ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
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| Dinghy to the Rescue
Miss the boat? We meant to do that! |
What happened? Looks like someone got the time wrong for boarding the dinner cruise! Gerry should not have listened to me. Oops, too late! Luckily, a kindly stranger has come to our rescue and is ferrying us out to the recently departed lake cruise so that we catch up with our friends and relatives. My Cousin Brent couldn't resist the photo op, and I couldn't stop laughing.
It was the perfect occasion for one of my favorite summer songs, these lyrics especially:
me n' my mistakes,
yeah but that's okay . . .
going to the lake . . . "
Thanks to Andrew Robert Palmer for this upbeat sing - along - in - the car, sing - along - in - the - boat sort of song. It brings on an endless summer Beach Boys sense of nostalgia, except it's not the ocean -- it's the lake, which is definitely a better fit for some of us!
Beyond the narrator's carefree charm and good cheer, the lyrics include a thoughtful message of optimism in the face of change and transition. Even more existential is the takeaway of self - forgiveness. Hey, my mistakes are a part of me; they've made me who I am; they're going with me to the lake. Yeah, but that's okay, right?
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| Lake Las Vegas |
To the Lake!
Going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
no matter what you say
you might just need a break
Going through a change
going through a change
going through a change
going through a change
seems like I'm always
going through a change
and I ain't actin' strange
there's not a lot to say
Woo-ooo uh-huh
[a few times]
End of the day
man the sky is grey
jump on the highway
me n' my mistakes
yeah but that's ok
in fact I'm feeling great
Going to the lake
going thru a phase
and I just can't wait
going thru a change
and I'm on my way
me n' my mistakes
speeding by landscapes
flowers on the hill about I-88
Music & lyrics by Andrew Robert Palmer
from the album Andrew Robert Palmer, released May 1, 2019
posted with author's permission
all rights reserved
Note from Andrew: "Sometimes you just need a break from it all, but you are way way far away from the lake coming home from work and the weather sucks; so, you just sit in traffic and write a little tune in your head."
"American Souls" ~ featured previously on this blog.
See / listen to more ARP albums: Parlour Punk & Big Whoop
When it comes to summer nostalgia, no mention of any visit to any lake is complete without E.B. White's trip down memory lane:
"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouses and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature birch-bark canoes and the post cards that showed things looking a little better than they looked. This was the American family at play, escaping the city heat, wondering [about] the newcomers at the camp . . . It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those times and those summers had been infinitely precious and worth saving. There had been jollity and peace and goodness. . . . Peace and goodness and jollity."
by E. B. White (1899 – 1985)
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| A Night to Remember
"Peace and goodness and jollity." |
Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, August 14th
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my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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