Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Surprise! We have more in common than you think

Photo by Nuno Antunes on Unsplash
Ring Road of Iceland
"Mom, can you unlock your phone?"

"Why? What?"

"I need to unlock your phone so I can get the singer/song that played last - I liked his sound," Colton insists.


Backstory:

Five years ago on Christmas Day, my family sat in a movie theater, transfixed by the outlandish-yet-relateable Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This was quite a feat, considering we had kids aged 4, 10, and 12 and there wasn't even a hint of animation in the entire film. From its gorgeous, sweeping cinematography of stunning landscapes to the ear candy soundtrack, Walter Mitty's sensory appeal enhances the fun plotline in a way that engaged us all.

Needless to say, we've watched this flick together repeatedly....we even incorporated it into our family norms - when one of us has a skewed reality about something, we'll say, "Ok, you're Walter Mitty'ing on us right now," referring to the alternate reality the title character often envisions.

Because I liked the soundtrack so well, I designed a personalized Pandora station around its sound. Of Monsters and Men, Jose Gonzalez/Junip, Jack Johnson, and a little David Bowie created an auditory algorithm that added bands I knew, like Mumford and Sons, the Lumineers, and Vance Joy. As I added Iron and Wine into the mix, Pandora suggested I might like City and Colour, Kodaline (OMG, love them!), Gregory Alan Isakov, Lord Huron, The Head and the Heart, and more. It's one of my favorite stations and I listen to it often at work.

Ok, so that brings us to last night's scene from Casa del Meyer.

I had just arrived home and Christopher is playing @#$%ing Fortnite, Kelsey is at work and Colton is upstairs messing around on his phone. This is typical.

So too is it typical for what followed - my command that Fortnite be set aside, and both boys start some chores while I figured out WTH to make for dinner since I got a roast out that morning but failed to put it into a crockpot as I'd intended. Christopher threw a holy fit, per usual - we need an intervention at this point - and Colton and I both got to the ends of our ropes with him.

At some point, Christopher retreated to his bedroom and it was silent downstairs.

"Hey Mom, care if I turn on some music?" Colton is a musical genius when it comes to immediately knowing artists and their lyrics, even if just barely acquainted with them. All eras, all genres. It's nothing short of amazing when I can't even remember my thoughts from minute to minute, let alone discern the actual words of most songs without the lyrics in front of me.

"I don't care, but I need it to be mellow - I'm a little stressed right now."

Colton pulls up his Spotify. "I gotchu," he assures me.

A song I recognized from my Walter Mitty radio came on, and I started to hum/mumble sing to it, since per usual I didn't exactly know the words, just the tune.

"Wait, you know this song? How?" Colton was incredulous.

"It plays a lot on my Walter Mitty station."

His song goes off and then he can't find similar music - so I turn on my station, assuring him that it was similar.

He rolls his eyes, hard, at me.

Of course, the first song was a pretty folksy/bluegrass one from Iron and Wine.

"Mom, this is so not the same...."

I skip the song and go back to the kitchen, which yields us an annoying Tide ad. I get lost in what I'm doing.

"Mom, can you unlock your phone?"

"Why? What?"

"I need to unlock your phone so I can get the singer/song that played last - I liked his sound," Colton insists.

I oblige his curiosity, and see it was a song from Gregory Alan Isakov - sidebar, what happened to being cool with a one-word moniker? Such a mouthful and it doesn't quite feel right to abbreviate in any form.

"So, does this mean you might like my music for once?"

"Well, it's not Kelly Clarkson. That was actually good."

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me, son. There's much more to me than what you see on a daily basis - and I'm sure that's true for what I see of you, too."

And, someday, we'll be better friends. Right now, you are still being raised and you won't always understand. But these glimpses of where we can connect better give me hope.

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