Advice from a Small Town Girl

I'm a fan of the old songs.

Not too old, mind you - if you get back much more than 100 years, you'll lose my attention. But there's something about the songs of my parents' generation that grabs me and just won't let go.

In case you're one of the few people around who haven't spent much time with me in person, I'm one of those people who goes around humming snatches of songs here and there. Frequently they are songs from my formative years; folk songs from Peter, Paul and Mary or The New Christy Minstrels; early rock from the Beatles, or what they called "crossover" music from artists like James Taylor or Linda Ronstadt.

But it's more likely that it will be something older. Some of my favorite driving songs include "When the Red, Red Robin" or "On the Sunny Side of the Street." They never fail to lift my spirits.

And, truth be told, sometimes my spirits need lifting.

I have to confess that a wave of something close to despair swept over me a couple of days ago as I was driving to work.

Because it's that time of year when all color appears to have been bleached from the landscape, and the world looks dreary. And will for months. Unless we get snow, of course.

Then it will look white.

At any rate, I wondered, as I was driving, what the heck I was doing living here - I, who love the color green so much.

I gave myself a little shake then, and reminded myself that I love Irby (and by association Odessa), and that the geology and climate here have their own unusual charm.

And then I was OK.

But just to be sure, I sang a bit to myself:

"Grab your coat and get your hat,

"Leave your worries by the doorstep.

"Just direct your feet

"To the sunny side of the street."

It seems to me that the songs of that era have something for any occasion. They don't associate with events from my past the way the songs of my generation do. Instead, in a way, they remind me of the old-fashioned hymns we used to sing in church.

With a message in every song.

Musicals have provided me with a number of mood enhancers. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" or "You'll Never Walk Alone" can bolster my determination and get me through the day. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" helps me see beyond the problems of the moment.

I can't begin to name all of my favorites here - mostly because all I can remember of many of them is a line or two, a fragment that got hung up in the lint trap that is my brain.

Chances are good that the next time you see me, I'll have a vacant look on my face. Chances are also good that will be because I'm singing to myself.

"I see leaves of green, red roses too

"I see them bloom for me and you

"And I say to myself,

"What a wonderful world."