it was dark inside, I suspect there was a purple haze in the room. Once was more than enough.
Since I was in Austin for several weeks, I rented a one room efficiency apartment on the periphery of downtown. I worked long hours, but regardless of when I returned to the apartment, the next-door neighbor, a lady about three times my age, was always standing outside her apartment on the concrete walkway next to the railing. She had a beer in one hand, and the sound of religious music was coming through the open door. I wondered about her story, but I never asked.
Of course, if you had looked at my record collection, you probably would have found it strange. Like I said, it was eclectic. If I had it do over, I'd still have my turntable and my lifetime collection of music that resonated with different parts of my interests. They all still contribute to who I am today.
All My Best!
Don