Update** The comments on this posting are much more interesting than the posting!
This is a great reminder that I am a child of the 70's. This song reminds me of a time when I was very young, maybe 2 or 3 years old. I have only a vague memory of riding in a volkswagen bus (or maybe it was just an Econoline van) through a field. I can see the tall grass whipping against the side of the van because we were riding with the side door open, which was exciting and lots of fun. I'm pretty sure Richard Schofield was driving. He was Auntie Sally's first husband, who could be very funny and charming and was always nice to me and was also an abusive asshole sometimes if you happened to be married to him; not so different from many an abusive asshole. I have no idea why we were driving through a field and not on a road. Maybe because we were outlaws! Yeah! Anyway, we ended up at some honky tonk in god-knows-what-state (was that when Sally and Richard were on the lam in Pennsylvania?) in I don't-remember-what-year. My parents and the other adults somehow convinced whoever was at the door of this honky tonk to let the little kid in (which reminds me that I think I was 3 because I remember someone saying, "she's 3. She's not going to drink.") and this Leo Sayer song was playing. I remember the way the dim lights made everything look, especially all that yellow pine; I think it was some kind of barn. I remember everyone was taller than me. I remember that I was happy because I liked this song, I knew this song and I recognized this song. I remember the grown ups were all happy and I was glad to be a part of the festivities. Times change and my mom might not like to hear that she brought her 3 year old to a honky tonk (but she would have only been 22!!! And Sally 20! Dad, on the other hand, might have been old enough to know better, but he was a late bloomer). But it was fun and I was safe, or at least protected by my grownups. And loved and included. And I f-ing LOVED dancing to this song!!!
This is a great reminder that I am a child of the 70's. This song reminds me of a time when I was very young, maybe 2 or 3 years old. I have only a vague memory of riding in a volkswagen bus (or maybe it was just an Econoline van) through a field. I can see the tall grass whipping against the side of the van because we were riding with the side door open, which was exciting and lots of fun. I'm pretty sure Richard Schofield was driving. He was Auntie Sally's first husband, who could be very funny and charming and was always nice to me and was also an abusive asshole sometimes if you happened to be married to him; not so different from many an abusive asshole. I have no idea why we were driving through a field and not on a road. Maybe because we were outlaws! Yeah! Anyway, we ended up at some honky tonk in god-knows-what-state (was that when Sally and Richard were on the lam in Pennsylvania?) in I don't-remember-what-year. My parents and the other adults somehow convinced whoever was at the door of this honky tonk to let the little kid in (which reminds me that I think I was 3 because I remember someone saying, "she's 3. She's not going to drink.") and this Leo Sayer song was playing. I remember the way the dim lights made everything look, especially all that yellow pine; I think it was some kind of barn. I remember everyone was taller than me. I remember that I was happy because I liked this song, I knew this song and I recognized this song. I remember the grown ups were all happy and I was glad to be a part of the festivities. Times change and my mom might not like to hear that she brought her 3 year old to a honky tonk (but she would have only been 22!!! And Sally 20! Dad, on the other hand, might have been old enough to know better, but he was a late bloomer). But it was fun and I was safe, or at least protected by my grownups. And loved and included. And I f-ing LOVED dancing to this song!!!
7 comments:
O my, such a memory! This really takes me back. The "honky tonk" was in New Hope, PA, or maybe somewhere quite near there; I know a whole bunch of us were staying at an old motel on a traffic circle in New Hope, mostly on the floor (this was when we had plenty valiums, not that you knew anything about that). It was indeed when Sally & Richard were on the lam in Pennsylvania. I have a fairly vivid memory of you in a pretty little dress dancing your little 3-year-old ass off, & the nearby clientele smiling & digging the little kid dancing, & me feeling very proud of you. You had such good rhythm! How could I "know better" than that? I was dancing with you some of the time, of course. Sally later (relatively recently) told me the place was a gay bar; at the time I perceived it only in that other old sense of the word meaning happy, joyous, fun! That evening, mainly the part about you dancing & pleasing the crowd, has been such a beautiful memory for me ever since. What a blast! And I'm altogether *delighted* that my erstwhile 3-year-old remembers it as well! I still love the song, have it on a tape somewhere & maybe even an LP -- so nice to have it at a click.
