Summer is here, my favorite season. But this summer seems to escape me. I find myself caught in a crossroads of life that was unexpected but maybe inevitable. The house is empty (mostly), the job is done (virtually) and somehow 30 years has gone by since I graduated high school. That last one is the kicker, a monumental moment in life that started the look ahead to endless possibility. Now, knocking on 50 and the wisdom that life is full of forks in the road sinks in.
My daughter, kid number 3, 22 years of age, came home last weekend to take me to a Led Zeppelin tribute band (why is this kid listening to Led Zep?). I comply like a good parent but in the back of my mind I'm thinking really? To my surprise the experience was fantastic. Certainly the musicianship was top notch and the performance was incredible. But like most people music is tied to memories. What she didn't realize is that this band was a connection to my real life back then and these songs had connections well beyond the band itself. She doesn't know the first time I heard Led Zeppelin was Mrs. Smith next door vacuming to Whole Lotta Love when I was in the 6th grade, the time Ken and I worked out the chords to stairway to heaven in his bedroom, the trance of Kashmir while cruising central on a Saturday night, or Steve Combs blasting Going to California while I'm doing his Algebra homework, or Led Zeppelin 3 as a masterpiece discussion in Daves's basement, or the endless argument of Stones or Zeppelin in the wee hours of the morning while our parents slept. We waited at Tower Records in anticipation as these records came out. We bought the tickets to the shows. It was a different time and place that suddenly hits you in the face. 30 years, no, can't be. How can I tell her it will flash by? How can I not remember every detail? So many thoughts and ponderings all over a musical band and a high school reunion.
In the days of my youth, I was told what it means to be a man,
Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can.
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam.
Good Times, Bad Times, you know I had my share;
When my woman left home for a brown eyed man,
Well, I still don't seem to care.
Sixteen, I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be,
Only took a couple of days 'til she was rid of me.
She swore that she would be all mine and love me till the end,
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oooh.
I know what it means to be alone, I sure do wish I was at home.
I don't care what the neighbors say, I'm gonna love you each and every day.
You can feel the beat within my heart.
Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part.
Now I've reached that age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can.
No matter how I try, I find my way into the same old jam.
Good Times, Bad Times, you know I had my share;
When my woman left home for a brown eyed man,
Well, I still don't seem to care.
Sixteen, I fell in love with a girl as sweet as could be,
Only took a couple of days 'til she was rid of me.
She swore that she would be all mine and love me till the end,
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oooh.
I know what it means to be alone, I sure do wish I was at home.
I don't care what the neighbors say, I'm gonna love you each and every day.
You can feel the beat within my heart.
Realize, sweet babe, we ain't ever gonna part.
*Sigh*
