Surprises
Tuesday, Aug 8, 2006
After almost ten years of marriage, I didn’t think my husband could still surprise me, but he did. On the way up to Chattanooga, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel, which is the usual custom on road trips. We do not deviate much from this ritual, and I do not order anything but the country fried steak and mashed potatoes with the white gravy. I’m sure there are other things on the menu, but none of them are worth eating.
So after lunch/dinner, we’re browsing the store because everyone is reluctant to get back in the car. My husband makes an impulse buy of a Johnny Cash Greatest Hits CD without even consulting the cheapest source on the internet. If this wasn’t surprising enough, he pops in the CD and begins singing along word-for-word with every tune. I’ve known Greg since March 1995, and I never knew he was a Johnny Cash fan.
What’s even weirder is that after dozens of hours cooped in the van, Mama sang tenor right along.
30 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
you must not have tried the grilled catfish sandwich on grilled sourdough bread. that is my most frequent choice at cracker barrel and even tho’ it has plenty of fat grams, i think it is still lower in fat than the fried steak w gravy. the flavor is (of the catfish sandwich) is great! mmmm. martha
Comment by martha (August 8, 2006 @ 2:34 pm )
do not order anything but the country fried steak and mashed potatoes with the white gravy. I’m sure there are other things on the menu, but none of them are worth eating.
Amen, sister. Although for a change of pace, you might think about the Chicken-fried Chicken. (No, it’s not cooked in a ring of fire…)
Comment by rev-ed (August 8, 2006 @ 2:58 pm )
Martha, I do not enjoy any seafood except shrimp, and even then, I’m peculiar about its method of cooking–not fried, preferrably grilled with some lemon, butter, and cajun seasoning.
Rev-Ed, To be truthful, I order the country fried steak and chicken fried chicken interchangably. With so much gravy smothered on, though, I can’t really tell the difference. Which is how I like it, though.
Comment by Amy Scott (August 8, 2006 @ 3:17 pm )
Off Topic Comment: I regularly read your blog and have been enjoying the articles/ blogs that you post in your sidebar. I just read your home birth article. I just experienced my first home birth! I appreciated reading your recent birth story and thought I’d link my story here in case you might like to read mine.
Comment by melissa (August 8, 2006 @ 3:23 pm )
Me and little brother would join right in there!
My husband has a wide range in musical tastes, and he moves from one genre to the next. We just finished a week or two of only listening to Johnny Cash. I actually enjoy the story/songs style. My four year old dubbed him “The Cash.” As in, “Can we wissen to some mow of “da Cash?”
Their favorite, much to my chagrin, is “Boy Named Sue.” Thank God for the mute button in our van!
Comment by Leslie (August 8, 2006 @ 3:45 pm )
Amy,
Entirely off topic here.
Are you using the Robinson Curriculum? I have seen it several times in your side bar (which I love reading - you come across the most interesting stuff!). Just curious. I just bought A2 and I found it because you posted a link to something that linked to RC and in researching that, I found A2. Whether you are using it or not, thanks for posting the link. I feel like I have a new lease on homeschool!
Comment by tonya (August 8, 2006 @ 3:47 pm )
At the risk of sounding like a northerner….
What is chicken-fried-chicken? Is it just fried chicken?
Comment by Amanda (August 8, 2006 @ 4:28 pm )
Oh, you are too funny!! We love Cracker Barrel as well. Being from Texas, we have our fill of chicken fried steak! I still love it!
Comment by Kelly Bowland (August 8, 2006 @ 4:51 pm )
Love reading your blog.
Ah..cracker barrel. I always order chicken n’ dumplings, w/ an extra side of dumplings…because you can never have too much dough in gravy!
my husband is also a big johnny cash fan…and so by proxy, i am now too. great stuff. isn’t it great to discover odd things about our spouses after so much time together.
Comment by ashlie (August 8, 2006 @ 5:38 pm )
I would have pegged you for a soprano.
I was having major Cracker Barrel cravings this past weekend, but wasn’t indulged. I’ll live vicariously through your chicken fried steak.
Comment by mopsy (August 8, 2006 @ 7:26 pm )
I knew that’s why I love Greg so much!!!!!!! What great taste he has in music!
(My first crush was Johnny Cash, at the ripe old age of 4),
Molly the Great
Comment by Molly (August 8, 2006 @ 8:10 pm )
Talk about cheap, you can listen to Johnny Cash for free at johnnycash.com. Just thought I’d share for the fans. We have recently been introduced to his music, it is quite fun!
