Stirring memories.

I often talk about songs that stir memories up for me, some of them good, some of them bad.  Some songs remind me of people and situations, even though they are not really connected.  My happy song – Land Down Under by Men At Work – evokes such happy feelings for me and never fails to cheer me up.  Other songs from a similar era remind me of my Dad who died in April 2011. Certain songs that are full of angst and pain remind me of the 16 year old me who was brutally attacked and I rarely listen to them now.

That’s the beauty of music, no matter what genre it is, or from what era, it can evoke memories and feelings within us all.

This song was playing on the radio yesterday and immediately reminded me of a different time in my life; a happy time when life was easy and I didn’t have a care in the world. A time when my family was complete and I was protected from pain and suffering.  Unlike Land Down Under that makes me instantly happy and is from roughly the same time period, this song makes me feel sad and I cannot listen to it without thinking about those family members who have died – my Grandmother, my Aunty, my brother and my Dad.  The song reminds me that the loss of these people ripped a hole in my family dynamic, a hole that has never been fixed and never will be.

The song tugs at my emotions and rips open the wounds that are never fully healed, the wounds that the loss of a loved one causes.  The gamut of emotions that get instantly stirred up inside of me whenever I hear this song flood my senses, making me feel vulnerable and very emotional.

Stuck in my head.

Yesterday, me and my Mam were talking about summer weather. We were observing how lately the weather in August can be cooler and quite often wetter than the rest of the summer months; not unlike how September used to be.  September, on the other hand, now has a summery feel to it – the months seem to have gotten mixed up!

Anyway, ever since we had that chat, I’ve had this song stuck in my head.

Blessed Lughnasadh.

And so the wheel turns once more. It is the time of year where we celebrate Lughnasadh, or Lammas.  It’s the first of the harvest festivals and a time to reflect on what has happened during the year. It is a time to give thanks, to start preparing for the long, dark nights ahead.

Traditions at this time are baking bread, making corn dollies, sacrificing the corn – or John Barleycorn – by cutting down the corn.  Worshipping the God Lugh who surrenders his life at this time.