Taking a stroll in the gentle October weather I met some friends.
Some sheep, some cattle and some mushrooms. Or maybe they were toadstools?
Anyway, the day was sublimely calm and autumnly; a lovely day for a stroll. And to have a chat with some of my 'neighbours'.
The background music is part of Rimsky Korsakov's 'Sheherazade' - one of my favourite light classical pieces.
I remember taking my 12 year old son, Graham, to the Royal Albert Hall in 1973 to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Sheherazade waspart of the programme played that evening.
On leaving the concert my boy castigated me: "Why did you never tell me about this sort of music before!?" I could see he had been weeping. The music had really penetrated his young soul.
He had albums by the pop groups of those days, like Alice (banal) Cooper, T.Rex and Marc Bolam (quite decent stuff there) and plenty of others. But no classical music.
He's now in his late 40s and has a roomful of LPs and CDs of virtually every classical piece under the sun. Should have spent more time with him when he was a schoolboy. Like most fathers I was far to occupied with earning a living; he's a very forgiving chap, thank goodness. He and his lovely wife have blessed us with a beautiful (now 18 years young) granddaughter!
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20 comments:
I love how those sweet cows came over to greet you! They are the friendliest creatures, aren't they?
There was always plenty of classical music in the house when my three were growing up. It certainly agreed with my daughter, who is now an opera singer.
Of course, I will save the first and last dance for you, Philip. ((blush)) I'm very flattered. (I'll try not to step on your toes.) :^)
Willow, thank you.
My son's wife, Elizabeth, trained at the London School of Music and has a fine soprano voice. She's performed at concerts and also taught singing to quite a few. Some tv 'soap' stars now and then have been coached by Elizabeth.
You have an entire fan club, Philip, eventually winning over even the one incurious holdout!
And you have a great voice for narration!
The cows. An attractive scenario.
Engaging turn of mind.
Beautiful countryside you've got there-- I'd take long walks too.
I think we all wish, in hindsight, to have spent more time with loved ones than we actually did. I miss my grandfather something terrible. Be sweet to your granddaughter; there's something special about that granddad/granddaughter relationship.
oh, mushroom hunting... i've done that exactly once in my life. and that was in the namibian desert of all places. huge brown mushrooms the size of frying pans. they grow on termite hills. seems the termites draw the poisons out, making them safe to eat. well, that's what i was told when i was 10, maybe they were pulling my leg, maybe they weren't. but poisonous the mushrooms werent.
Oh heavens, I was in fits of giggles over the one, reluctantly social cow in the background! All the other bovines, moving as a group. "A person. Could mean food. Let's go and check him out." whereas as the sole holdout seemed to be thinking, "A person. Could mean we're all about to be turned into hamburger. You lot go first. I'll join you if that thing in his hands turns out to be something other than a grinder."
The scout cows, moving as a pack towards you! Hehe!
I think it's lovely that you introduced your son to classical music. You know, I think many fathers end up with the feeling that, "as you grew, I was so busy keeping a roof over your head, I didn't see you as much as I would have liked." but there's a lot of worth in having a roof, and often times a chance comes again for grandparents.
My husband has wonderful, wonderful memories of his paternal grandfather of fishing trips, and his granddad's seemingly endless patience. When he got older he realized that his memory of his father's father was a bit different than his father's memory. His dad remembered his own father being gone most of the time, but when he saw his dad with the grandkids, he got an opportunity to meet a different, and perhaps fuller version of his father.
Sometimes time is kind :-)
Lovely grass, lovely cows , a lovely voice (yours), and a lovely background music.
As for classical music, what is there to say about : it's...classy.
I was wondering what you had that attracted all the cows to come towards you. It must have been your gentle charm.
We used to have season tickets to the Symphony here in St. Louis years ago, but haven't been for a long time. My husband knows much more than I do about classical music. Like your son, he has a very large collection.
Always enjoy visiting here.
A very "leisurely" stroll! Geddit??
A poor life indeed if we cannot appreciate such simple delights.
All the best.
What a great bunch of bloggers you are. Such lovely comments from you all; I am truly appreciative of the time you take by dropping in.
I'm a very lucky blogger!
(Glad I didn't mis-spell that last word);=}
Oh I love the cows! But next time you must get closer to the sheep - Dr. M is sheep gaga. Thank goodness he has several flocks of sheep he can watch on his commute to work!
You have well defined "pastoral" here, Philip. Although it is a foreign concept in this circumstance of mine, it is well seen that it is common in yours and that you are willing to cart us around with you.
Hi Philip,
Wonderful.
I think you can be satisfied that you did introduce your son to classical music and open his soul to a world that requires no words.
A sumptuous feast of bucolic splendour! Your voice was just made for this kind of thing. I'm still holding out for Philip FM, you know. Funny how we sort of assume kids won't really "get" classical music. When I was about9, I was alone in the house, twiddling the knobs on the radio just going from station to station. All of a sudden, I was transfixed by the most heavenly (no other word for it) music. I felt instantly transported to a huge light-filled space. Peter Hurford was playing some a Bach's organ works. From then on, I was hooked!
You have those cows well trained! Now they all need names. :)
Oh i so love the curiosity of a cow,
nothing like a horse, chook or sow X;-)
I really enjoyed the video and reading your message. (I couldn't hear the audio here at work but can get that later). I so remember as a child walking into the fields with cows. They always have to come and investigate. If you didn't know how gentle they were it could be scary having those big animals milling around and then the tongues come out.... ;)
You have a lovely voice Philip, and that particular piece of music is my favoourite classical piece of all time, and what with the cows and all its made me cry, but its lovely all the same for hearing our voice and watching it. Thank you sweetie X
u r 2 kind Michelle xx
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