2019 Life Logs, Day 258: Computer Blues and Country Music
Date: Sunday, September 15, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 82, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
A great part of my day, and of Heather’s day, was spent dealing with the fact that I haven’t been able to send or receive emails on my computer since Friday. The computer blues, once again. I could send and receive emails on my phone, but not through Outlook on my computer since Friday. With persistence, Heather figured out the problem, so thank you, thank you, Heather. But computer issues are so frustrating and time consuming. If I were a talented writer, I’m sure I could write a song expressing the feelings you have when technology just isn’t doing what you want and need it to do. But song lyrics are just not my strength. I must say, however, that watching the first two hours of Ken Burns’ Country Music documentary tonight encouraged my creative side. In this first installment of the series, the history of country music up to 1933 was covered. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. I heard songs tonight that I grew up listening to, whether I wanted to listen to them or not. And whether I wanted them to become a part of my very inner soul or not, they are there. Learning the history of how this music evolved is fascinating and I love the way the story is being told in this series. But the one unexpected thing that I heard tonight was the link between church music in this country and the church music of the South Pacific today. One of the joys of sailing across the Pacific was going to churches on Sundays and listening to the fascinating harmonizing of the church congregations. Everyone in the church would start singing and then people would just start singing different parts resulting in fabulous sounds. In the documentary tonight I heard that exact same kind of singing in the churches and tabernacles in this country in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. I had never made that connection. There is so much that connects all of us on this earth and it is a beautiful thing.
