A couple of years ago, for the old print version of The Times Examiner, I wrote a version of this article. I read it again recently and it gave me a few chuckles. In this time of stress and demands for “societal change”, perhaps you’ll get a few much needed laughs to brighten your day, if only for an instant or two. Many of us recall, with lots of nostalgia and fondness, that great musical film, “The Sound of Music.” We saw it in Charlotte, N.C. for the very first time in 1966, and I confess we were delighted by the wonderful music and songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and the interesting script, based only VERY loosely on the real history of the Von Trapp Family Singers of Austria, prior to WW11.
The character of Maria, the young orphan novice who would “never become a nun”, was played by that great actress and singer, Julie Andrews, who is now 82 years old, but still active in musical and theatrical productions, although she rarely sings any longer, her once magnificent FOUR OCTAVE voice damaged by a botched surgery to remove nodules from her vocal cords.
Three years ago, to commemorate her 79th birthday, Julie made an appearance in Radio City Music Hall in New York City. As expected, her fans wanted her to sing “My Favorite Things,” from “The Sound of Music.” The lyrics she used were a bit “different” from those she sang back in 1965 when TSOM was first released. I can relate to her new lyrics quite well. Perhaps you can also:
“Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
bundles of magazines tied up in strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses;
pacemakers, golf carts, and porches with swings,
these are a few of my favorite things.
When the pipes leak, when the bones creak,
when the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don’t feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
no spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
these are a few of my favorite things.
Back pain, confused brains and no need for sinning,
thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinning,
and we won’t mention our short shrunken frames,
when we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, when the hips break,
when the eyes grow dim,
then I remember the great life I’ve had,
AND THEN I DON’T FEEL SO BAD!”
Reportedly, Andrews received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd in Radio City, a beautiful theater I went to once upon a time to see a performance of The Radio City Rockettes, and watch the first release of the film, “The Pajama Game.” (Yes, I was there back in 1957, a long time ago). I surely do relate to many of those “joys of aging” that Andrews sang about, and the words did bring smiles to my lips, even though admittedly they are NOT my “favorite things.”
But there are other words that Americans used to recall fondly; sadly these words appear to be slipping away from the consciousness of our
people, just as those of us who used to quote them from memory are also “slipping away.” Here are a few of MY “favorite things,” to which you,
perhaps, can also relate:
PREAMBLE TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE-1776
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
PREAMBLE TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION-1787
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
BILL OF RIGHTS: AMENDMENT NO. 1-1791
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
BILL OF RIGHTS: AMENDMENT NO. 2-1791
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
Those noble words are a few of “my favorite things” from our shared
history. They form the very heart and soul of our nation—our culture—our history—our reason for being—our identities as Americans—our
thankfulness to our Founders—and our determination to transmit them to OUR posterity! Most of us knew these words by heart, once upon a time. But the sinister forces of progressivism in our government and in our educational system and in many of the institutions that have made us “who we are,” have slowly and subtly determined over recent decades that our youth would no longer be taught these “hallowed” words, and the reasons why our ancestors valued them so highly. The progressive ENEMIES of our liberties and our heritage have been far too successful, because these words—and the free way of life they represent—have been almost totally consigned to the dusty attics of history, sent to the official “Memory Hole” of Big Brother’s government, deemed to be too “politically incorrect” to be allowed to survive into our future, and deemed to be too dangerous to the goals of those who lust after the establishment of their “New World Order,” to replace our “more perfect order” that was given to Americans by our Creator, and codified into our Constitution by our Founders, most of whom knew Who it was that gave the blessings of liberty to us in the first place.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just relish our more innocent past, when Julie Andrews sang the words to Richard Rodgers song, “My Favorite Things?” Don’t you remember…
“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings—
these are a few of my favorite things.
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles,
wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings--
these are a few of my favorite things.
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes;
silver white winters that melt into spring—
these are a few of my favorite things.”
I’m certain that all of us can identify with those “favorite things” of the song, and I know that each of us has his/her own favorites. Here are a few more of MY FAVORITE THINGS:
Great words of freedom, and tyranny in ashes;
Happiness and Godliness and no driving crashes.
Glorious Fall days and tongue slurps from dogs--
Those are the “contents” of my favorite ‘blogs.’
Grown kids and grandkids and puppies all cuddly,
Wondering at mountains and memories not “muddily”;
History’s great places that rise up with wings—
Those are just some of my favorite things.
Ocean waves all ‘roaring,’ with salt in our ‘lashes,
Flying o’er sand dunes, with no Wright Brothers’ crashes,
In antique red biplanes with the sun on their wings—
These are just more of my favorite things!