Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
You might not know this about me, but I was raised by Hippies. Okay, really I wasn't, but I was raised by people who definitely had some Hippie tendencies....we had a VW van seen here in this lovely shot of my sister and me (circa 1972)
And there were definitely some hippie hairstyles going on in my family...Check out this family photo from 1973...
Hmm, I think I have the exact same hairstyle now as my mom does in this picture - the only difference is that it was in style back then. The other thing that blows my mind about this picture is that I am a full decade older than my mom was in this shot. That is pretty twilight zony to me...And don't even ask me what that is on my baby brother's head - I can't even fathom a guess, all I can tell you is that it's not still on his head, so it wasn't a permanent thing...
But the most hippie thing about my childhood was the music that filled it. Lots and lots of folk music - I think by the time I was four, I could sing, word for word, all of Joan Baez' songs...I'm sure there were other groups but Joan Baez sticks out in my mind for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I thought she looked like my mother. I can almost bet that my dad had original vinyls of CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival for you non-1970s folks) but I don't remember ever listening to them. Not until I got to college, that is....What is it about going to college that makes you line up to listen to music from the 1960s and early 1970s - is it that whole bohemian, change the world existence? Or is it all the keg parties? Whatever the reason, during my college years, I discovered CCR and even today, hearing their songs makes me long for those idyllic days of college (or maybe just the ability to sleep until noon and go to class in my pajamas)....
So, yesterday I was standing in our kitchen basking in the sun pouring in from the east-facing windows when I heard a drip, drip, drip sound. My first thought was, "Oh great! The hot water heater has sprung another leak!" So, I checked out the laundry room - I was pretty sure no sound was coming from there (one of the worst things about my single-sided hearing loss is that I have no ability to tell the direction of where a sound is coming from - you should see me hunt for my lost phone in the bedroom - I can narrow it down to a general area, but I usually end up having to get Gracie to isolate the exact location). So, I checked the kitchen sink - nope, nothing there. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I happened to look out of the windows and realized that the sound was actually rain hitting the patio. It was raining pretty hard, but the sun was still shining brilliantly. So, I did what I usually do when something interesting happens. I showed the girls - "Look, Gracie! The sun's shining and it's raining!" "Yeah, Mama - where are my waffles?" Then, I did the next thing I usually do - I grabbed my camera. I've been wanting to take a shot like this for a while, but I'm too busy (read lazy) to go and spray the grass with water. Now, though, God had taken care of the water part for me by sending the rain. And He gave me the added bonus of an abundance of light by keeping the sun shining while the rain came down. So, out I went, onto the porch, and got this shot
And when I came in to look at it on the computer, Creedence Clearwater Revival's song: Have You Ever Seen the Rain? kept playing over and over again in my head. I wanna know... have you ever seen the rain...I wanna know...have you ever see the rain...coming down on a sunny day? (Now, I know the Ramones and even Rod Stewart did remakes of this song, but neither of those actually fit in with the Hippie theme of this post, do they? Another time, another place). So, I did the thing that every other raised by sort of hippies, almost-middle-aged mother of two, computer geek would do - I downloaded the song from iTunes, so I'd have it at my constant disposal to remind me of my long-lost youth....and of the gorgeous day when I really did see the rain coming down on a sunny day....
And, if you'd like to reminisce with me, click here to hear the song...Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
And there were definitely some hippie hairstyles going on in my family...Check out this family photo from 1973...
Hmm, I think I have the exact same hairstyle now as my mom does in this picture - the only difference is that it was in style back then. The other thing that blows my mind about this picture is that I am a full decade older than my mom was in this shot. That is pretty twilight zony to me...And don't even ask me what that is on my baby brother's head - I can't even fathom a guess, all I can tell you is that it's not still on his head, so it wasn't a permanent thing...
But the most hippie thing about my childhood was the music that filled it. Lots and lots of folk music - I think by the time I was four, I could sing, word for word, all of Joan Baez' songs...I'm sure there were other groups but Joan Baez sticks out in my mind for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I thought she looked like my mother. I can almost bet that my dad had original vinyls of CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival for you non-1970s folks) but I don't remember ever listening to them. Not until I got to college, that is....What is it about going to college that makes you line up to listen to music from the 1960s and early 1970s - is it that whole bohemian, change the world existence? Or is it all the keg parties? Whatever the reason, during my college years, I discovered CCR and even today, hearing their songs makes me long for those idyllic days of college (or maybe just the ability to sleep until noon and go to class in my pajamas)....
So, yesterday I was standing in our kitchen basking in the sun pouring in from the east-facing windows when I heard a drip, drip, drip sound. My first thought was, "Oh great! The hot water heater has sprung another leak!" So, I checked out the laundry room - I was pretty sure no sound was coming from there (one of the worst things about my single-sided hearing loss is that I have no ability to tell the direction of where a sound is coming from - you should see me hunt for my lost phone in the bedroom - I can narrow it down to a general area, but I usually end up having to get Gracie to isolate the exact location). So, I checked the kitchen sink - nope, nothing there. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I happened to look out of the windows and realized that the sound was actually rain hitting the patio. It was raining pretty hard, but the sun was still shining brilliantly. So, I did what I usually do when something interesting happens. I showed the girls - "Look, Gracie! The sun's shining and it's raining!" "Yeah, Mama - where are my waffles?" Then, I did the next thing I usually do - I grabbed my camera. I've been wanting to take a shot like this for a while, but I'm too busy (read lazy) to go and spray the grass with water. Now, though, God had taken care of the water part for me by sending the rain. And He gave me the added bonus of an abundance of light by keeping the sun shining while the rain came down. So, out I went, onto the porch, and got this shot
And when I came in to look at it on the computer, Creedence Clearwater Revival's song: Have You Ever Seen the Rain? kept playing over and over again in my head. I wanna know... have you ever seen the rain...I wanna know...have you ever see the rain...coming down on a sunny day? (Now, I know the Ramones and even Rod Stewart did remakes of this song, but neither of those actually fit in with the Hippie theme of this post, do they? Another time, another place). So, I did the thing that every other raised by sort of hippies, almost-middle-aged mother of two, computer geek would do - I downloaded the song from iTunes, so I'd have it at my constant disposal to remind me of my long-lost youth....and of the gorgeous day when I really did see the rain coming down on a sunny day....
And, if you'd like to reminisce with me, click here to hear the song...Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
It always makes my morning when I get that AP e-mail! And this one really made me laugh. AND it made me dance. Of course I am going to be singing about rain all day. Just one question -- why didn't you mention The Greenwood Side and your "Side-E-O" dancing hoggish tendency? I still sit down when I hear that song! I bet Mike does also. Too bad there's not a video!
Reply to this