autumn leaves and stereo systems

My parents have had the exact same stereo system my entire life. This is the stereo system that plays the radio, tapes, cds and the record player still works with it. It is old as hell and the speakers have had to be fixed several times but it is the only stereo system I have ever known. Growing up my parents were the biggest music people and still are. They have the widest variety of music that I have ever seen and I swallow it up like pumpkin pie at thanksgiving. I have always been very impressionable when it comes to music. From my parents to my brothers. Everything I grew up listening to is still among my favourites in my itunes. We have over five decades of music in my house, from the records to the cds. I remember precisely listening to Sting's Fields Of Gold, and my brothers and I mistaking it for fields of corn.

What I find funny is that a lot of the songs that I hear I have no idea who is singing them but I know every single word and guitar solo. I know the beat and where and when the drums start. It is that repetition of hearing over and over throughout my entire life. From Rod Stewart to Paul Simon's Graceland. All these oldies that I cherished so much because of the reminder of my childhood.

Sunday I spent my entire day helping my parents get ready for our family coming over. Of course the stereo goes on and it is on spiral and we all start singing wherever we are in the house. Even at this very moment I have started to play the very same music.

It really is all nostalgia for my youth, for growing up and what it means to me. It brings back the memories of chilly winter evenings, fresh snow on the ground and the fire on while we cook dinner. The comforts of home and the things that bring you back to those moments you want to remember until the end of time.

As the leaves fall all I really want to do is turn that old stereo system up and dance and sing around the house.