Reminiscing in Tempo

Last night I sat by the woodstove polishing a few pairs of leather boots and shoes. A pair of workboots that I have were getting quite cracked so a little saturation helped. I remember as a child watching my father brushing a pair of grey suede shoes with a brush and special polish and seeing them shine when he was done. This memory probably sticks because I only saw it happen once or twice. He's not really a shoe polish kind of man anyway. 

   This is a picture of Bucky. The stovetop resident who is permanently curled up in iron form on the top of the woodstove all winterlong, steaming water out of the holes in his back. Deemed "Bucky" for the several holes the evaporating water comes out of that look like they were painfully made of buckshot. Thankfully this story is nowhere near true and this water holder makes our lungs a little happier doing the winter months when it gets dry from wood heat in the house.

   Truckman (as he shall henceforth be named) and I watched one of the many movies in the Ken Burns Series Jazz. I had seen the whole documentary when it aired on PBS several years ago and even have the cd set that sold as an accompaniment to the movies. This episode #4 "The True Welcome" had Duke Ellington, Chick Webb, Fletcher Henderson, Art Tatum, and a host of others. Footage of the lindyhop, big dance halls in New York and Chicago and venues everywhere in between litter the screen in depression era scenery, deppressing and also beautifully decadent at the same time. There are some romping images from The Savoy, the only racially integrated dance hall in New York city at the time. Women (and sometimes men) being thrown over the heads of their partners in true swing dance style gusto.

   Theres a beautiful interview with a couple that danced there in their youth at the Savoy, and they have some great stories. I highly recommend watching even just one of the movies from the series if you like history, good music, and inspirational stories.

    The title of this post comes from the title of a song the Duke Ellington wrote that's featured in the film. He wrote it as a tribute to his mother when she passed away.