Ah Wunnerful Ah Wunnerful

A recent Saturday Night Live sketch sparked a memory for me that I'm sure many people my age or perhaps a bit older might have experienced.

As a child my parents would load my brother and I into the car almost every weekend and we'd make the short 40 minute trip to my Grandparents house. It was a great place for a kid to have fun getting into mischief. Today they are both gone but the house is still there with new owners and it has been turned into a Bed and Breakfast.

My memories are quite vivid though. It was a rather large house on several acres of land. There was an old barn, a large vegetable garden, an old chicken coup with only the foundation remaining. There was a makeshift swing hanging from a pear tree in the middle of the circular gravel driveway that we used to swing on. The property was littered with large trees and I think some were walnut.

The house sat along Highway 2 and across the road was a small stream where my brother and I would catch speckled trout. My grandfather used to sell dew worms by the dozen to fisherman and he had an old Coca-Cola cooler he'd keep them in. In the evenings we'd place orange paper over the ends of our flashlights and after dark we'd walk around the yard picking worms to be sold.

With such a big garden, the whole family would work in it by planting and harvesting the vegetables. I used to enjoy using the rototiller to chew up the ground. Digging up the potatoes was fun but I can remember getting in trouble when I got a little too close with the pitchfork and speared the odd spud.

Any way, back to what got me to thinking about all of this. On Saturday nights, I believe, after supper my Grandfather had to watch his favourite show. We'd all gather in front of the T.V. and before long we'd hear the unmistakable sounds of The Lawrence Welk Show.

There he'd be with his conductors baton in his hand; wearing an ugly blue 70's suit with an audience full of seniors ready to enjoy some of "their" champagne music. Myron Floren would perform on his accordion, Bobby and Cissy would dance a number or two, the Lennon Sisters would harmonize together, Dick Dale would swing on his saxophone or sing a song and Norma Zimmer's soprano voice never failed.

I'm not going to lie, it wasn't my favourite music or entertainment but it brought the whole family together and certainly left its mark on me.

So what got me to thinking about all of this? Have a look at the video below. Perhaps I have a strange sense of humour but I laughed out loud watching it.