I turned 60 a little while ago. It came as a surprise for many reasons. Somehow I thought some idiot would have blown me and the rest of the world up long ago. I never thought I'd see 60 years old It never even occurred to me. Or, maybe, I thought I'd be too busy to even notice.
One way or the other, I noticed. I noticed the day growing nearer, and couldn't help becoming a little nostalgic.
A few years ago, I decided to let my beard grow out. I was shocked. There was no rich brown mass with swirling blond highlights. It looked all white at first. Then, as the stiff hairs filled in, salt and pepper: a lot more salt than pepper, to be sure. I suppose that should have been a warning...
Even a few years ago, my hair only had a few grey tinges around the edges. It was curly and unruly as ever. Now, at 60, it's a lot straighter, with grey streaks running from front to back. -- It just seems too soon somehow...
About the same time I let my beard grow out I was in love, and happened across one of my old, now ancient, favorite songs on YouTube: "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. Listening and singing along, I started remembering other songs that had stuck in my head for one reason or another through the years.
I have to admit some songs touched my heart. Some so tenderly, there was a lump in my throat that forced a few tears.
Funny how you attach moments in your life to songs and places. This post, for example, was inspired by "Wildfire" by Michael Martin Murphey. Wildfire is a song I connect to a beautiful northern California valley, full or art and wonder. The greatest wonder of all though was the woman I loved then.
I've listened to about 50 old (ancient) songs now. Some, not all, I connect to one love or another.
"By the dark of the moon I hunted
But there came an early snow
There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now
For six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go..."
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