"I stopped to see a weepin' willow
Cryin' on his pillow
Maybe he's cryin' for me.
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night winds whisper to me
I'm lonesome as I can be
I go out walkin'
After midnight
Out in the starlight
Just hopin' that you may be
Somewhere a walkin' after midnight
Searchin' for me"
I was eighteen, a romantic, and desperately wanting to be loved. I would play my Patsy Cline greatest hits tape over and over again. Patsy Cline is like a musical salve to a love sick heart. This song was one of my favorites.
Walking after dark was one of my great loves. Especially after midnight. This song may be to blame for my youthful stupidity for walkin' after midnight by myself at 18 and 19. When I went to school in Kansas I would go out walking at night quite often. There was a little park not far from the college that had this white gazebo that you could sit in. It was fairly close to the town police station, so I felt it was safe. And come to think of it, that park may have even had weeping willows in it, but that could just be a trick of time and failing memory.
I would walk to this park on clear nights and sing this song to myself as I walked. This particular refrain was my favorite part of the song. When I was a young girl between 5 and 6 my school bus would pass by an old weeping willow. That tree was comforting as we would pass by it. I thought of it as "my" tree with its low hanging branches that were somehow both sad and protective looking.
As that little girl I always wanted to sit under that willow tree. Even now as I look at the picture of one it is inviting.
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| Picture of a weeping willow in Washington State |
As I walked I would sing, hope, and listen to the night winds whispering; they would tell me that somewhere someone was walking and searching for me.
I was a hopeless romantic.
*I do not condone women walking alone after midnight, or at night for that matter, because more than likely anyone you find at that time of night who is out searching for you would not have love and romance on their mind.*
How good it is to "hear" your voice again, Karmen. And I love your voice here, how you tell your story, your wry aside comments and images like slides from an old reel of your childhood. I, too, have always held a love for weeping willows, though I can't say I ever thought why, until you described them as "sad and protective." They are that, aren't they? And I might add, for me, whimsical and imaginative, like entering a curtained fort. And though you don't condone women walking about late at night (good call, by the way), I have to say, there is something special about those night whisperings, isn't there? So much love to you.
ReplyDeleteThank you friend! I am glad to have a voice again. Yes, weeping willows are whimsical as well as imaginative. I wish it were safe to walk at night, because that is the best time to walk. When I went to New Mexico the person I was visiting and I went to a lake to go fishing. We were there until it was dark, and I almost walked right into the lake. =) A different kind of danger I suppose to night walking. No idea why I just shared that, but well I did. =) Much love back to you as well!
ReplyDeleteI used to BEG my parents to get a weeping willow when we were little. There was a big beautiful one down the street and I felt like it must have been a secret garden inside. My imagination created an entire world of fun to be had under those beautiful branches. My dad said they were known to have roots that pierced underground pipes and cause trouble. So that was that. Carisa planted some in her new landscaping!
ReplyDeleteCarisa seems like good people! They are like something out of a fairytale.
DeleteLove this! I have always loved willow trees too!!!!
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