Hobbies

The Eighth of Firsts – My First Cassette Tape

Jeanna G2 Comments

For Christmas this year Santa gave me a record player. It’s something I had wanted for a long time, but always thought too frivolous to have, especially because I would then need to buy records. In case you didn’t know, a record collection ain’t cheap. Even so, the older I get, the less I worry about what’s frivolous, because it’s those frivolities that lessen the effects of my bigger worries.

Part of the fun of having a record player and not wanting to spend too much money is that I really have to think about music I love, artists and albums I love, and music that is timeless and great for many occasions. With the record player, Santa gave me two Christmas albums: A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and Have Yourself a Swingin’ Little Christmas by Various Jazz and R&B artists. The next album was easy to pick: The Beatles’ White Album. But then I got stuck. There is a LOT of music out there!

Then, this past weekend, I was watching Sunday Today with Willie Geist, and one segment was about how record collecting has spiked during the pandemic. What a cowinky-dink! Following that bit came a segment called “A Life Well Lived.” This week’s was about Lou Ottens, the inventor of the cassette tape. Watching these two stories helped me decide on my next disc of vinyl.

Cassettes actually hold a special place in my heart. My sister and I used to make so many mix tapes. We became masters of the art of perfectly timing when to push which buttons in order to get the song we wanted off the radio broadcast without getting the voice of the DJ. Then we got a dual cassette player, then a cd and cassette player. Those really changed the game!

But I can’t buy my old mix tapes on vinyl. So I thought about what cassette albums I used to own. My first, and one of my favorites, was an album by The Drifters. I would listen to that album over and over again, and sing all of the words by heart, which is funny to me because I was a child of the 80s, but I preferred the music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. So, I just added The Drifters’ Greatest Hits to my budding collection.

I’m sure everyone has their own reason for starting a record collection, but I think the renewed popularity this past year, during a pandemic, has something to do with people trying to think of better times, and the magic of music can transport us to those places with just a measure of notes. Thinking back to my childhood, to the special times in my life, will spark my memory of what was playing in the background. And so it’s not just a record collection, but a collective record of my life’s happy moments.

What album would you buy first?

Winter Retreat

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Back in middle and high school, my church youth group took an annual trip to Camp Squanto in New Hampshire for a Winter Retreat. The recent weather impacts across the country have me thinking an awful lot about that trip. You see, growing up in the Northeast, we expect bad winter weather so much, that it’s never really bad, because we’re prepared. We can appreciate and enjoy the beauty of snow because, for one thing, when it arrives, it sticks around for awhile. Secondly, we know how to manage it efficiently, leaving time for play. So regardless of the weather, we’d still make the trip further north to camp, where we’d retreat from the stress of school, and play with our friends in the seclusion and serenity of a Winter Wonderland.

In the north there were 10’ snow banks on which we were kings. Sledding hills were covered in enough snow to ensure a smooth ride and cushion at the bottom. We would build snow forts, dig tunnel mazes, and have massive snowball fights. We could snow shoe and cross-country ski our way to the store. And the ice actually froze thick enough that we could fish, skate, or play hockey without worrying (too much!) about falling through.

Snow much fun!

One of my favorites memories of the Winter Retreat was playing Broom Hockey. We’d sweep off the outline of a large square on the surface of the lake. Everyone had a broom, and there was one ball. The game was won when one of the teams swept the ball all the way around the square one time. Sounds easy enough until you consider that everyone is slipping in their winter boots, and the other team is trying to steal the ball and move it in the opposite direction around the square. The games would go on late into the night. Then we’d tiptoe into the Dining Hall and warm up with hot cocoa before collapsing into bed.

I have so many sweet memories of the beauty and fun of my childhood winters, that living in the south in the winter leaves me feeling rather rueful. The winters down here are cold with little to no snow. Lately we’ve had rain, freezing rain, ice, and more rain; not much to enjoy about that. Ironically, when most people move south to retreat from winter, I’d rather retreat to winter!

The Moist Maker

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I am by no means a chef, but I do love to cook. Cooking has become a hobby of mine, and I love that it keeps my hands busy while calming my mind. One hiccup is that there tends to be a lot of leftovers in the home that I share with my 8 year-old. This Thanksgiving I decided to put the leftovers together into a sandwich, and not just any sandwich, but Ross’ Moist Maker. (Technically it is Monica’s recipe, but it was Ross’ sandwich that got the storyline.)

Friends first aired in September of 1994. I was just beginning high school at that time. Regardless of what was going on, I sat home on my couch every Thursday night to watch the Must See TV NBC lineup of Friends, Seinfeld, and ER. That was my happy place for 10 seasons! I now own all of the DVDs, and every November I practice the tradition of watching all of the Thanksgiving episodes. Every time I watched “The One With Ross’ Sandwich,” I thought, “I want to eat one of those.” So finally, this year, I made one. And although it wasn’t “the only good thing going on” in my life, it was a dream come true.

Here’s my version of the recipe:

In addition to what I already had in the fridge, I bought brie and Farmer’s Bread (thick and durable) from the bakery at Lidl. On the outer two slices I spread some Simon & Garfunkel herbed mayo. On the bottom slice I laid down some mixed greens and a few cuts of brie. I topped the cheese with warm mashed potatoes that had been mixed with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. Then came the Moist Maker: a slice of turkey gravy-soaked bread. Next came the final three ingredients: a layer of warm turkey, warm turkey stuffing, and a spoonful of my grandma’s cranberry relish*. I also spooned some green bean casserole onto my plate because, well, why not?

*Grandma Fyfe’s Cranberry Relish:

Chop a bag of fresh cranberries, an orange, and 3/4 cup of sugar together in a food processor. Add in some chopped walnuts. Voilà!

If you still have these leftovers taking up space in the fridge, I recommend that you get your gobble on and let a Moist Maker take up room in your belly, instead! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!