I don’t think it’s stopped raining for the last 48 hours, so to be sitting outside this campervan morning is a pleasant surprise. Everywhere is sodden, not just wet, completely sodden. There is a full moon high in a sky that is in two half’s, one blue with high cirrus and the other dark, solid and threatening. The birds are busy, mainly starlings again, a couple of crows and smaller robins and the like. A blackbird high in the ash is busy singing its heart out. I have been reflecting on a conversation with a friend a few days ago around the vinyl resurgence and the old saying “ I haven’t played that for ages “, the skill of being able to select an album from the colours in the spine at 50 feet, well ok at my age maybe 10. The love of running your finger over your collection and selecting something to listen to. The open mindedness of it all. It seems with streaming services, you need to have your selection in mind, yes some of them make suggestions, but they barely get them right. The sheer joy of seeing an album that sums up your mood, or you haven’t played in a while, that you would not have thought of in a million years and then playing it. Having to listen to it all they way through, without skipping tracks, before the legendary turning it over to side B. The spontaneity of it all and yet it’s also the perfect fit for what you are looking for and you didn’t know it. These old skills that are making a resurgence. My vinyl collection tells the story of my life from teenager to now. It’s warm, it’s eclectic, it’s colourful, it’s pictures and words and it’s mine. It’s friendships, relationships, record shops, journeys, parties and gigs. It’s discoveries, unveilings, blissful moments, anger and love. It’s a self care Sunday already, so do something for you today. I may just go and peruse the old vinyl. Lovely days people.
“ The four building blocks of the universe are fire, water, gravel, and vinyl.”
Dave Barry
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