Comment by Mist (August 8, 2006 @ 9:29 pm )
OK, this is funny! After 20 years, my mechanical engineer husband did the same thing, and I think it’s the same CD! He didn’t know the songs word for word, but he thoroughly enjoys his Johnny Cash CD. We even watched Walk the Line. He brought it home.
Hope you’re enjoying your new baby. My Baby#5 is four years old already. But he’s still my baby in many ways…
God’s blessings to you and your family.
Comment by Jill (August 8, 2006 @ 10:08 pm )
I just found out my college age daughter likes Johnny Cash–boy was I surprised!
Cracker Barrel is a wonderful place to eat. I bought a CD there many years ago called I think Litte Church in the Wildwood that had beautiful dulcimer church hymns.
Comment by Helen (August 8, 2006 @ 10:10 pm )
After reading this I had to put on Johnny Cash live at Madison Garden; it’s a great cd! Go Greg!
Comment by Denise (August 9, 2006 @ 12:32 am )
My husband bought the Johnny Cash CD this year too… It must be a guy thing, though I’ve grown to enjoy it as well. He grew up listening to his parent’s JCash LP and knew all the songs. I guess that JCash is pretty timeless…
Comment by Michelle-This One's for the Girls (August 9, 2006 @ 12:35 am )
LOL- Love Chattanooga, that is were we vacationed last summer. Did you all stay or just pass thru?
I can’t recall any Johnny Cash songs, although I’m sure I’ve heard plenty.
I would like to see that movie about him.
Comment by Amie (August 9, 2006 @ 1:18 am )
I grew up listening to my own daddy singing bass (and playing guitar) with the majority of his repertoire coming from the Man in Black. My children don’t know who Johnny Cash is, but they love the CD of their grandpa playing the hits. Their favorite? Ring of Fire.
Comment by Amanda (August 9, 2006 @ 3:22 am )
Melissa, Thank you for the birth story link. I am a birth story junkie myself.
I heard about Robinson a year or two ago. We employ the philosophy (3 R’s) and recently bought the CD’s used since we have short-term access to free printing. I also ordered the A2 (should come this week), which seems to be a Robinson on steroids. I appreciate the one disk very much, but I read Robinson is not planning on upgrading to PDF files. The printing is very slow going.
We will work through their current schoolwork until I have a good portion of books gathered, bought, or printed. Then we will make the switch. I purchased a wire binder (as opposed to plastic combs), and we are working our way through assembling everything.
All along, I’ve had an aversion to any material that needs a teacher’s manual, because of the cost on my time. I still have a baby and a toddler, and my goal after teaching a child to read is to teach them how to teach themselves. This works for the most part, as my two older children progress well on their own and work independently–with me making corrections and offering an explanation along the way.
The children are above grade level, but I wouldn’t say this is to my credit, but due to the fact that they read well, read daily, and read a lot of material. One of the things I need to improve on is providing an ample supply of quality literature, as my oldest read through 19 Hardy Boys books last month. He will need more than that for an education.
No, it’s country fried steak with chicken in it instead of “steak.” Funny, huh?
We were just passing through, but we did the train ride.
This annoys the choir I sing in, but I actually switch between first soprano and alto. (Not sure if you were joking, as “Mama sang tenor” is a line from the song.)
Comment by Amy Scott (August 9, 2006 @ 10:45 am )
This may be more than you want to know about singing, but:
Mama sang tenor …
There are at least two ways to describe harmony vocal lines. One is using soprano-alto-tenor-bass (SATB), which names the four lines usually found in written choral music (high to low).
In folk music (including old-time, bluegrass, and country) they use the terms lead-tenor-baritone-bass. The lead line is the melody line. The tenor line is sung above the lead line, and generally uses the harmony note just above the lead note in the current chord. The baritone line is sung below the lead line, and generally uses the harmony note just below the lead note in the current chord. The bass line is sung below the baritone line, and generally uses the root note of the current chord.
Depending on the vocal range of the singers and the kind of sound they want to achieve, they might substitute “low tenor” by dropping the tenor note an octave, or “high baritone” by raising the baritone note an octave.
Some singers are born with the ability to hear a melody and add a tenor or baritone part, but most singers can learn to do it readily with a bit of practice.
