And I’m not talking about your Rice Krispies cereal.
Savoring a recuperative afternoon flipping through outdated magazines that need to find a new home or be recycled, my playlist was filled with classical pieces that were light on the ears and soothing to the soul.
As I turned the page, a song came on, noticeably dated. It was an early recording from La Boheme, “O soave fanciulla”.
At first, I was annoyed because it was not clear. My reaction was to skip past it, move forward and onto the next song.
It was a vintage piece, complete with the snap, crackle and pop of a 78, 45 or 33 record.
The sound was distant, almost muffled and I could hear the audible defects.
But it got me to thinking how spoiled we are.
How we expect perfection in everything.
How we’ve lost touch with the art of progress and advancement, thus dismissing such old things rather than appreciating them and reflecting back to a time when we couldn’t even imagine award winning audio technology or surround sound.
What a pity!
After my momentary annoyance passed (blame it on my grumps this weekend), I stopped and actually went back to start the song over again, then allowed the past to sit and visit with me.
I reveled in the simplicity of long ago. I longed for a time when we didn’t know better, thus appreciated more. And I wondered what today’s youth will remember when they’re my age.
What will it be like then.
One thing is for certain, there will be no crackling records to reflect upon and take us on a walk down memory lane.
May we make the time to slow down, step back and recollect days long gone.
And may we find a way to preserve the past – today and tomorrow.
