Haunting Melodies

The Rebels' season came to an end one week ago tonight.  After a two hour rain delay, we finally began the game, which we lost, and then we gathered in the picnic pavilion for one last meal.  Few wanted to leave, least of all me, but when I did finally get into my van at 12:58 a.m., I switched on the keys and the following lines flowed forth from the radio:

Summer's over.  Our love is over.  To lose that love is such a sin.  Remember then.

For true fans, baseball is a summer romance, and to hear these words as soon as I made ready to leave was somewhat spooky.  The 2010 season was now consigned to the "remember then" category and here the radio was telling me to do so.

Stranger than that, the same thing happened to me last year.  I departed Rebel Park, stopped by the Shenandoah County Flea Market to say good-bye to our bus driver, Vic Moyer, and made one last stop at the Route 11 Potato Chip plant in Mt. Jackson.  I had stretched out my stay in the Valley for as long as I could and now, potato chips in hand, it was really time to head for home.  I got in the van and immediately heard, Paul Anka's, "The Times of Your Life," that begins:

Good morning yesterday.  You wake up and time has slipped away.  And suddenly it's hard to find the memories you've left behind.  Do you remember?  Do you remember the times of your life?

That was really spooky because spending last summer writing about the Rebels was indeed one of the great times of my life as I wrote about shortly after the fact.

For something like this to happen twice is a phenomenal coincidence.  If it happens next year, I may have to have my car radio exorcised.

I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but if you listen to the Earls, the original performers, sing "Remember Then" and you keep in mind your favorite baseball season instead of a former boyfriend or girlfriend, you'll hear this tune as a real baseball song.  And you'll probably be in tears by the time it's finished as already the Rebels' season is over and the summer of 2010 is more than halfway through.

Comments

[Melissa Dodge]

Don't do a thing to that van or radio! With the exception of having a pad and pencil handy to write down the messages it's obviously sending you! If you notice an unusual number of songs being played that have numbers in them you'd better play those in the next lottery! Your van is "in tune" with you (haha--couldn't resist), you need to tune in and listen. What would have happened if Ray Kinsela had gotten spooked and had his cornfield exorcised??

[Austin]

Good point, Melissa.