Last night, after dinner (the red fruit puddings were a hit and my mother didn't even make a comment about the mismatched dessert dishes until I did), my husband went down into the basement to bring up a box of old LP's(as in records) to show my father.
Then, I reminded John that we could actually play these on his old record player "stereo" which he found a few years ago in a resale shop. I had been bugging him to bring it upstairs for the Christmas season so we could play his all of two(!) Christmas albums(an old Burl Ives one and a Johnny Mathis one) on it, but with all the busy-ness, it never happened. I adore the sound(even the scratchiness some records make) of records played by having a needle on it. There is something deeper about the sound and also nostalgic, too.
So, he finally lugged up the record player, and we started playing records. It was John , specifically ,who picked out the records(with dedications to each one of us--Tony Bennett for me, The Ventures for my sister, etc.) and placed them on the turntable. He collects records and is v-e-r-y particular about fingerprints and possible scratching of his "artifacts".
At one point, when Bobby Darin's "Beyond The Sea" was playing, my parents spontaneously got up and were dancing together across the living room floor. It was so sweet and wonderful
and damn! that no one(including me) thought to get the camera then and take a photo of them.
I only thought to get the camera out after they left , too take pics of the stereo and old records...duh! It was pretty funny, too, because Jewel was perplexed as to what they were doing--kind of weaving in and out around them and staring up at them, and then finally taking off to the safety of our bedroom. She must have thought the human visitors had gone crazy!
So now, we still have this retro
piece of equipment parked in front
of our new flat-screen TV. Kind of a good way to usher in the year 2010,
with a nod to the past.
16 comments:
A blast from the past kind of evening. You captured your parents dancing in your mind's eye. Such a nice memory to have. What is red fruit pudding? Is that a New England dish? It's new to me. Rosemary
What a sweet evening. Don't worry about the camera - you did a great job writing about it.
It sounds like you had a lovely night with family.
I noticed the photo with the cat. Did you get one? They're so nice to have around. Wishing you a peaceful weekend.
~Rosemary,
I added on to my entry from yesterday and wrote about my "red pudding"(you came in and read the blog and commented before I added more...)
~Erin,
Yup, it was a very sweet evening and we were all kind of under a spell of a kind with the old music and then the dancing....
~Arty,
That's my cat Pete that has been with us for 10(!)years. He doesn't get enough "press" from me, sadly, because Jewel has taken over, but he is one sweet laidback cat(who got high on a catnip mouse last night...woo..hoo..!)
I remember the catnip with our cat. She was actually able to do flips in the air. We were thinking of entering her in the Olympic gymnastic events! ;-)
Dancing is kind of becoming a lost art. Glad your parents remember!
What a lovely evening ; -)
LPs! Ah yes, where did the time go, right...
Hope you had a lovely Christmas and a New Year.;) All the best in 2010 dear Tina,
xoxo
Zuzana
You should have seen the huge smile on my face when I read about the dance of your parents /and the funny reaction of Jewel/!!!:) Thank you for sharing this special moment with us, Tina!!!:)
i love records too and alas have nothing to play mine on and haven't for years. i think the sound of lps is nostalgic and deeper too. love that your parents got up and started dancing like that--and jewel was confused. it sounds like such a wonderful evening.
I love, love, love this post! You described it all beautifully and it made me nostalgic (for a scene I never lived)!
Thank you for sharing it!
Wow this sounds like a great night and a trip down memory lane!! I was smiling when reading about your parents dancing and Jewel watching :-).
I guess this will be one of those nights to remember!
Bobby Darin! I still enjoy listening to his records. If he had his medical issue today, I think he would have lived through the surgery!
Sounds like a wonderful evening! Five years ago, I spent a year transferring my record collection to digital format. I don't miss the LPs since I still have the music!
Very eclectic mix, that one of a flat TV and a record player :-) I have and old radio from my grandma, that still works!, and that sounds so 40's. Is there a 40's sound? And there is a 70's portable record player of my dad's, where he used to practice his English, with records to learn the language. Your entry has brought memories of those two items at home, that belonged to dear people, making them more special.
Too bad you did not take a picture of your parents! I think, though, that we can all imagine the moment :-)
I can imagine myself being in the room with you. How fun your evening sounds. Love that record player and I love old records too. It brings back a lot of memories.
~Sandra,Pseudo, Zuzana(You are BACK!),Vessie, creative k., judy, Marcelle, Jeff(welcome!), Claudia, and JarieLyn,
Thanks for reading and commenting. I didn't really think I wrote about this in the best way possible, but wrote it down anyway, because it was a meorable night, so I was happy you got that feeling, too, from reading this entry.
I still listen to music on vinyl too.
Loved reading about your evening.So nostalgic :)
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