Summer Grooving by Rambling Raven                                                    

Sometimes it is a smell, a photograph, a phrase innocently whispered, or a song on the radio. The most mundane thing can transport you back into time. Back to that time in space that was so wonderful that it forever left a lasting impression on your soul. I got such a jolt recently. I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I was in one of those moods where it just seemed that I could do absolutely nothing right. Everything I said or wrote just all seemed to come out wrong. I felt as if people were just not getting me for some reason, in a few instances I even felt picked on. On top of that I was tired from working all day and weary from anticipating some unpleasant things I was going to have to endure that week. I was minutes away from calling off from work the next day just so I could lie in bed all day and just shut the whole damn world out. Whoa is me, right. 

 Then it happened. 

I started to get ready to call it a night, cursing everything and everyone. I kicked a pile of mail that was left by the nightstand. Mostly a collection of magazines and bills that I sat on the side of my bed to go through before I retired for the night. Surprisingly a little white box emerged from underneath the magazines and monthly bills. Not remembering what it was I ordered I opened the box. There in the little box was The Temptations Anthology, recalling that it was the double disc CD I had ordered for my mom, I flipped the little box and its content back onto the floor beside my bed. After all the Temptations was way before my time. That was the music of my parents’ generation. I made a mental note to make sure to call mom and let her know that I would be dropping off the blast from her past by the weekend. I didn’t want to call her then because I had more important things to do at the moment. I had to resume feeling sorry for myself and continue the pity party I was holding that night. 

There was just something about that damn CD that wouldn’t let me let it go. For one, I kept thinking that I had to upgrade my mother’s entertainment devices. It took her forever to go from records to CDs and now it seems as if she is never going to get use to having an IPod. I also started to think about the Temptations, and I realized that although I was familiar with the song My Girl, I couldn’t recall any other songs they recorded. Something as trivial as that began to pique my interest. I picked up the double disc CD and began to read the song listing on back. Still not sure how many of the songs sounded; I opened the case and put the first CD into my computer. A big stupid grin started to spread across my face. Low and behold, I was transported back to the summer of my youth, the summer of 1985, when my family zigzagged through Illinois and several southern states to visit family. How could I have forgotten? The Temptations were the music that serenaded us throughout that long summer. 

My parents were driving and they told us until we learned to drive and got our own cars we were subjected to listening to what they wanted. My sister and I protested to no avail. Instead of listening to the rap songs of the day, we were stuck with the Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes and Smokey Robinson. 

That summer I had more fun than I could have ever imagined. I met cousins I never knew I had. I watched my dad and his brothers nearly burn down my aunt’s backyard trying to start a fire in the grill. I went fishing for the first time in my life. I saw my parents play and tease one another during those long car rides. I rode the highways with my feet sticking out the window. I saw the beautiful country side. I learned that although it was the 80s and I had several white friends back home, there were still places in the south black folk didn’t stop at. I learned what hot really was when we arrived in Mississippi on a balmy August day. I was kissed and my cheeks pinched by every relative I met. And all the uncles would go into their pockets and produce a dollar or two for my sister and me. We made a killing that summer just for being the nieces from Chicago. I got my hair corn-rowed for the first time that summer. And I fell in love with my great-aunt’s next door neighbor’s son in New Orleans that summer. All while the songs of the Temptations served as our summer soundtrack.

 By the time I put on the second CD from the anthology I was totally immersed in a time and place long gone. I was no longer in that funky mood I had been in. I was singing and swaying right along to the music that I once thought was so lame and outdated. The music that brought back the warmth of a carefree summer, reminding me that no matter what happens in this crazy mixed-up world, who criticizes what I have to say or misjudges me on things they know nothing about, there are still things to be grateful for. And I am grateful for a time when family, fun and sun all merged into one. For several hours, I danced and pranced around my room singing: The Way You Do the Things You Do, My Girl, I Wish It Would Rain, Cloud Nine, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, and Ain’t to Proud to Beg, each song bringing back one fantastic memory after another. It took me a while to realize that nothing happens accidentally. I was meant to kick over that pile of magazines and bills, and discover that CD.

 Feeling exhilarated and somewhat back to my normal self, I settled down, picked up the phone and called my mother. As soon as she answered the phone, I said “Mom, remember that summer when…” I spent another hour laughing and reminiscing with my mom about the summer of 1985. She recalled things that I had forgotten, schooled me on a little Temptations history and shared her favorite songs. She also told me that if I didn’t bring her the CD as soon as possible she was going to revoke my family membership card.  Laughing and thanking her for being my mom, I went to sleep that night with a big grin on my face, the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders, and the mighty Temps singing me to sleep. 

It is amazing how a song, a smell, a photograph or a phrase can trigger a memory. In this case, a precious memory at a moment when I needed it the most. They say that music can soothe the savage beast, I think in this instance it helped soothe a savage mood. I have since obtained my own copy of the Temptations Anthology. Although the music was a generation or so ahead of me I appreciate it for being great music. And I greatly appreciate it for serving as a backdrop to a time when my life was a little easier and more carefree.

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