So,

dh was in the yard digging in the dirt over the weekend (something he does to relax and unwind) and listening to a Bruce Cockburn CD from the 80s over the outside speakers... first it was Nothing but a Burning Light and then it was Stealing Fire.

I'm listening to the music and each and every single song brings a person, a place, a specific time, a unique memory to mind. And it hits me: I am a person with A Past.

OK don't laugh. I don't mean A Past like I have stuff in my closet that I'm hiding (well, I'm sure I do but that's not my point here) or like I-did-something-the-day-before-yesterday-not-today kind of past. I mean that I had a whole life, actually several lives in some ways, before the life I'm living now. And all of that Past is not part of my Present.

Probably it's cause I'm over 40 now and feeling kind of like I've turned that corner and have more life behind me than ahead of me. I don't know.

I also realized (again) how incredibly significant music has been in my life. Most of my memories are tied somehow to songs or music, it seems. Most of the important periods in my life can be characterized by specific songs or music. I've often thought I could write my autobiography by listing songs with a little commentary just to go along.

Well anyway, there it is. Something I was thinking about today.