I was cleaning out some drawers in the china cabinet yesterday, in order to make
room for the entire set of china Rudder's grandparents gave us last May -- and
which have been sitting in boxes next to the cabinet ever since. In the process, I
also went through my old tapes and reunited some empty cases and orphaned tapes
sitting around.
Tapes .... I had forgotten how much I loved some of
the music on those. I don't buy or make tapes anymore; these days I mostly get
commercial CDs. The tapes are mostly from college and just after, and I think on
balance I love them more than the music I have on CDs. There are three reasons:
first, I had much less money then so I only bought something or went to the effort
of taping it if I did really love it. Second they're from a time in my life when
maybe music had more impact on me. And third, they're from when I was still
discovering the folk music I still love. I had a boyfriend with a great album
collection and a local folk club where I volunteered to introduce me to the best
older and newer music. I don't have that kind of music community in Phoenix --
there's an Irish music club out here that also turns out for bands like Great Big
Sea, but that's about it. Really the only new artists I've found since that I love
as much as GBS and Gordon Bok.
And maybe I love them more because you
only get to hear something for the first time once. Then again, rediscovery is
almost as thrilling, plus it has the sweetness of nostalgia added in. And
listening to Cindy Kallet is still like laying back into a sunbeam and having warm
honey poured all over your body. Mmmm.
And a pot of chili is
simmering in the crock pot. Mmmmm again.