Bottom line: Mama didn’t sing tenor because she had a gravelly voice, she was probably harmonizing to some man’s lead vocal.
Comment by Rick Saenz (August 9, 2006 @ 11:11 am )
Okay - that’s just plain funny! You really didn’t know he liked or knew Johnny Cash? Hilarious!
Chattanooga is great! LookOut Mountain is wonderful….talk about beautiful!
I agree with you on Cracker Barrel…that’s the only thing on the menu as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get the dumplings…they are tasteless.
Comment by Holly (August 9, 2006 @ 11:55 am )
Hubby and I bought a Johnny Cash CD this year after seeing “Walk the Line”. Mind you, it isn’t our music style, but we couldn’t help but have his greatest hits on our iPod…it is part of Modern Americana. My 12 year old even has “A Boy named Sue” on her own playlist on the ol’ iPod. But the defining moment for us was when we had some new friends over and when one of them ended up with my guitar in his hands, he sang ALL the verses of A Boy Named Sue, bleeping out some choice words for the youngsters. Turns out he had a Johnny Cash record as a kid and learned the whole song then. I think I’ll put ol’ Johnny on today….and I’ll think of you and your post!
Never been to Cracker Barrel….We are on the West Coast.
Comment by Anonymous (August 9, 2006 @ 12:35 pm )
Aren’t *all* dumplings tasteless? (directed at comment #21 Holly) I’ve never met a dazzling dumpling.
I knew “mama sang tenor” was a line from the song. I figured after that long in the van *you* were singing tenor, too.
Comment by mopsy (August 9, 2006 @ 2:15 pm )
Chicken fried chicken is REALLY good….seriously. Try it
Comment by Lindsey (August 9, 2006 @ 3:17 pm )
Cracker Barrel? My absolute favorite restaurant, as much for the atmosphere as the food! I’ve never had anything there that didn’t taste good to me.
As kids, we always used to sing, “Mama sang bass, Daddy sang tenor”. I have no idea how that got started, but I grew up thinking those were the lyrics. Thanks for clearing that up for me….
LOL Jen
Comment by joythruchrist (August 9, 2006 @ 3:47 pm )
Amy, it will continue to amaze you as you find out things about your spouse. I have been married for 27 years. I have always bought or put up green beans that were frozen. My husband made a strange little comment to someone that I heard. I asked him later that if he were to go to the store to buy green beans for just himself and my son, which kind would he buy. He told me that he would buy canned, because the frozen ones are a little tough. =) So, for the first time, I am canning beans.
Comment by Marci (Farm Girl) (August 9, 2006 @ 5:27 pm )
I grew up on bluegrass, rockabilly and southern gospel–I just love it. My brother plays guitar and has a great baritone voice–perfect for Johnny Cash tunes. Everytime I hear Johnny Cash, it reminds me of him. Makes me a little bit homesick. I use Pandora.com and plug in names like Gillian Welch, June Carter Cash, or Johnny Cash. It’s fun to see what comes up.
Comment by Leslie (August 9, 2006 @ 7:32 pm )
I love this blog. It is just so great to know that there are so many folks out there who think ‘like we do.’ As for your CB meal of choice, Amy, add some baby carrots to that, and you have my every-single-time-we-go order. Mmmm… my grilled cheese dinner just ain’t stacking up anymore…
Comment by Aubrey (August 9, 2006 @ 8:09 pm )
I read the same thing about Robinson not planning to update. The one CD and easy printing sold me too. A2 is very user friendly.
I just received my cd in the mail last week (I think- time is a blur). I am planning to purchase as many of the books as I can afford, a few at a time, because I just like books. The feel and the smell and all that
So far, (I’m still in the planning/prep stages) I love it. I am interested to hear what you think about A2 once you get your hands on it.
Your Hardy-Boy-reading son sounds like me at that age. Only I was a die-hard Nancy Drew/Trixie Belden fan:)
Comment by tonya (August 10, 2006 @ 12:24 pm )
Before my dh & I were married, I was surprised to find out he’d been raised an avid Johnny Cash fan because I had been raised the same way.
At our wedding, after we kissed, they played “Ring of Fire.” Only a handful of people knew about it and our fathers and grandfathers LOVED it!! People still talk about it almost 12 years later.
And BTW, we’re implementing Robinson Curriculum or at least a similar approach for our four children…whom we are incidentally raising to be Johnny Cash fans!
Comment by Dena (August 11, 2006 @ 9:13 pm )