UNCHAINED MELODY....

“Use the wings of the flying Universe,
Dream with open eyes;
See in darkness.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

"Flight boarding for Vancouver, San Franciso, Los Angeles. Gate 26"  So long ago. But I need to back up a bit.  When I was a student, I  decided to get my Masters degree, somewhere, far away, in a cool place.had trouble deciding what would be the coolest. Germany, France, Switzerland. But that didn't work. Maybe  Ireland,  Scotland or England.  Yeah, no. So it was time for the states. North Carolina, Florida, Illinois, New York,  plus every state I could think of. California seemed to want me. International quota. That was moi.  Neato, I thought. Unknown, here I come.

 I got accepted to a  college in California, I had never heard of, never visited. All I knew was that Redlands had a lot of trees, and  an orchestra. I never even spoke to the violin teacher. Only the Dean and his secretary.  I Got my stuff together, my violin, and a return ticket in case I changed my mind. Two days before leaving, my mother got an idea from watching Perry Mason. She figured people at airports were all international spies and would try and steal my violin. 

She dragged me , and my violin,  down to the hardware store and demanded the clerk cut a 12 foot chain that could be attached to my case, then  to me. I looked like a gangster with a weird tommy gun. And that's how I showed up at the airport. The entire trip I kept setting off sirens.  Security guards came out of their coffee breaks to have a gander at the 12 foot chain drooping onto the floor,  around my ankles. Guards chewed gum and circling, asking  questions. Awkward.

I kept thinking my mother was hovering over me the entire time, tugging at the chain. Telling me to stand up straight and don't slouch. At San Francisco airport  one of the security guards asked me: What's in the case? What's with the chain? He scanned the chain. It beeped. I felt like Marley's ghost.

I said courageously "Wouldn't you like to know..." Well, He DID and I ended up having to take the violin out and play it  in a separate room.  I even got a three man escort . People parted  as I walked by. Apparently, you can't talk to security that way. Weird thing was, I couldn't remember anything to play. I scratched my head a lot and decided on Twinkle twinkle Little Star. It was safe.  I couldn't remember anything else.

Guards seemed to like that. So I played it as a round. They nodded their heads.  They let me go, and my chain and I dragged itself back to the lineup. Clank Clank, went the links.

A  fellow traveller asked me what was in the case. "Mind your own business," I quipped. And the whole line of people, to my amazement, kind of moved away from me, again. The man did a double take and went to the back of the line. Can't say stuff like that now. Couldn't say stuff like that then. Security guard showed up again, after the guy complained about me.  I played Twinkle Twinkle  for everyone. They must've thought I was nuts.  I was young and a bit of a ding dong; my mother showed up  in my mind's eye. She shook her finger at me. 

That was a ponderous chain.

At San Franciso  airport, security made me play  twice.  Twinkle Twinkle  was becoming a hit. Twenty years of  lessons, and it was all I could muster. The violin bow  shuddered on the strings, my hands were sweaty. The  chain swerved  around my toes.

Again, the security guards let me go. I hauled that 12 ft chain with me  out of the little room they had me  in.They were very nice. I was given  lunch while I waited in there. My chain and I clanked  down the hallway.  I had to get to the next gate to fly into LAX.

Unfortunately, I got lost in the airport and couldn't find the gate.   A group of cult worshippers, selling a book on  some sort of   extensional way of living, found me. They  tried to sell me their orange and red covered tome.  The head guy said it was only $25, would I like to join? He said my chain was symbolic of the weight of the world, and didn't I find it heavy? Yeah, heavy, man, real heavy. 

I ended up having to play for them as well. Twinkle surfaced once again, but  they didn't seem to mind. They intoned "far out" a lot  and finally pointed me the right way, and  even gave me one of their  books. I had a look at it  at my next stop. It was king of  far out, way far out. I gave it to the security guards at the last gate. 

And yes, I had to play the violin again.  Good old Twinkle served me well again. I explained I was from Canada, and yes this was all I played. They let me through anyways. I saw my mother, wiggling her finger and shaking her head at me.

When I got off the plane at LAX, I couldn't believe how hot it was. I thought it was the heat from the engines, but no, it was the heat  from the sun I would feel for the next five years. I grew to love that heat. I grew to love the people. I made some neato friendships.

The chain  sagged and  dropped to the cement.  I  ripped off it off  dumping it into the nearest garbage container. . Eventually my playing skills returned to normal and I could do more than Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  It became the unchained melody throughout the years.....

Photographs 2023