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Take 1 - Take 2

I remember that it was a cool and rainy day in the springtime of 2004. I was going to visit Stan who was finishing up his first year at college. Driving in my '87 Ford F-150, a gift from Grandma, I was still getting used to the freedom that came with having a vehicle I could call my own. Instead of playing the radio I decided to listen to a recording of the Vinyl Cafe, which was then and still is my favourite radio program. This was before podcasting, and the truck was from an era that did not know the compact disk, so I was listening to a show I had recorded off the radio onto a cassette tape. For reasons that I still do not fully understand, one of the songs on that recorded show resonated deep inside of me. I punched the rewind button and played the song again, and then again, and again, and finally once more before rewinding and playing it for a sixth time. This is what I do when a song really moves me, it is what I have done with just about every other song posted on this site. It is as if with every play something I didn't notice before about the songwriter's message, or my own appropriation of it, becomes more apparent, more clear.

Heather, the older of my two younger sisters, really likes it when I sing, which is something I don't do much of publicly. This past weekend she got married, and she asked if I would sing a couple of songs at the reception. Given that I am the older brother who is hopelessly wrapped around her little finger, I agreed. One of the songs she asked me to sing was that same song I first discovered on a lonely Alberta highway over five years ago.

Even though performing makes me nervous, I thoroughly enjoy doing it. And one could not have asked for a better audience on Saturday night as family and friends gathered to celebrate Heather’s marriage to Matt. It was truly wonderful to see my little sister at this place in her life, ready and radiant. It was equally fabulous to welcome such a fine brother into the family. It was an evening I will not soon forget. As the D-chord rang from BJ's guitar, and I started into the song, I was feeling very much, more alive.

This is Ross Douglas.

Monochrome: Take 1 - Take 2.