Wisteria vines and Dan Fogelberg ~ by Kristine Raymond

It's funny how one thought can lead to another.  I'd intended to write a post about Wisteria and my fascination with the flowering vine; instead, I'm writing about one of my favorite musical artists - Dan Fogelberg.

Now, the switch from one subject to the other came about honestly. I was searching YouTube for the link to Dan's song, Wysteria - it's a hauntingly beautiful tune, one of the earliest I remember listening to - and had it playing in the background while I gathered facts about
Wisteria frutescens.

As happens on YouTube, the song ended and immediately went into another, and I found myself transported back decades to a time when Dan Fogelberg music was the soundtrack of my life.  I have a clear memory of the first time I heard Nether Lands, sitting in a darkened stairwell after choir practice waiting for my ride; of the week spent camping alone in the woods of New Hampshire, rewinding my portable cassette player over and over again in order to listen to Souvenirs, There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, Old Tennessee, and Song from Half Mountain, praying the batteries would last the entire trip; of looking up at the moon on a partially-overcast night and 'hearing' the first line of In the Passage.


It was his song, Tucson, Arizona, quoted by Dan as being his all-time favorite track, that intensified my desire to move west.  Not so much the lyrics about drug use and murder, but the melody; and the emotions those notes invoked.  I could envision that wide open space; 'see' the expanse of cloudless blue sky, 'feel' the heat of the desert that was nothing like the day-to-day humidity in Rhode Island.        

In my late teens, I learned that Dan Fogelberg was touring nearby, and quickly snapped up a ticket, only to be disappointed when the concert was canceled.  I'd hoped to see him perform at a later date but never had the opportunity.  Instead, I bought every album he recorded (yes; vinyl) and wore them out listening to his powerful ballads and stirring anthems, falling in love with his more obscure stuff.  Interestingly enough, his top 40 songs are my least favorites. 

So, that's how my post navigated from Wisteria (this is what's growing in my yard.  Isn't it beautiful?) to Dan Fogelberg.  A single song that opened a floodgate of memories.  Don't you love when that happens?

Copyright 2019 - Kristine Raymond