music & mango

 

This post is based on The Lightning and the Lightning Bug 

Flicker of Inspiration Prompt #43: Listen

Your prompt this week was simple: Start your linkup post with the word "Listen."

"Listen to our Lights playlist today, Sweetie?"

Scarlett gives me a look that assures me she has no idea what I'm asking of her. She flips her bib over her face and patiently awaits her mango.

Every day during each of Scarlett's meals I choose a playlist from my iPod for our listening pleasure. I have been doing this since she first started eating solid foods. It started out as me wanting to play children's songs for her but that quickly took a turn when I realized how effing annoying they are. So now it's Mama's choice. Some days we have the upbeat 80's featuring pros like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Whitney Houston. Other days I like a nostalgic feel with my Richmond mix which is made up of songs that remind me of the first six years of my life. (Richmond being the town I lived in). A few other playlists include, Lights, Favorites, Treadmill, Fire, (that's for backyard get-togethers, not life-threatening situations), Oldies, 20's & 30's, etc. There is always something to fit my mood.

I'm a huge music bug and I can already tell that Scarlett is too. When I was pregnant with her I'd play the same song on the ride home after every good doctor's appointment. That song was "Float On" by Modest Mouse. When Scarlett was just a few weeks old and refused to settle down we learned that we could play that song to  instantly soothe her. I guess there is some truth to that whole "babies can hear while in the womb" mumbo jumbo, huh?

I grew up with all sorts of music and always enjoyed a wide variety. My parents both loved the music of the 50's, 60's and 70's so I got the best of all genres. I can't say there's a decade that I don't like.

What's your favorite decade or genre of music?

Did you grow up with a music-loving family? 

i smell a memory...

It is amazing to me how a simple sniff of perfume can instantly transport me back 15 years. Or how a song by Bread makes me feel like I am 4 years old, playing in my Richmond backyard, fixing up some plastic raspberries for mom's lunch. They say the strongest link to memory is scent. Well, I have to agree with 'they' on this one. Most often, cologne, perfume and lotion do the trick for me. C.K. One reminds me of my days as an Almacs girl... right down to the smock, the name tag and the scrunchie. Sometimes a man can walk past me on the street and I am sent straight to Christmas night, 1987, seeing dad in his sweater putting on his Pierre Cardin and getting ready for a night out with good friends. There may also be a random, funky smell that takes me back to the Rocky Point haunted house, I can still see the shark's teeth on that little, wooden door.
Music is just as strong in this department. Some of my most treasured memories are of my first 6 years in Richmond, living quietly in our newly-built ranch with our stone wall and our blueberry patch. So many songs from the late 70's and earliest 80's give me the ability to feel that comfort and happiness over and over again. These are times that I never want to forget. Times when your neighborhood was a community. You had dinners together. Everyone was kind and friendly. And the most important thing was my little family enjoying our first NEW home together.
There are two points I am making here: One - Alzheimer's is the scariest thing in the world to me. I can only hope that our friends and families are safe from this horrible disease in our lifetimes. I am begging this beast to not take our beautiful and happy memories away from us. And Two- if you are searching through my ipod and you come across some lame artists and songs - don't judge - those are my memories ...