Remember the time when .... ?
This post is part of a Seed Pod collaboration about time. Seed Pods are a SmallStack community project designed to help smaller publications lift each other up by publishing and cross-promoting around a common theme. We’re helping each other plant the seeds for growth! Want to see more posts from this Seed Pod or join in on the fun? Head over to our roundup to learn more!
************************************
Remember the time when .... ?
I giggled when U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For came on the radio.
“What’s so funny?” asked my husband.
“Remember the time a new lady joined our aqua fit class last summer?”
He shrugged and gave me a ‘What’s your point?’ look. He rarely remembers details like that and is mystified that I do.
“I’ll be back,” I said. I wanted to write the memory down before I forgot it, both to explain to him why the song made me laugh, and to share in this post.
*****
July 2024
It was 8 am, and the July morning already held the promise of heat. Twenty of us, mostly women, stood chest-deep in water at the outdoor pool in the nature park. The cloying scent of chlorine and sunscreen mingled with the freshness of the pine trees that lined the other side of the Frost fence.
Our instructor stood on the pool deck. She was the picture of health and youth. Sleek, shiny brown hair in a bouncy ponytail. Skin that glowed and a slim athletic body in a red lifeguard swimsuit.
“Get ready for 45 seconds of jumping jacks. Let’s go, everyone!” she shouted enthusiastically.
She touched her smartphone and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For blared from a speaker.
The water was chilly so I started doing jumping jacks to warm up, not an easy task in water. An older lady I hadn’t seen before was next to me. She floated on her back and hung on to the pool ledge with one hand instead of doing the exercise.
She had gray curls that dripped with pool water, periwinkle-blue eyes and pink cheeks. Her black swimsuit strained to contain her plump body. If she has a fur-trimmed, red velvet dress she’ll make a perfect Mrs. Claus in six months, I thought.
She sidled closer to me. “My son has a playlist with this song on it. Do you know what it’s called?” she asked with mischief in her eyes.
“I think the song is called I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” I said, breathless from bobbing up and down, struggling to do jumping jacks in the water.
“No, not the song. The playlist. It’s called Not A Wedding Song. Get it?” She smiled expectantly and waited for my reaction.
She was pleased when I burst into laughter just as Bono plaintively sang, “ … and I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
“He has another playlist. Want to know what that one is?” Before I could answer, she continued. “Not A Funeral Song”, she said triumphantly before we both went back to our water-logged workout.
*********
This memory made me smile and sent me to research the top five songs I would include on a Not a Wedding Song Playlist. You’ll find them below for your listening pleasure. Please add your suggestions in the comments!
So many good songs to potentially include, from pathos to fury! Winner takes it all by ABBA or New rules by Dua Lipa right up there :D
Hi Stacy,
Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it!