So Far Away

A couple of days ago I heard the Carol King song "So Far Away" on the radio. It had been a while since I'd heard it—not years, but a while. This radio station does a nice mix of old and new. It's not exactly easy listening. They call themselves "variety radio". They play the types of songs that are easy on the ears, not head banger stuff. No Janis Joplin. Limited Jim Croce. Lots of Katie Melua, Colbie Callet (their slow, ballad like stuff). Good listening.

King's song brought back memories, but it also got me to thinking. "So Far Away" is in terms of distance, but I got to thinking about it in terms of time. The past is so far away, yet I live in the past. That's one of the consequences of studying genealogy and history. If' I'm not reading Revolutionary War documents I'm looking at old censuses. If I'm not reading about the great migration I'm looking at old family photos. The present usually gets in the way of the past.

Last night, when I was supposed to be writing, trying to get back to it after a couple of days of distractions, I made the mistake of clicking on a Facebook link for a doo-wop song I didn't know. It was a good song. Then, off to the side on that YouTube page were scores of links to other songs of the era. I clicked and I clicked and I clicked. What great music, what a good time.

Distractions of the last two days were all about the past, digging into unknown things, trying to figure out how they tie to the present. I don't know if they do. Or rather, I should say they do, but I don't know exactly how. It may be tightly tied or a little bit loosely tied, but tied somehow it is. Perhaps I'll be able to write more about it in a few weeks.

I just listened to "He's a Rebel", which caused me to think and dream about being a rebel, something I most definitely never was. I suppose though, if I try hard enough, I can make a claim that I was a rebel in that I wasn't a rebel when all the guys around me were rebels. If I stretch a little.

So what is this post about? Nostalgia, I guess. I long for the past. Hopefully someday I'll find it.

Happy VJ Day everyone.