Friday 11 July 2014

A Little Dream Come True.

Ever since I first heard the line ‘and the moon rose over an open field’ in the Simon and Garfunkel song America, I’ve wanted to see just that. Tonight I did, over farmer Stan’s hay meadow, the crop from which he baled and collected today. It was a full moon, too.

To be strictly accurate, the moon rose over a conifer plantation on the far side of the field – and I suppose I should have been sitting on a Greyhound with a girlfriend asleep in the next seat – but it was still rather beautiful and near enough to satisfy the aspiration.

*  *  *

I, too, had a girlfriend called Cathy once. She was sixteen and had a job, while I was a thirteen-year-old schoolboy. I wonder what she saw in me. The fact that I was a bit precocious, I suppose.

A lot of moons have risen over a lot of fields since then, and I’ve finally seen my first. And it’s comforting to think that my Cathy still isn’t as old as Paul Simon…

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

16 to your 13? Damn. I can hardly tolerate young men my own age, never mind younger ones.

JJ said...

Ah, but I was precocious... Ha ha.

You're not the only one I've heard say that. I've long thought that young women are generally way ahead of young men until about age 35. Maybe it's because women are often mothers by then, and have more important matters to occupy them.

You really are miffed today, aren't you?

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure why it is that we females seem to mature faster than males. It makes for frustration, at times.

I was. Better now though.

JJ said...

Maybe young men are programmed to give more prominence to the Id, in order to be ready to compete with the other stags. Young women, on the other hand, seem to access the Super Ego at an earlier stage in life. Maybe that's because motherhood requires the capacity for abstract thought and intuitive response. I'm guessing.

Anonymous said...

A very thoughtful guess. Sensical, to boot.

JJ said...

You know, I've never heard the word 'sensical' used in Britain, and yet we use 'nonsensical' commonly enough. That seems a bit irrational.

Anonymous said...

That's because I made that word up. ;] While I have a great deal of reverence for the rules that give our beautiful language shape, I also like to have a bit of nonsensical fun.

JJ said...

Me too, but I'm sure I've heard the word 'sensical' before, presumably by an American.

I knew somebody once whose language skills weren't out of the top drawer. He used the word 'nonsensical' a lot, only he pronounced it 'nomsical.' I also mentioned to him once that Mozart died in his thirties. 'Terrible, isn't it?' he said. 'And all those beautiful paintings he did...'