I guess we're old, or times have changed, or something

[lauradi7dw]

I ran in a 10K race yesterday that was a benefit for Orchard House in Concord, the house that the Alcott family lived in while Louisa was writing "Little Women" (among other things). People kept saying encouraging things to me (except for one runner, who suggested that I not stand in the front at the starting line). I thought it was nice, but after I read the race results, I wondered whether it was because they were impressed by someone my age - I was the oldest woman in the race, with only 5 others 50 or above. That's weird. Surely lots of older women are LMA fans, and I've run in many races nearby with women quite a bit older than me.
There is this, thanks to scarletmom.com:

I certainly remember the many hours in libraries looking stuff up or asking the reference librarian. I guess about 20 years ago I walked into the Lexington public library trying to find the author of "Barbara Frietchie." The reference librarian said "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag she said," which is pretty much the same thing I had said when I saw mention of the poem on a friend's drinking glass (Maryland, part of a set of state glasses). After that, she walked over to an anthology of poetry and quickly opened it to the poem. Just now I looked it up because I didn't remember who it was (Whittier).
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barbara-frietchie/
Also this morning I used our pal Wikipedia to find out when trucks started beeping when backing up, because we were sure that that part of our youth was quieter. It was first done in Japan in 1963, but I presume it took a while to become universal. It has been the sound of our mornings most of the summer, as part of the road project work in Lexington.
Yesterday I felt the need to hear "Maika Rada" and was too lazy to go through the LPs, although maybe I'll get out the Laduvane albums later today. A comment on the Not on CD blog http://notoncd.blogspot.com/
led me to the Pennywhistlers' facebook page, open to the public without logging in. The song in question is track 5 on the Folk Songs of Eastern Europe LP, on the right side of the page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pennywhistlers/199721593387765
In terms of old-ish but wildly more productive than I am, Ethel Raim (founder of the group) is still working at the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York, after 50 years.

Comments

[ichseke.livejournal.com]

Oh, my gosh, the Pennywhistlers! I haven't thought of them in years, but I was a hyooge fan in college. Thanks for the link.

[acw.livejournal.com]

Heh, I found that I was able to sing most of Majka Rada from memory. I even remember what most of it means. I have the very last last line ("... none for me but the most heroic of the standard-bearers") slightly garbled, though -- there are two very similar words, one of which, I think, is nai-junache "most heroic", but I've lost the other one.

I'm also not completely clear on what Rada's mother is actually doing in the first line. Majka Rada sitno plete ljuto k'lne. I think she's gently complaining while engaged in some textile craft, but my vocabulary isn't up to the task.

Now I should go listen to it to see how much I have right. Oh, also notice that in the feminine vocative singular, the -a on the noun changes to -o, but the corresponding -a on the adjective does not change: Shterka Rado, bjala Rado ... "Tall(?) Rada! Fair Rada!"

[acw.livejournal.com]

OK, I misremembered a line I quoted. It's Shterko Rado, bjala Rado ..., and now I'm confused about how the adjectives change -- why does shterk- change in the vocative, but bjal- not? I guess I should talk to Martha Forsythe.

[tchipakkan.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, I love having the knowledge of the world (theoretically) at my finger tips. I turn to the computer all the time to listen to a half remembered song, or retrieve a forgotten piece of information, or find a new one. I do enough research into esoteric subjects (such as Anglo-Saxon history) that I know that EVERYTHING isn't out there. I worry that young people may be becoming unaware that it is one (wonderful) resource among many, and may use it to the exclusion of others, something like the way Americans tend to be monolingual.