Today’s prompt from Long and Short reviews is “fun facts about ourselves”.
(1) One of my favorite hobbies/passions is singing. I sing tenor in a church choir with the odd solo, but I especially like singing traditional British-American folk music. This was a genre I discovered thanks to Civil War reenactments, and listening to the music there. Although some music was written during the war, most soldiers began the war singing the same music they already knew, and then adopted the lyrics to their circumstances. The best example is “Rye Whisky”. Compare —
Oh Molly, Oh Molly, it’s for your sake alone
I’ve left my ol’ parents, my house and my home
My love for you, it has caused me to roam
I’m a rambling’ rouser and Dixie’s my home
~ ~ ~
Oh Molly, oh Molly, it’s for your sake alone
I’ve left my old father, my country and my home.
I’ve left my old mother, to weep and to mourn,
I am a Rebel soldier, and far from my home.
(2) Although I’ve been telling stories in my head for years, until recently the only one I’d shared was a silly little mystery that resolved with a pun draw from Roman history, probably inspired by Asimov’s Black Widower mysteries or Steven Saylor’s Roman stories. I recently wrote a little story story about small-town church drama, employing some characters who have been bouncing around in my head for fifteen years. I’m hoping to do a few more in the vein of small-town goings-on as inspiration & time allow.
(3) I’d never flown before, left the South, or planned and conducted a vacation until 2016, when I flew to New Mexico and commenced a thousand-mile GPS-free driving tour of the state. Before that, the last time I’d been “on vacation” was…2004, the last time I did a summer trip with my parents. I am hoping to go west again next year.
Reading Freely 
I hope you do get to go west next year!
Thanks! Thinking about northern New Mexico and/or Colorado. Epic drive again!
I love to sing, too, Stephen, though my neighbours certainly don’t appreciate my efforts. Apparently, singing actually reduces cortisol and releases oxytocin. So it’s very good in reducing anxiety and stress.
One of my upcoming TBR books is on neurology and music. Looking forward to what it has to say about singing!
Glad you visited the Land of Enchantment. Hope you enjoyed it.
I’ve been in love with New Mexico since! Currently playing with an idea to land in NW Texas, then explore northern NM and some of Colorado. Interested in seeing what the dust bowl area looks like now.
I’m not at all musical, but my father very much is — and the evolution of songs, tunes, and lyrics is nothing short of fascinating. I’d have to dig around for the details (or go ask my dad) but there’s a delightful tale about discovering a song that sounded like a centuries-old whaling song except that right in the middle it did something with the tune that they simply didn’t do during that period… and then chasing down its actual provenance and age.