Sunday, February 20, 2011

Singing in the Car… On the Way to Church

Last week, I dutifully answered that my favorite song to sing in the car was none other than… White Snake’s “Here I Go Again.” The hairband power ballad from 1987 has to be one of the greatest songs to sing in the car ever, and I stand by what I said last week, because it is awesome when it comes on the radio. Since declaring it as my favorite, however, I have not sung it once, but I have sung the-third-song-on-the-first-Josh-Ritter-album-that-I-owned almost non-stop.

Here's a video for it, just in case you want to see further into my head:
Oooohh... time-lapse.  Pretty.

Josh Ritter is probably very well respected among the music industry, but I, for, have never heard him on the radio, nor do I ever intend to.  The songs are not the right mixture of whatever it is that appeals to the masses, so imagine my surprise when I see Josh Ritter being quoted on a church letterboard sign.

Sorry for the glare, I'll get to that in a minute, but if you can't make it out, it reads: "Don't let me into this year with an empty heart. - Josh Ritter"

Now, I know that the "Right Moves" song is the third song on the first Josh Ritter album that I owned, but this quote is from one of the last songs on the first Josh Ritter album that I owned.  No matter the song, I recognized it straight away as I drove through downtown Manassas.  In shock, I had to double check the sign, so I casually rounded the block to drive past again.  The second time around, I wondered if it was something of a sign, so once again I rounded the block.

Three days later, I attended the Sunday services at Bull Run Unitarian Universalist.  It was an experience, and I didn't feel bad placing this week's lottery money into the donation basket.  Afterwards, everyone gathered for coffee in the basement, and I was encouraged to use a blue cup by three different people in order to identify myself as a newbie. 

I had absolutely no desire to single myself out like that, so I bypassed the horde of people heading to the basement for coffee.  Plus, I wanted to get a picture of the sign that lured me to go to church willingly for the first time in... (wow, I was going to say twelve years, but it was twelve years ago that I stopped going to church because I was old enough that I didn't have to per parental control.  So... for the first time in...) ever.  With everyone getting coffee, the street was empty, thus eliminating any awkward glances. 

I snapped the picture and looked down to check it and in the corner of my eye, I saw the coffee-drinking masses through the basement window at my feet.  I smiled at the few folks who didn't seem to notice me, and I scurried off, with just a single picture.  The coffee-talkies were sure to be nice but just going to church was enough for one week; I'll save the great coffee mingle for next week.  (I'm still working on what to call that coffee time.)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Coffee-talkies is good.
tjd