A Pickin' and A Grinnin'

On my Mom's side of the family we didn't really have family reunions.  She only had one sister and she and her family lived only about 20 miles away.  She also lived right next door to my Mom's parents.  So we saw them frequently, all year, every year.  I suppose you might count Christmas as a reunion.  We would all meet at my grandparent's house and have a Christmas celebration that included a talent show.  That's another story.  On my Dad's side, the family was a little bigger.  There were ten kids in his family and while most of them lived within a 60 mile radius of us, a couple lived in other states.  So we always had a big reunion in the summer and a smaller one around Thanksgiving.  Most of those ten had several kids as well so by the time I was in finishing high school reunions were getting to be pretty good sized because everyone made an effort to attend.  At that point, we were getting 70 to 80 people each year.  I loved it.

Anyway, one year we had a talent show at the summer reunion.  It was held at the family home, which was a farm.  They pulled one of the hay wagons into the back yard at the house, set up some stairs and it became the stage.  Then each family did their talent.  Our family did a musical number.  It was a humorous number.  I played the banjo, my sister played the mouth organ, and everybody sang along.

The lyrics were pretty simple and there were lots of verses.  You could probably find it on YouTube. I'm pretty sure we didn't do all the verses available, but here they are.

"Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.
Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.
I would slippy and I'd slidey,
Over everybody's hidey.
Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.

"Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.
Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.
I would ooey and I'd gooey,
Under everybody's shoey.
Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.

"Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.
Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.
I'd go down with a slurp,
and come up with a burp.
Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.

"Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.
Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.
I would sit upon the trail,
And knock everyone on his tail.
Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.

"Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.
Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.
I'd buzzy and I'd bitey,
Under everybody's nighty.
Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.

"Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.
Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.
I'd go squirty, squirty, squirty,
Over everybody's shirty.
Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.

"Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.
Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.
I'd go speedy, speedy, speedy
Over everybody's feety.
Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.

"Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.
Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.
Wouldn't I look cute
Without my swimming suit?
Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.

"Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.
Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.
Wouldn't it be fun
If I suddenly came undone?
Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.

"Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.
Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.
I'd stick to your hairs
And pull them out in pairs.
Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.

"Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.
Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.
I'd sit up in the trees
And perfume all the breeze.
Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.

"Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.
Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.
I'd sit up on the steeple
and dump on all the people.
Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.

"Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost.
Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost.
I'd give you such a scare
That you'd lose your underwear.
Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost."

One of the unique things about the performance was that I was playing a banjo that belonged to my great-grandfather.  My Dad had found it on the ranch, in one of the out buildings, a year or two before this reunion and had it restored.  So the day of the reunion, it was looking and sounding pretty good.  I had been playing around with it and my parents decided we should learn this song and my sister and I could do the accompaniment on the mouth organ and banjo.  It actually turned out pretty good, as I recall.

My great-grandpa's story with his banjo playing is pretty unique.  As I've heard it, he was pretty accomplished on the banjo and used to play on his own as well as with others whenever there was an occasion.  He lived in the days before radio so people were a lot more inclined to learn to play an instrument, or sing, or both and provide their own entertainment.  People would get together and whoever could play would provide the music, an informal, spontaneous band.  He did that, too.  Then, when he was older, he was in a sawmill accident and his left hand was severed.  The hand was reattached but he didn't have the dexterity it took to play the banjo anymore.  But he got around that by having his wife do the fingering while he did the picking.  That would have been interesting to see.  Anyway, Blaubeere has the banjo now and is working on learning to play.  Its a nice tradition.

The banjo in this picture isn't the same one, my great-grandpa's.  Its one that Blaubeere got. Nevertheless, I think its nice that its in the family and getting good use, that someone is learning to play.  I like that.  Actually, her sister, Edrbeere, is also learning - to play the guitar.  Maybe some day we can have our own rendition of Dueling Banjos.  Any duet would be fun. That'd be something!