Sunday, April 27, 2014

"In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill."

Sunday, April 27, 2014.


"In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill"

This is a song that was recorded Nov 29, 1939, by Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra, while we lived in Plymouth/Larksville, Pa., across the Susquehanna River from Wilkes-Barre. 

I was seven years old, and I fell in love with this song. I used to listen to it on the radio when it came on, thrilled pink. 

Let me explain how this came to mind: I'll go back in time (it's 4:30 a.m. Apr 27, 2014) to when I awoke from my First Sleep at 3:50 a.m. this morning. I went to the restroom, got back into bed, but couldn't fall asleep again. I came into the living room and turned the TV on to get the weather report on TV. I don't like the forecast for tonight, it seems there possibly might be very severe storms. 

Then I came to the computer to see if anyone emailed me, and began to listen to 247PolkaHeaven.com. The first number was a polka something about an old garden or similar words. Ooooh, I thought, but it didn't seem to be the one I knew when I was seven; I went to YouTube and typed in "In An Old Dutch Garden", and was utterly surprised when about a dozen spots came up with renditions by a dozen different musicians.  

I chose Eddy Duchin who recorded it on Nov 29, 1939. I am as happy as a lark and will listen to a few more, then go back to bed for my Second Sleep.  

I remember that the neighbor girl Dorothy and I used to play together and put on shows for each other. She would sing, or do a little dance, while I sat on their porch swing on a little concrete patio by the kitchen door. When she would finish, I would applaud, and we'd change places to do another act of 'the show'. No doubt I would sing "In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill."  We would sing various songs, recite alphabet names of automobiles, talk about Sonja Henie, Esther Williams, and Shirley Temple, during much of our play time. 

Isn't it strange how such long-ago episodes come back to us at the oddest times?  


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

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