Playing Possum

Until today I owned 2 records - Thelonius Monk (Live At The Jazz Workshop) and Josef & Johann Strauss (Champagne For Orchestra). Both acquired on my trip to Paris, more for their album cover designs than for a utilitarian purpose. I didn't own a record player until this past December, a Christmas gift from my Mother.

This morning I went on a walk with a fellow early riser. We eventually found ourselves at the Brooklyn Flea at the ever godly hour of 10:45am. The early arrival was a good call. We were able to really sift through the stalls, find the gems. I spent a considerable amount of time with Mark, a purveyor of around 25 bins of records, and walked away with goodies. Quincy Jones "Body Heat", Stevie Wonder "The Secret Life of Plants," Ella Fitzgerald "Ella Fitzgerald Sings More Cole Porter," The Paris International Orchestra "Paris Night Life." And Carly Simon "Playing Possum" - my most prized find, for sentimental reasons.

"Playing possum" is a phrase I've heard on my Mothers lips, uttered playfully into my ears, since I was a very little girl. It means to pretend you're asleep, to play dead, like a possum. She used this phrase to rouse me from my sleep in the mornings. And, if it was a school day, it was very likely that I was "playing possum."

I had no idea that "playing possum" was also a song, never mind a Carly Simon song encased in some pretty sexy cover art. Go Miss Simon (and go Mom)!




Again, I find it both comforting and thrilling that old memories can be infused with new meaning. And that these discoveries can uncover whole new worlds, creating memories anew.