The word for the third day of Discover Prompts is “Song”. I’m supposed to write using that word as a starting block. Now, that creates a problem for me. I’m without a doubt, the most unmusical person I know.

When I was six years old, living in Mesa (my Dad was stationed at Williams AFB), my Mom tried to get me interested in the piano. She got me some lessons from a local piano teacher. I HATED practicing. Ultimately she gave up trying to make me practice.

When I was in elementary school I got signed up for band and was assigned a clarinet. I can still taste that clarinet reed. And practice was just about the same. I hated it. But, being a little older, I did stay with it a little longer. But, ultimately, I quit band.

In high school I got personal reward out of volunteering for projects through student council and physical development out of participating in Track and Field – mainly long distance running. I mention the latter because as I and other members of the cross country team would run our races, we used to whistle or sing a musical ditty, “Cool aid, cool aid, tastes great!” When as a team we came up on another team running, the sight and sound of us singing that musical piece (probably from an advertisement for cool aid) would unnerve the other team. They were struggling to continue due to muscle exhaustion and lung problems; we were obviously doing just “great!” – because we were singing!

My Dad used to listen to records. Stuff like Johann Sebastian Bach. I DID like listening to the music my Dad played, but there was another problem. I have problems remembering titles, authors, words, etc. Been that way all my life. Could I tell you if a piece was someone’s 5th concerto or 18th or whatever? Not on your life. So, lots of music is familiar, but I can never tell you by who or what it is called.

My Dad was also a very accomplished whistler. He could do trills, warbles, high notes, low notes, the whole works. He would sit in his chair out on the front lawn and whistle until you’d think all the birds within earshot had stopped to listen to him. I’ve tried to duplicate his whistling at times in the past and never even come close.

As for musical genres? Pop, country, rap, rock n roll, R&B, hip hop, classical, jazz – when I’m listening to music or songs I would have a hard time telling you which genre they are. In fact, I had to ask my family to tell me some types so I could write this paragraph. I can tell when something is country because someone’s dog always dies or their girl friend dumps them. But, when I was asking my family about the genres, I was trying to remember what you called it and was think, “Western?” “Southern?” I couldn’t remember the right word, but if it had been a multiple choice question, I could have picked the correct answer.

Anyway, that’s it for the word “Song”. Dinner is ready and I’m going to stop now.

So. Song? I don’t think so.