Snippets

A recent post from my cousin Linda started me thinking about memories and how we see them as we get older and how they can be unexpectedly triggered by nearly anything. I've noticed that my head is always filled with snippets of conversations, numbers, quotes and old song lyrics, wines and Medicare codes. They come and go, often catching me by surprise with their intensity and clarity but filtered through experience and time.

She ain't Rose, but she ain't bad,
She ain't easy but she can be had,
So can I when she whispers in my ear,
She ain't Rose but she ain't bad and Rose ain't here. Leon Redbone

God gave us memories so we could have roses in December. JM Barrie

Friends, either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the calibre of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community. The Music Man

I got a woman, over yonder 'cross town,
I go and see her when the sun goes down,
She's my baby, I'm her rambling man,
We get together every time we can.
There's just two problems that I can't ignore,
her no good husband and his forty four. Brian Martin

One fine evening at my leisure, I thought it quite a pleasure,
to write a local ditty on the subject of the day,
So I pinched a three cent taper and a sheet of foolscap paper,
and I sat down quite contentedly to pass the time away. Diane Oxner

I don't want a pickle, just want to ride on my motorcycle. Arlo Guthrie

Make love not war. The 60's

Live Main Lobsters. From a southern Chinese restaurant menu.

First get down upon your knees,
fiddle with your rosaries,
bow your head in great respect,
and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect. Tom Leher

Up against the wall, motherf**kers. The 60's.

Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. Matthew Wilder

Life is a journey, not a destination. AA

Peace,
Peace will come,
Let it begin with me. Tom Paxton

Didn't it hurt enough the first time? On resentment

It's harder to hit a moving target. Anonymous

Be alert. This country needs lerts. Hallmark

There's only two things that money can't buy,
and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes. Guy Clark

When Benjamin Disraeli was prime minister of England,
and good old Queen Victoria was the queen,
whenever she would need him for official palace business,
Disraeli he was nowhere to be seen,
She went down to 10 Downing Street,
the doorbell there she rang,
and when the door was answered, this is what the good queen sang,
Won't you come home, Disraeli.... Allan Sherman

Jesus is coming. Look busy. Anonymous

My friend here from outer space and I,
we like to go down to the Natural History Museum. Flanders and Swann

Some day when things are good, I'm gonna leave you,
I just can't seem to go when things are bad. Merle Haggard

When you have taken everything you can stand, stand your ground. Larry Gatlin

Don't look back, they'll catch you. Anonymous

In knitting, you can always correct the mistakes. Always. Ann Hood, "The Knitting Circle"

It's as if my mind is the drain of a bathtub filled with bubble bath and as the water slowly runs out, the bubbles and debris are caught and stored in secret corners where they hide until some random thing brings them back to the surface. As Linda writes, it might be a scent or a picture or an event, but it triggers some long forgotten memory and for a second or two I'm taken back in time, caught off guard, usually pleased, and always amazed that I could have forgotten. Memory serves a multitude of purposes - to keep alive those we loved, to help determine the people we become, to keep safe that which is precious to us, and to protect. It's a gift we should cherish and care for well.