“There’s a magical quality to old records, a history in every groove.”
When I woke up, it was snowing. I made coffee then ran out to the deck and filled 3 of the bird feeders. I’d been meaning to do that for the last few days, but I guess I was waiting for cold and snow, as if. I didn’t grab a jacket, but it was warmer than I expected. The dogs joined me. While I was filling the feeders, they were playing on the deck. Well, the snow has already stopped. We have a dusting.
My father bought my mother a hi-fi with his bonus money one year. I remember the turntable was in a sort of a case with a top which you lifted to play the records. I remember how carefully you had to place the arm on the record in the exact right spot where the grooves started. I remember the stack of records my mother had. One was Judy Garland, another Frank Sinatra. I know all the lyrics to Shrimp Boats. Sometimes the records got scratches and would skip or get stuck in one groove.
I used to play my 45’s. First I chose 45 RPM on the speed selector knob. Next, I had to place a plastic disc in the hole in the middle of the records so they would fit the spindle. My friend had a turntable just for 45’s which I envied. It had a record changer in the middle, and you could stack 45’s records on it which then played in turn. I remember sitting on the floor holding the record in the middle and on the edge so as not to leave fingerprints while I was going through the pile of records, A and B sides.
I still have a record collection of both 33 1/3’s and 45’s. I also have a few plastic discs for the 45’s. I keep those records stored in boxes just for 45’s. Every now and then I go through the boxes and pick a few songs to play. My 33 1/3 records go back to the 60’s when I bought my first album. I still love playing those, especially the oldest albums. The other day I listened to Gail Garnett and her album with We’ll Sing in the Sunshine.
I wish the same part of my brain which stores lyrics to all the songs I’ve loved would work for other things like names or dates. They take a while to retrieve. When my friend Peg and I are talking and we’ve forgotten something, the two of us try to figure out what word we mean. Sometimes we remember. Other times we don’t even get close, but ask me to sing the lyrics to songs I love, and I remember every verse.
My dance card has one last entry for the week, a uke concert tomorrow.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
February 6, 2025 at 5:52 pm
Hi Kat,
Today was another gorgeous day with a low this morning of 65° and a high of 81° currently it’s 80°. It’s bad enough living in Texas, but thinking I awoke in Florida is worse. The weather man on TV called it false spring. Winter isn’t through with us yet. The big freeze in 2021 began on Valentine’s Day. That storm gave us snow, and low temperatures in the minus five degree range. That’s not Celsius. 😦 We had rolling blackouts which made the gas heat totally useless.
I would have never thought you or anyone else would have to describe how to play a vinyl record on a turntable in great detail. It seems that today’s young folks have never seen an analog record, or an analog clock, nor a pay phone and its accompanying phone booth. Where will Superman, in the upcoming new movie, change his cloths? Hollywood must still have phone booths as props. I used to tell my new instructors about what real power was which involved a pay phone. I stopped telling it because I had to explain that there was a time before cell phones. 🙂
Our commander in orange now wants to expel the Palestinians from Gaza and turn it into, in his own words, “The Riviera of the Middle East”. The last hotel and casino he owned on a beach, in Atlantic City, went bankrupt. No one has ever gone bankrupt in the casino industry except for lTrump. 🙂
I can certainly understand why he wants to get rid of the department of Education. They must do a terrible job because the majority of the electorate voted him back into office.
February 7, 2025 at 12:13 am
Hi Bob,
We stayed in the 30’s all day. I was glad it rained as it got rid of the slush so no ice. Tomorrow will be about the same except colder at night. February is usually our snowiest month. We’re supposed to have another storm on Saturday.
I saw a short clip of three high school kids. They had dial phones in front of them and were asked to use them. They couldn’t figure out how to. Kids don’t really know how to tell time anymore or read cursive.
TV’s Superman would run into an alley to change out of his suit. I remember he’d be taking off his glasses as he was running. I wonder how many suits Superman left in phone booths or alleys.
Trump’s margin over Harris was 1.62 percent. He said he had enough votes to call it a mandate. Not even close!!!!
He is screwing the red states when he dissolves the department of education. Dependence on federal money is higher in states which voted for Trump. They better brace themselves.