Eating Alone + Some Random Thoughts

An osprey "eating alone"(Photo by Mike)

So I found this eclectic blog when I was looking for other "to hear before you die" lists called Eating Alone. It's this dude who makes music and also enjoys food. If he added wildlife to his list of things to blog about it would be too good to be true. Anyways, I made a comment and he decided to make a little spotlight on our blog: there was no point in the colon since I could have just made the word "blog" the link, but whatever. I know lately it's been just me, and before that just John87 and me, but Dan is finally getting settled in and is still excited about the blog and Drew still checks up once in awhile. It's totally true how we really are brought together by music in so many ways: we've been to concerts together, played rock band together, sang songs together, annoyed each other with music the others don't like, and on and on. Which brings me to part 2 of this post:

So my grandpa just died this past year. He was in his upper 70's I believe, and for most of my adult life he was wheelchair bound and a bit out of it. We would go visit and just watch the Indians play or just talk a bit, and I know my dad would go over and put on Big Band music and listen with him. I guess my grandpa really loved Big Band. So at our annual family Christmas party they played a cassette tape he had made for a party, and I was definitely a little confused, but from what I gather he threw a party yearly where there was a music challenge. He would spend weeks preparing the tape with snippets of a song and then the challenge was to guess the name and song. It was strange hearing his voice so strong and playful, because our conversations had been limited so much to just expecting a smile. It made me wonder if music affected him the way it affects me. I think my brothers and I are very similar in our love of music in a way that a lot of people just don't get. For instance, my wife just can't have music on all the time, and she doesn't listen to lyrics. I used to listen to a song 4, 5, or more, times in a row if I liked a particular part. If there is quiet I put on music. I think Drew and Dan are the same, although I'm not sure to what extent. And I think our dad has it, too. He once told me, when the song "I'm Your Captain" by Grand Funk Railroad came on, that he used to put it on repeat every night when he went to bed one summer. I remember I brought home my mp3 player and FM transmitter and he just about flipped: he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I told him I had Johnny Cash on it another time I visited and he borrowed it and had headphones on in the morning when I came downstairs, just listening as he laid on a chair in the living room. Is this genetic, like our bad tempers and our bursting laughter? Will I pass this almost compulsive love of music on to my kids or will they get my wife's passing enjoyment of it? Does it really matter to me? Yes. It does, because if my dad gets to have a relaxing end of his life I hope I can go over and watch the Tribe and listen to the Big Bands (Stones, Doors, Creedence) that he loves so much, and if I am so lucky to have my kids around me at the end of my life I could only hope for the same.