Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Fun at Play, Fun at Work

Mercury Courts, the gated community where I live on Murfreesboro Road in Nashville, really IS a community, One thing that makes us a community rather than just another apartment complex (where nobody knows any of their neighbors nor interacts with them) is that occasionally the management and/or the "neighborhood association" officers will plan and conduct an event for all of us. And so last Thursday (the 14th) we had a community Fun Day, complete with picnic food, games and a "Show Us Your Talent" show! And the abundant rainfall we'd gotten thru April and so far in May cooperated. By midday we were enjoying sunshine in abundance, pleasant breezes and a supernal Spring day! This was so delightfully apt for the picnic-style lunch that was grilled and otherwise set out for everyone's eating enjoyment.

It turned out that I was the first resident to sign up for the talent show. Therefore, i got to be the first to be called to the "stage", a porch with two-story columns sort of in the midst of the complex, for the talent show equipped with a mike and a boom box for playing tape or CD accompaniment. And about two or three dozen folding chairs were set up in rows facing the porch/stage. I played my guitar and sang "Love Without End, Amen". This song was written by Aaron Barker and recorded by George strait. It's my favorite country hit of all time!

But I really wasn't the very first to do anything, just the first "official"! You see, prior to the 4 PM start time that boom box was playing CD music of various genres, and about 3:50 or so an African couple got up and began to sing along karaoke style. This spontaneous beginning to the show got plenty of applause.

"Spontaneous" was sort of the theme for "Show Your Talent". I'd only signed up to sing that one song, but I got talked into an encore, and sang "De Colores" while playing the guitar. Please know, dear reader, that I DID explain the song for the monolinguals in my audience! And later, when another resident sang a beautiful Gospel song, I got inspired to ascend the porch/stage one more time and sing "Amazing Grace" a cappella. The first time I'd ever heard this probably most-beloved of all hymns was at my first church camp, in 1969, and it was a recording by Judy Collins singing it a cappella. For forty years now I've loved that version above all others, and loved Judy Collins for singing it thus!

But I not only had fun at play, but also at work! Here's how:

My part-time job of delivering meds for Bradley Drugstore (more specifically, Bradley Extended Care) allows yours truly to enjoy this glorious Spring in the "greenest State in the Land of the Free"! My regular hours are three mid-morning hours weekdays. But I also drive deliveries occasionally on Friday evenings or Saturdays from mid-day to evening. I did both this past weekend, and enjoyed every moment of work! The weather was "perfectly Spring", or if you will, chamber-of-commerce weather. Honestly, I'm really taking to this delivery task and often taking drives out into the countryside around the developed part of Nashville/Davidson County! As I once said about another job I'd cottoned to very well, "it's almost a crime to enjoy a job this much and get paid for it!"

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