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stereo. Slowly, ever so slowly, I am going through myDarlin’s clothes and ‘stuff’ (I could be proper and say ‘belongings’, but it’s all really stuff and I know that he would agree.) There are the 135 shirts that we numbered for our Ohana to choose from for their memory quilts, plus at least 25 or so more included in their quilts that never even got numbered. And there are hats, jeans and so many other odds and ends. And….. there is vinyl, lots of vinyl and where there is vinyl, there are record players.
In 2006, we moved into our house and had even more room than in our three bedroom apartment. And myDarlin’ came home one day with a treasure…. It was a RCA Victor stereo console circa 1950’s or 1960’s. He was so excited about this piece of electronics, or was it furniture – or both! With a tube amplifier it has a rich sound not common with iTunes on your iPhone. And his collection of vinyl grew…. One of our last family Sundays with us, myDarlin’ said that we needed another vintage record rack as his two were too full. And he said to me, ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to find one’ – which I took as a personal challenge. I drove around the corner to the local Antique Mall and found it in the first aisle that I walked down. (mind you, I haven’t seen another one since then) As I brought my treasure back in the house, I informed him that he shouldn’t challenge me because I will find it! Laughter bounced back and forth between the walls of our home, as he began to organize his collection.
I pulled up to the door of the small thrift store, and was met by my friend as I brought bags of his clothes and a couple other items to donate. And I went inside to check out the treasures. Lots of fun items, 99% of which I don’t need, and there it was… a Zenith stereo console circa 1960’s complete with radio, record player and a reel to reel player. The speakers on either side of the console open in a vertical shutter style…. and it works! I immediately sent a text to a friend in the vinyl business, then also posted it on my page for others to see and possibly buy to fill their homes with the rich sound of tube amplifiers and vinyl.
I think about the people who owned both our stereo console and the one at the thrift shoppe, and how excited they must have been when they made this major purchase. And I wonder what their vinyl collection consisted of…. Was it the Beatles, Santana, Rolling Stones and Hawaiian records like ours? And did they have so many that they had to buy a wire stand to hold them all? If only pieces of furniture could talk…..
Today, I am grateful for music, and all of the means of playing it. Whether live in person, on the radio, the iPhone, or even on a vintage tube amplified stereo – music is the backdrop to life. And I know that myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope is playing today with #GHB(God’s House Band) and is still grinning ear to ear like he always did.
#KeepLookingUp #MusicisLife
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