Within a day or 2 after, we were all at an oh so rich-hippy wedding reception at a row house that backed up to a canal; I remember following you around as we explored the bank of the canal. (I followed you around a lot back then, even more than now.)
As for riding through a field with long tall grasses up to y'ar, I recall doing that with you aboard in one of the old boxy Toyota land cruisers, Richard Schofield at the wheel laughing maniacally, couldn't really see where we were going, in Litchfield, NH, where the Sally-Richard entourage was living in some old migrant farmworkers' quarters. I think that was not too long before the New Hope trip -- but there could well have been a similar occasion in PA.
Love love love you, kid! Thanks so much for posting this.
The jeep ride was through acres of corn patch. We lived in tents and abandoned migrant workers' homes way behind it and had cut a swath through it in a random way so it wasn't seen from the road. We were at the migrant camps in Litchfield when we found out we were wanted and had to go underground. We took off that night. I was younger than Kayla and Jordan are. SWe stayed in a back room of a murder's home. He slept with a carving knife under his pillow; a nun slept on the top bunk of the room we were staying in, she got drunk and tried to get in bed with us. Richard said no, he was married. I was so hungry. I hadn't eatten in days, all the food was so strange (I was not an eater in those days) finally about the third day I convinced Richard that I was more afraid there than if I were just in jail, so we left. Bobby Scollard(the murderer) packed us up a bunch of corned beef and cabbage. I hated it but finally by about Pennsylvania I got hungry enough to eat. We went as far as out money went. So we had to stop in New Hope. Stayed in a motel where everyone was wanted by the law -- but it was only $35 a week. I found a job in West Phili (50 miles, and 50 traffic lights away). No one knew where we were and I was so overwhelmed. After about a month I called my sister and, bless her soul, she brought your little family down to us -- she never told anyone else in the family where we were. We partied the whole time we lived there, like it was going to be the last party of our lives. Despite the conditions I had a lot of adventure, happiness and fun topped by your trip. A month or so later Susan Saxe was arrested 4 blocks from where I worked, the search was on for Kathy Powers in earnest and so we had to leave in the middle of the night, yet again. We were in a friend's car a week or so later when the police blue-lighted us. My brother-in-law Kevin was with us and we tumbled out of the car -- Richard took one of my arms, Kevin took the other and we all ran full tilt boogie through the woods -- my feet barely hit the ground. Every branch possible hit me in the face, and I had no arms to protect myself. That run symbolized my marriage to me; I was picked up by both arms and with no protection I was run quickly into the dark being whipped along the way and in the end, ended up in jail anyway...
Two other things though -- one, Richard was funny, and smart, and interesting and I loved him with all my heart; I wanted my marrige to last forever. But, two, he was no asshole whose battering I was on the other side of, he was a vicious, scary man and I was his hostage. Much later when I fled him running in the dark, through the woods -- with my arms in front of me this time -- he was shooting at me. It did all make me brave though. Your dress was brown, and you seemed like you loved how it felt to swing your hair because you swung your head as much you did your little arms. That was one of the times I was so in love with you.
Wow. I had no idea my little snippet of a memory would elicit such incredible stories. And all triggered by finding that Leo Sayer song on youtube! The complexities of my family's experiences and my parents willingness to expose me to some of those experiences is so clearly why I am the person I am. I feel lucky to have been so loved and protected but also included in grown up worlds instead of overly sheltered. Sally, I hate to think about 20 year old you being scared and hungry but I'm grateful for the ways you've used your stories to teach and connect with other people. And I'm proud of your courage.
Dad, that's so funny that you followed me around even more back then! Love you both.
I'm pretty sure none of that really happened.
Yeah, you're probably right Mommy. And I think Champ is still alive, too!
Love you.
Two things: The dude is clearly lip synching and that cracks me up. But not as much as the fact that he is also, clearly, a grown up Pat!! ox CB
Good catch, Caroline: the sound track definitely is *exactly* the same as the old 70s record. A glimpse of Patrick's future career? Maybe!
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