Wishing I Were There

My husband, lucky duck, got to go to this place a few days ago. Due to an overwhelming feeling of Pride and Joy, not to mention a connection across several states states with My Guy, I’m writing an unorthodox blog this week.Wait, have I ever been orthodox?

Rob is out in Detroit with the House of Bishops for a whole week. You can read the detailed daily briefings here. My own topic, commencing shortly, will be something else entirely. I’m straying from my usual “this against that” theme, taking a new approach.

When I hear that term – “House”— it always throws me, because I imagine an actual house, maybe on a college campus, with rooms in every direction, and people coming together to sizzle up some food in the kitchen, perhaps a chore chart on the wall, and living room gatherings every when every couch seat is taken, and the floor-sitters are there with legs outstretched.

The bishops are not in an actual house, mind you (explaining that would be another story) but in a big hotel: you probably already knew that. The downtown hotel is close to the Motown Museum and “Hitsville USA” – the home and first recording studio of the amazing Berry Gordy.

I’m proud to say that I grew up on a steady diet of the Motown Sound. We didn’t attend church, but when we weren’t running around outdoors, we were usually playing soul music. Every one of my four older brothers, beginning with the eldest—14 years ahead of me — loved it, and I took it in by osmosis. So, in celebration of my husband’s visit to the famous birthplace, and in recognition of just how much this music is part of my being, I’m setting out to have a little fun. 

At first, I thought I might dare to imagine the daily doings of the bishops set to a Motown soundtrack, but that would be presumptuous, especially because I’m not even there. If I were there, by the way, without needing to be in the meetings, I’d probably be tempted to Shop Around. But I get ahead of myself.

Better to stick to my own life—something within my bounds to describe. So, while I won’t pretend that all of the following happened on the same day, it either did in fact happen recently or very well could have happened. I’ll make this a kind of game: the event is provided; you fill in the Motown song that would fit that event perfectly. I’ll start by listing the choices. To help you out a little, I’ve even given you the artist for each one. Hey, this might be the first of my blogs ever to need printing out to be fully appreciated! 

 Choose from these songs:  Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, You Keep Me Hanging On, Mustang Sally, You Beat Me To the Punch, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, How Sweet It Is, Dancing In The Street, You Really Got A Hold On Me, Ain’t That Peculiar, Reach Out I’ll Be There, Get Ready

1) Wanting to have a better-than-usual breakfast one morning, I slice into a cantaloupe. As soon as I taste that delicious fruit, I swoon; it is just so perfect.

Marvin Gaye

 

2) That morning, my husband and I have time for only a brief conversation, about my wish to do some hiking in the White Mountains before the season gets done. He wonders how rigorous a workout I want. Asserting my own strength, I say that the small peaks don’t interest me.

Duet: Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations.

 

3) Glancing at the clock, I see that I’d better hurry up and get out the door and on my way to work.

The Temptations

 

4) Heading out to the driveway to fire up the car, I get into the sensible Subaru, wishing for just a moment that I could be someone else, or a racier version of myself, with a different name.

Wilson Pickett (also The Young Rascals)

 

Wilson Pickett

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

The Supremes

 

7) At lunchtime, getting a clear lane to the microwave can be tricky. It’s not that annoying of a wait, really, but when you’re really hungry you still have to let people who get there sooner have first dibs.

Mary Wells

 

8) A colleague happens to mention that, even though we badly need rain, she sees a surprising number of still good-looking lawns on her drive in; I tell her that this means nothing—the drought is still very dire.

Wilson Pickett

9) In the afternoon, a math teacher whose classroom is opposite my office stops in to chat for a minute. She’d been to see Springsteen at Gillette the night before, thanks to her husband who nabbed them some tickets. “That’s it,” I think to myself, “Life’s too short. Even if my husband’s work calendar is crowded with stuff all over the place, especially on weekends, I’m going to insist, or maybe plead, that we get out and find some rock music regularly.”

 

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The Temptations

 

10) I give a presentation at Open House, at which I let parents know that we are always available to receive questions or comments about our work program, or about how their sons and daughters are doing.

The Four Tops

 

11) Arriving home, I realize that, in between going to concerts, it might really be possible to liven things up right on our own turf once in a while. Since we’re on a quiet cul-de-sac, cranking up the music and inviting some people over once a year to celebrate whatever might actually do the neighborhood some good.

Martha and the Vandellas

 

12) Speaking to my husband that evening on the phone, I tell him that I’d left off some tomatoes at his office that morning. He says he already knew. Huh! Word travels fast. Maybe this is not so surprising, though, since the theme he chose for the Diocese of New Hampshire is “Tending the Vine.”

Marvin Gaye

 

Ok, Ok, you’ve waited long enough. You need to hear some music, right? Here’s a site that will enable you to do just that. Think of it as a kind of harvest of Motown.