memories

How Did I Miss That?

/ Cat Harvey / 1 Comment

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Sometimes, I contemplate experiences that I’ve had in my life. And, I wonder “Why did I take that for granted?”.  It makes me think more about being present, more mindful, in the moment.

Here’s what I mean.  As we age, we pass through different stages in our lives.  Friendships, family, and relationships tend to mutate as you move through the changes.  When you’re single, you tend to gravitate towards single people.  It’s natural to want to be with folks that are living the same lifestyle as you.  You like to do single people things.

When you’re married, or  when you’re a young parent, you will develop friendships with people who are at a similar stage in their life.  You don’t plan for relationships to change, they just do.  You may be close to a friend when you’re both single, going out, doing things together.  Then, when you become a parent, you find that you just don’t have much in common with them anymore.  It’s natural to form new friendships and for these earlier bonds to fade.

It’s a part of life, but it’s still a bit sad.  There’s the saying that some people are in your life for a reason, and some for a season.  Sometimes you’re lucky, and you can find a friend to drag through life with you.  Every once in a while, I mourn for a moment that I took for granted with someone.

In the break room exchanging views on life with Erin. Having lunch with Amy, and taking road trips with Catie. Having ice cream in Scotland with Scott, Lesley and Iain.  Seeing Diane talk in sign language with her customers. The time Travis caught that bird.  The time I laughed so hard with David that we couldn’t finish dinner. I miss all the great bosses I’ve had.  All the amazing coworkers I’ve been blessed with over the years.  Above all, the joys I had with my kids when they were little.  We don’t realize at the time how precious those connections are. 

 It’s not that you “break up”.  Erin and I are still friends.  We just don’t work together anymore.  She lives pretty far away, and is a young mother.  The opportunity to have lunch together and get all the problems of the world settled is just not there.  We don’t even get to talk much.  It feels like those moments are in an alternate universe now.

And, of course, we make new friendships, and connect, and adapt.  I don’t mean to sound so glum.  I don’t think that these thoughts are unique to me.  It’s just a realization that’s part of the aging process, I guess.  Maybe it’s just a case of reminiscing about “the good old days”.  We all do that from time to time.

So… life continues.  That’s beautiful, especially considering the alternatives!  Let’s not get bogged down in stress and schedules.  Let’s be aware of the people and good times in our lives.  We may miss them some day…

– Cat

The Resurgence of Vinyl

/ Cat Harvey / Leave a comment

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I love to recall the sensation of hanging out in the basement of my house when I was nine or ten years old.  I would listen to records with my best friend.  I can’t recall whether my first record was The Beatles Rubber Soul, or The Best of the Monkees.  I know we played the heck out of them.

I discovered college radio when I was eleven and we moved to the Washington, D.C. area.  I pulled the covers over my head at night, so no one could hear my transistor radio. I listened to WGTB, out of Georgetown University.  I would hang out at the record store while my Mom did the grocery shopping.  The record store guy (that’s what I called him) would help me decide which 45 record I would buy that week with my allowance.

I would listen to records with my parents too.  I loved my Dad’s Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell records, which soon became my own.  As my musical tastes became more diverse, my record collection grew.  As a teenager, I would have preferred to spend all my time in my room listening to records.

Then came 8 Track tapes.  Fast Forward to cassettes… pun intended.  Wowsers!  I could record stuff off the radio, and listen to it later.  What a concept!  I still listened to albums occasionally, but you can’t play an album in the car.  To this day, I love to listen to music while I drive. A couple of years ago, I donated my cassette collection to Alexandros, because he’s one of the few people I know that has a cassette player. Also, because I knew he would appreciate them.

About the time I found myself single again, I bought a CD player.  I was skeptical, but everyone raved about the sound quality.  So, of course, I started a CD collection.  I have about 300 of them downstairs in a cabinet that I bought especially to keep them in.  I never listen to them.

I have Spotify now.  I make playlists, and share them with friends and family.  I especially love to make collaborative playlists.  I have a portable speaker, a set of wireless headphones, and bluetooth in the car.  I can listen to these never ending playlists everywhere.  Gotta love technology!

I’ll tell you what else I have now.  A record collection!  With my husband’s collection and mine combined, we have an archive that stretches back into the mid sixties. One problem… He took care of his albums.  Me, not so much!  He has a “special” stylus to play my old albums on.  I love to go to record store day, an annual event with exclusive releases.  Rediscovering vinyl has been like seeing a best friend you haven’t seen in years.

Our collection has some Opera, Classical, Folk, Rock and Roll, and “Other”.  He has a first pressing of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother.  I have my original Lou Reed Rock and Roll Animal album.  I lost quite a few albums when my kids pilfered them as teenagers.  That’s what I get for taking Dad’s. Talk about karma!  My son, Travis, recently confessed, and made it up to me by replacing my Frank Zappa Overnight Sensation album with a brand new one.

How does vinyl sound so good?  During our time apart, I forgot vinyl’s distinctive sound.  Now, when we have some time to burn, I love to sit in my basement and listen to records with my best friend.  It’s funny how that worked out.

– Cat