Storyteller
Stuart McLean is a great storyteller. I don't listen to the Vinyl Cafe podcasts regularly, but when I do listen, I always discover that it was the right thing to do.
Here are a few that I've found especially memorable over the past couple of years:
The Car - When Dave's son Sam and Sam's pal Murphy find an abandoned car on Old Man MacCauley's farm they hatch a plan for how to get the car out of the ditch and onto the country road so they can drive it. - I was cleaning my mother's kitchen floor last summer when I listened to this, and I remember a point in the story where I had to pause in my mopping because I was howling with laughter.
Christmas at the Turlingtons - When Dave and his family join the Turlington's for Christmas dinner, Dave, despite his promises to Morley that he will be on his best behaviour, quickly sets in motion a series of fiascos. I shared this one with my parents during a winter roadtrip.
Wrong Cottage - the one I listened to today, a good summer tale. I'd rather not describe it because I don't want to spoil the wonderful way the story is constructed.
Tree of Heaven - When Dave discovers a small plant growing on the floor of the of his car, he is overcome with paternal and horticultural impulses and goes to the extraordinary measures to keep it alive. Another summer tale. It's hard to explain the offbeat charm of this story. You just have to listen.
He will not remember it for three more weeks. And when he does he will go to the corner of his yard by the fence and to his great surprise he will find that his plant will have grown as high as his knees. He will not show it to Morley for two more weeks after that. He will show it to her at the beginning of August, and when he does, it will be higher than his waist. He will tell her he found the seed in the car and that one night he planted it in this corner, and look what came. It's an ailanthus, known also as the Tree of Heaven, a persistent and resourceful little tree that was brought to New York years ago from Asia, and that thrives in urban environments. A tree that can sprout in a crack of the pavement, and under porches and decks and, apparently, in cars. Dave's plant will keep growing until it is nearly sixty feet tall, and at the end of every summer it will produce small yellow-green flowers, and in the early fall the flowers will be followed by beautiful reddy fruit, bearing seeds with little wings, like maple keys. Its leaves will come late in the spring, and every spring Dave will think his tree has died, until suddenly it comes alive, every spring a miracle. And every spring when the leaves finally come, Dave will stand in his backyard and think of *this* summer, and the tiny seedling he found in his car, and he will look at his tree and think that things survive. Even without his presence. Even without him, life goes on. Life has a will of its own, and he needn't worry. His job isn't to worry, or do things. His job is to watch, and wonder.
Here are a few that I've found especially memorable over the past couple of years:
The Car - When Dave's son Sam and Sam's pal Murphy find an abandoned car on Old Man MacCauley's farm they hatch a plan for how to get the car out of the ditch and onto the country road so they can drive it. - I was cleaning my mother's kitchen floor last summer when I listened to this, and I remember a point in the story where I had to pause in my mopping because I was howling with laughter.
Christmas at the Turlingtons - When Dave and his family join the Turlington's for Christmas dinner, Dave, despite his promises to Morley that he will be on his best behaviour, quickly sets in motion a series of fiascos. I shared this one with my parents during a winter roadtrip.
Wrong Cottage - the one I listened to today, a good summer tale. I'd rather not describe it because I don't want to spoil the wonderful way the story is constructed.
Tree of Heaven - When Dave discovers a small plant growing on the floor of the of his car, he is overcome with paternal and horticultural impulses and goes to the extraordinary measures to keep it alive. Another summer tale. It's hard to explain the offbeat charm of this story. You just have to listen.
He will not remember it for three more weeks. And when he does he will go to the corner of his yard by the fence and to his great surprise he will find that his plant will have grown as high as his knees. He will not show it to Morley for two more weeks after that. He will show it to her at the beginning of August, and when he does, it will be higher than his waist. He will tell her he found the seed in the car and that one night he planted it in this corner, and look what came. It's an ailanthus, known also as the Tree of Heaven, a persistent and resourceful little tree that was brought to New York years ago from Asia, and that thrives in urban environments. A tree that can sprout in a crack of the pavement, and under porches and decks and, apparently, in cars. Dave's plant will keep growing until it is nearly sixty feet tall, and at the end of every summer it will produce small yellow-green flowers, and in the early fall the flowers will be followed by beautiful reddy fruit, bearing seeds with little wings, like maple keys. Its leaves will come late in the spring, and every spring Dave will think his tree has died, until suddenly it comes alive, every spring a miracle. And every spring when the leaves finally come, Dave will stand in his backyard and think of *this* summer, and the tiny seedling he found in his car, and he will look at his tree and think that things survive. Even without his presence. Even without him, life goes on. Life has a will of its own, and he needn't worry. His job isn't to worry, or do things. His job is to watch, and wonder.