Down by the Old Mill Stream

[prosodic]

Lance mentioned to me this morning that Findlay, Ohio made the national news, but of course, not in a good way. It's the most flooded spot in Ohio, and one of the worst in the nation right now. CNN has a live cam set up right outside the downtown area right now...I'm not sure why. It's not all the exciting to watch a flooded street.

Of course, I have many relatives living there. Both grandmothers, my dad, various aunts, uncles, and cousins...

When I still lived there (we moved to Columbus when I was 10), we had at least one flood (Findlay seems predisposed to them)...not sure how old I was at the time. But it seemed pretty bad. That was small time compared to the one they're having now, which is comparable to the 1913 flood, which is now the stuff of legend.

It's a sobering thought that parts of Oklahoma are also dealing with flooding too, for the second time this year at least. That's going to be something we take into consideration when we buy a house...we have to make sure we're not living on a flood plain.

I have no word on how family members are doing at the moment, but I'm sure I would've gotten a phone call or an email if things were really bad. I think my Grandma S. is probably fine...she lives nowhere near the river. Grandma E. (in the nursing home) is surrounded by flooding...my dad told me that the other day. I'm not sure how he's doing.

The Blanchard River is receding...for now. More rain is expected.

And now, Tell Taylor's song, inspired by the Blanchard River, probably not something he would've written had he been living there right now:

Down By the Old Mill Stream

My darling I am dreaming of the days gone by,
When you and I were sweethearts beneath the summer sky;
Your hair has turned to silver the gold has faded too;
But still I will remember, where I first met you.

The old mill wheel is silent and has fallen down,
The old oak tree has withered and lies there on the ground;
While you and I are sweethearts the same as days of yore;
Although we've been together, forty years and more.

Chorus:
Down by the old mill stream where I first met you,
With your eyes of blue, dressed in gingham too,
It was there I knew that you loved me true,
You were sixteen, my village queen, by the old mill stream.

Comments

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Are you kidding? Because that song was composed about the Blanchard River, it is the most famous song in Findlay. They even have a little Tell Taylor memorial at Riverside Park, right on the river's edge. I'm sure it's flooded now. :P

Dude, it's famous like Ben Roethlisberger, who is from Findlay. ;)

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

And that was close enough to Peoria, Illinois and Burlington, Iowa (where my grandparents and their families were from) that both of my grandparents loved the song. My grandfather would occasionally croon it when I was a little kid. :)

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

My grandpa always crooned Big Band era stuff. I'm so lucky that I have a tape of his singing.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

After all the times I wanted to tape my grandparents talking about family history, I don't know why it never occurred to me to tape my own grandfather singing. Sigh.