#Scintilla Day 3: Am I Really Doing This?

This is totally late, but I have a good reason. Sorta. These were yesterday's prompts:

Prompt A: Talk about a memory triggered by a particular song.
Prompt B: What's the story of the most difficult challenge you've faced in a relationship? Did you overcome it? What was the outcome?

(More on Prompt B later. You get a double dose of Scintilla tonight.) Songs don't generally evoke specific memories for me. My memories are sort of thin and spotty anyway. It's like I have only a set time span that I can remember, so as I get older, the lower end of that span erases the younger memories...

In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, my friend Ty had mentioned the song Oh Danny Boy, and I got it stuck in my head. But I have this weird association where that song always makes me think of another Irish folk song, Cockles and Mussels (Molly Malone). All day I've been singing them to myself. I'd sing one verse of Danny, then go straight into one of Molly. I wasn't sure why I always thought of the two songs together.

Then it hit me. Those songs, together, do tie into a memory for me. Nothing profound or epic. I don't even remember my exact age, or many other details. But it was around St. Patrick's Day (I think), and some time between 5th and 8th grades. Probably 5th or 6th, but I'm not sure. I attended some festivities in my home town - I remember bagpipes, a fife and drum group, and Irish music, which is why I assume it was St. Patrick's Day. At the Avalon Theater I heard both of these songs, among others. There was a flutist, which interested me because I played the flute (and this is the only reason I know I was at least in 5th grade, because that's when I started playing). After the performance, my dad somehow managed to get flutist's sheet music. I remember playing the songs (and also The Rose of Tralee) and loving them.

That's it. Nothing special. The memory has little to do with anything but the songs themselves. But since I can't get them out of my head today, I thought I'd put them in yours. So here I am, singing the first verse of Oh Danny Boy and Cockles and Mussels. A capella. (I totally blame you, Ty Unglebower, for starting this memory chain reaction :-P) I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to making movies, or how to take the sound from the video and put it with some pretty pictures, so you get to stare at my computer keyboard for two minutes. I attempted singing in front of the camera several times (which is why I'm posting so late), but I'm too shy even for that. I think I sound quiet and shy in the recording, too haha. But I'll let you decide.

I can't believe I'm doing this. But here goes nothing....