I used to like Spotify

The kids got me hooked on Spotify. I build my own playlist, pirate theirs, and search all kinds of random music. When I’m in the shop, I usually pick an artist and hit shuffle. It’s nice background while I’m working on a project.

Last week, I was getting the drill ready to plant sorghum-sudan grass and thought a little throw back country sounded fun. I saw Restless Heart in concert three times during college, but hadn’t given them a listen for years. I hit shuffle, thinking I would hear a wide range of old favorites. I did and it was fun to wake up some old memories. What I wasn’t prepared for was Christmas music. I realize I hit shuffle, but I never thought they’d mix in, nor did I know there was, Restless Heart Christmas music.

Now, everyone knows I love Christmas music all year long, so it should have been sort of awesome, having random, jingly Christmas music in the shop. What caught me off guard was the song itself. I’ve got a boy at basic training right now, and the other one is a senior. Both are three inches taller than me and way better looking than I ever hoped I could be. They should thank their mother. Anyway, when “Old Toy Trains” came on, it set me back a bit. You know the one, ‘Old toy trains, little toy tracks, little boy toys coming from a sack’.

I started thinking about the North Pole Mining Company. Every Christmas, the boys would get out every toy truck we had and haul load after load of silver and gold out from under the tree. It was quite a business. Last Christmas, they still put several of the trucks around the tree, but not nearly as much mining took place as in years past. It’s difficult for a business when the partners pursue different interests or are just plain over qualified for the work itself and the remaining partner’s knees can’t handle scooting around on the floor like they used to. I hated to even think about shuttering such a lucrative, albeit, seasonal business.

I was kind of fiddling with the seed tubes on the drill when the song was coming to an end. I thought I was having some sort of allergic reaction. I had heartburn, and my throat was tight, and my eyes were kind of watering. It was that, or I was having a very rare tender and poignant moment. Fortunately for me, my screwdriver slipped and went through the end of my thumb. I felt better after that. What did I learn? No more Spotify in the building.