86 This Thing

(Copy and paste this link for Steve Cannon theme)
http://www.pavekmuseum.org/cannon_theme.mp3

The other morning I awoke to read the news that Steve Cannon had passed away. To be honest I wasn’t even sure who he was other than his name sounded familiar. While driving on my way to work I tuned into WCCO radio and they were talking about Steve. They played a few audio clips and I was completely taken off guard by the amount of memories that recalled. We never had a television at home; it’s just something my parents didn’t believe was necessary. However we did have a radio and my Mom had that on either WCMP or WCCO almost all day everyday of the weekday. It seemed I never took time to listen to the radio because it was always there in the background in and around the home. Kind of like an old chair except noise. I remember the early morning broadcast on WCCO, Boone and Erickson. They were always my Mom’s favorites. She never cared for Steve Cannon yet the radio usually stayed on. Steve would come on air in the afternoon. The barking dogs opening song was always a key to what time of the day it was. Much like a clock for us but you didn’t have to look. The front porch holds a lot of memories for me. There were so many beautiful sunshiny days. As a kid I would stop for a snack and sit outside on the Eastern steps of the old farm house and soak in the peace and quiet of the country. I remember the dining room window would always be open and I could hear WCCO in the background mixed with the birds chirping outside or the roosters crowing. I could normally be seen eating a bowl of Cheerios on those steps. For me, the Wednesday morning trips to the Pine City Flea Market somehow were associated with the sound of the radio. It’s possible the radio was on while the sun started to peek over the tree tops. Or maybe it was the sound of some Flea Market seller who insisted on having their radio on WCCO as if it was a successful marketing tool? Walking through the Flea Market was always so interesting. The people were of a different type, strange people and we were one of them! The baby chicks always caught my attention. Mom and Dad would never let me buy chickens there but I always stopped to daydream and study their personalities. The same goes for the puppies. We purchased one of my first bicycles from there. It was a blue BMX and it was the best bike ever, and even better after I painted it blaze orange. It was used, but my Dad showed me the rubber pointed things on the new tires and told me “it’s like new”. This makes me laugh, my brother just bought a new Honda four-wheeler and I pointed out the rubber pointed things on the tires and told Justin that’s how you can tell this four-wheeler is brand new! I wonder if someday Justin will be spreading that wealth of knowledge… I was at work thinking about all these memories and discussing Steve Cannon with one of my co-workers who has similar memories from WCCO. I felt a strong desire to call my Dad and talk about the good old’ days. I picked up the phone, and then put it back down. Dad hasn’t listened to WCCO since Mom was taken somewhat suddenly by cancer in 2004. Not once has the radio been on while I was visiting Dad. I started thinking about the memories he must have of his wife of over 50 years. That’s something I cannot yet imagine but I am assuming he doesn’t want to recall the pain of missing someone he was so used to having there to talk too. The phone sat on the receiver while the thoughts poured through my head. I took lunch break and throughout that time I researched WCCO and Steve Cannon using my cell phone and internet. Kari and I recently cancelled my coverage of internet on the cell phone and I know I wasn’t supposed to be using it. It didn’t matter. I was going to pay for it regardless. In fact, just last night Kari gave me the old “Ummm, Verizon called today and politely said somebody was using the internet and used $35 in usage minutes so I had them lock it out”. I just told her I had to check a few things on the internet. No need to explain why I felt the need to research WCCO and Steve Cannon. If I was to tell her I used it to research Steve Cannon she would likely have given me that look like “what crevice opened now to release that”… After lunch break I called Dad. We talked about his tractor, the wet driveways, and all the normal chit chat, or for two men it’s called the normal chet. I asked him if he heard Steve Cannon passed away. I was surprised to hear he hadn’t, he usually is up on news and technology. Our conversation quickly went into the theme song. He said the song came from Eveleth, Mn and was of barking dogs. We talked about Steve’s “imaginary voices”. For people that don’t know Steve he was a lone person on the radio but he talked for 4 people including holding complete fictional characters and holding conversations between them all. We talked about Ma Lingar, Backlash LaRue, and Morgan Mundane. I did my best at barking the opening theme over the phone for Dad. We laughed and talked about Mom always having the radio on in the house. He said it’s been a long time since he has heard those names. He told me that Mom would always wait to see if Steve would show up at the State Fair; Steve didn’t like fairs and always took his vacation during that time. We laughed some more and said goodbye. Another story told. I am glad I called him. I shall go eat a bowl of cheerios and then 86 this thing.