I couldn't sleep this morning so I got online and thought I'd do a bit of fantasy online shopping - which is just me browsing and searching books and DVDs and imagining myself actually having enough money to buy interesting books and being able to afford to buy complete collection DVDs of my past favorite TV shows. It's a fun hobby, and it doesn't drain your wallet or purse! I came across some interesting TV shows that I used to like - most of them all being cartoons from my childhood past - which brought about nostalgia. This got me thinking about past summers of my childhood and I couldn't help but recall one specific summer that still is fresh in my mind.
The summer I am referring to happened in the mid 90's; I had passed the second grade and was dreading the soon approach of third grade. My mother allowed me the chance to spend a few weeks at my great-grandmother's house in Georgia, with my great-grandmother. I am possibly one of the few who has ever enjoyed spending summers with their grandparents as opposed to their parents. One of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much at my great-grandmother's house (aside from my deep love for my great-grandmother) was that she had cable, so I was able to watch shows that I never could on regular TV at home. My favorite network channel was Nickelodeon, and it had all of my favorite shows that I loved watching whenever I visited my great-grandmother: Salute Your Shorts, Rugrats, Doug, Clarissa Explains It All, Rocko's Modern Life, Are You Afraid of the Dark, All That, and the complete anticipation for Saturday to arrive for Nickelodeon's Snick.(They're linked to YouTube videos, in case you wanted to take a look at what they are, if you have never heard of them).
During that summer, I battled tonsillitis and had severe sore throat moments and terrible fevers. (It wasn't until I entered the third grade that I had to have that taken care of.) During these bad moments, when I wasn't watching Nickelodeon, I was watching a network (I believe it was CMT) that showed country music videos (it being Georgia after all), which was something of a discovery for me. I was amazed at this genre of music and, especially, of its fellow singers like Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, and Garth Brooks. I was so enthused by this discovery that I had a habit of scheduling a certain time frame every morning to watch the network channel that showed the country music videos. One day, while watching the channel, there came a video by Ray Stevens titled "The Streak." It was a funny video about a cartoon person streaking through town and causing disruptions. He also had another music video that was always shown too titled "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival." That video became a favorite of mine, especially because of the setting - a church - and the humor. The video was a fun satire that had a nice message in the midst of the humorist commotion, and it was this video that I remembered this morning as I was feeling nostalgic about that particular summer at my great-grandmother's house.
Part of the reason for the nostalgia isn't because of the TV shows - or the specific music videos and music genre - I once loved. They represented a place that I once enjoyed being at (a place to where I only had access to these shows and networks of my childhood). I felt safe with my great-grandmother. I felt loved. Furthermore, she was, and still is, one of the very few people who has ever believed in me. She is someone I truly care about in this world, and I would greatly be at a loss if I ever lost her.
After recalling that particular summer, and especially that one particular Ray Stevens video, I searched on YouTube for the video and it brought back so much memories of being in my great-grandmother's house, early in the summer morning, watching country music videos. What's still shocking is that it is as funny as it was when I first watched it way back when. Therefore, I conclude this post by including that particular Ray Stevens video.
The Mississippi Squirrel Revival
Source: YouTube's raystevensmusic channel
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