February made me shiver...

[shewhomust]

Yesterday morning I turned the page on the calendar by my desk. It has a countryside scene for each month (by Rob Barnes, and in this style). January's picture was all white, sheep in the snow, but February was full of colour, pheasants among green shoots, with a frosting of snowdrops for contrast. Meanwhile, outside the window, snow had fallen overnight, and all was white. A note on our doormat confessed to having skidded on the bend and run into our car - the damage is minor, but I took it as a sign, and did not venture down the hill into town.

Last night BBC4 decided to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly by repeating a programme in their 'making of the classic albums' series about Don McLean's American Pie. I'm not sure I'd call it a 'classic album', because the inclusion of two absolute show-stoppers pulls it all out of shape. If asked, I could name one other track from the album: Babylon, which I prefer to Vincent (and I don't think I ever knew that McLean credits it to Lee Hayes, though I should have). Still, it was good to hear American Pie, and to hear McLean talking about it: though that story about how the verses all came to him in a rush should probably be set alongside his earlier (and unfairly overlooked) song Magdalene Lane. I liked McLean's contention that you could read the repetition of 'the day the music died' not as a repeated reference to the same day, but as building on the growing loss of innocence of each verse.

Woke up to more snow. The morning sun was bright on the trees on the hill opposite, and the sky was blue above them. After much toing and froing we decided that we would risk a trip out to Sainsbury's - a waste of a beautiful morning, but less of a waste that staying at home. We not only managed to drive down the Avenue without mishap, we managed to drive back up again, and I'm optimistic that we may be able to accept J.'s invitation to lunch tomorrow, to admire the progress of her building works. And if not - if there is more snow overnight - we have supplies. Oh, we would not have gone hungry in any case, but now we have fresh fruit and vegetables, and other luxuries.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Flying back in over northern Europe and the east of England last night, there'd been a heck of a lot of snow, although it's completely missed us this time.

[shewhomust]

Oh, we've got off lightly compared to the south-west!

[sovay]

If asked, I could name one other track from the album: Babylon, which I prefer to Vincent (and I don't think I ever knew that McLean credits it to Lee Hayes, though I should have).

Say more? I know Lee Hayes; I don't know "Babylon."

[shewhomust]

It's the first verse of Psalm 137 - and it doesn't want to embed, but here it is on YouTube.

[asakiyume]

I really love "Babylon" too. I remember teaching that to my boyfriend so we could sing it as a round. Such a gorgeous song.

But "American Pie" holds a special place in my heart because I remember learning to sing parts of it when I was eight years old.

[shewhomust]

I remember singing it as a round at a Don McLean concert - though I can't remember where that was!

[radiantfracture]

I like the strong black lines in the Barnes art.

[shewhomust]

If my calendar is a representative sample, they are linocuts - and I like them, too!