Should Have Been a Rock Star Zen Moment 1

Zen Music Moment

It was October of my senior year in high school.

Homecoming week.

It was traditional that one class afternoon was dedicated at our small school to building floats for the homecoming parade. That afternoon was everything that a homecoming day should have been, sun shining, a bit of a feeling of fall in the air. There was the smell of paint and crepe paper and glue. Kids ran back and forth, some dedicated to the floats, some making fun of those who were so into the float.

At the senior float area, our group worked slowly and unwillingly. My class had never been guilty of being ‘go-getters.’ But, eventually we finished a float with paper, and mesh wire and bales of hay that carried some now forgotten slogan about our team and the opponent.

We had a transistor radio playing while we worked. It was either KAKC or KELI radio from Tulsa. My class mates and I sprawled around the float, basking in the warm sun as the radio played. I lay on a bale of hay, wearing my red letter jacket with its bright white ‘K’.

It was then that “Hey Jude” came on the radio. Some of the kids sang along with it softly, some hummed and a few tapped their feet. I laid there silent, closing my eyes to a small squint that allowed in only a sliver of sun as that song washed across me.

It seemed like such a perfect moment that can only leave you either elated or sad that it had ended.