A Lovely Memory

I spent most of the day working on reviewing the pre-proof for the new Silver Sisters Mysteries book, "Vanishing Act in Vegas." After a few hours, I decided to take a break. The intelligent thing would have been to take a drive or do something away from the computer. Not me. Instead I logged onto my Facebook account and was greeted by a message from my daughter Jakki that brought back a beautiful memory from long ago in a rush of flashbacks.

The song Jakki posted a link to on the Facebook message was Chuck Mangione's BELLAVIA. At first it sounded like the YouTube video had the hiccups, because the same strain repeated over and over. Then all of a sudden, there it was---our "Palm Springs" music. Visions of Highway 111 on the way to Palm Springs CA, Jakki and my son Jason, only a few years older at that time than Jakki's sons are now, a temperate breeze ruffling our hair as we flew along the wide open highway in my big 1970 Buick convertible with the top down and the radio blaring Bellavia. The music was so perfect for the day. It felt like the freedom to do whatever we wanted to.

Would you believe that until she posted the link today, I never really knew the name of the piece. It was simply our Palm Springs music. She mentioned stopping at the big brontosaurus at the side of the road, which was really a small museum later joined by a T-Rex museum. Sort of an icon of the road for anyone who has traveled that way. Upon seeing it in the middle of the desert, most kids shout, "Oh, can we go see the big dinosaur?" and my kids were no exception.

The power of music is amazing, isn't it? Think about it. We remember the words to songs years and years later, but might not remember what happened a few days ago. All we have to do is hear a few notes. Quite often a string of images, experiences or sights and sounds come right along with that memory of lyrics, more or less like the magician continuing to pull handerkerchiefs out of his sleeve.

So to Jakki I say, thanks for that string of memories today. I loved it. There are certain trips I remember so well, and that was one of them. I was still an interior designer back then and working on designing a corporate condo in Palm Springs. I had to install the accessories---the finishing touch, and decided to bring the kids along for the weekend. Just the three of us, beautiful weather in Palm Springs and Chuck Mangione.