Commonalities

It is true that my siblings and I are scattered across the U.S. of A. and have different lives, but we also have many things in common. Are these commonalities due to good genes or good upbringing? That is a question that may never be answered. I'd hazard a guess that it is a bit of both.

We are quite fond of music, either playing it or listening to it. Caro is a professional musician (way to magnify those talents, kiddo!) and I think it is safe to say that the rest of us are rather in awe of that.

I grew up listening to Dad's Johnny Cash and Flatt and Scruggs records and a fabulous Neil Diamond 8-track. I will always remember Caro and I singing Sweet Caroline at the top of our lungs while bouncing on the Bounce-A-Way in the living room on the farm, watching the emerald carpet, white walls, and gray woodwork move up and down.

My musical tastes did branch out a bit in college, thanks to roommates and a job in a music store. My CD collection looked like a Who's Who of Lilith Fair. Oy. It's gotten a bit lighter since then.

Reading is another common thread among the five of us. Di and I are in a little GoodReads book club, slogging through reading Middlemarch. I'm about 40% through the 800 pages, so I just may finish it before September. Last night, I came across this quote:

"The wit of a family is usually best received among strangers."

Which leads me to my third commonality for today - wit. We all crack each other up and often do not even realize that we said something funny. It just comes so naturally, you know. I do think that Jim would with the Wit-of-the-Family prize, but he has had more time to hone his skills.

There are other things that we all enjoy - languages, family, gardening, grammar* - but those will have to wait for another post.

*I will probably regret not having one of them proof this for me prior to posting, won't I?