Thursday, December 31, 2009

Golden Songbook


Hey Diddle Diddle,
The Cat and the Fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see
Such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon, spoon, spoon,
The dish ran away with the spoon.

-Mother Goose


Did your mother sit next to you on the piano bench at the
upright piano in the dining room in the house
on Oak Ridge Avenue and play this song?
Mine did.

It was before she bought the Beckenstein from the woman
down the street.
I remember the light that shone on the book as she played
and how she was able to reach forward and turn the page and not miss a beat. She would give it a swift pull and over it would go.

I always wondered about the words to this song. So much going on!
Never underestimate the power of a full moon!

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

7 comments:

don said...

1/1/10:
"As the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen..."

Ruth Lizotte said...

Three entries since I last looked! How do you keep this thing going!
I've never heard Donny's quote, but it does seem to hold true! Burrrrr! Warms my heart, though, to read my sister's blog. Thanks, Barb!

don said...

Ok, Ru...remember this?

There once was a man from Quebec,
Who was buried in snow to his neck
When they asked are you 'friz?
He replied, "yes, I is!
But we don't call that cold in Quebec."

John said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John said...

Continents apart and still, shared experience. Yes, my mother sat with me next to the piano and sang the songs out of the Golden Song Book to me while I was little on the same Baldwin upright that my nephews are learning to play on today.

The piano made its trip from Long Island to Maine to Taiwan with my parents.

Unfortunately, my sister Joy claimed our copy of the Song Book as hers (it was bought for her). Thankfully, Sarah brought her own to the marriage.

Now, for the piano...

Barbara said...

John! This is a wonderful memory.
Imagine piano and songbook traveling so far.
Being the youngest, I too never inherited the books of my childhood. They were whisked away at the birth of the first granddaughter!
Somehow the Golden Songbook was overlooked and I cherish it! Glad Sarah has one. (what will Sylvia do?)

jamclean said...

Mom's total focus at this point of the year (besides giving birth to Ruthie) would be on the pending arrival of the Burpee's seed catalogue.