Results: Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine

My favorite of the Storyteller's works has always been "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine" and I must have listened to it half a dozen times that day between doses of "Harper Valley PTA" and "I Like Beer" among other old favorites. When an artist dies there's a tendency for sales and downloads of their work to spike. While I am more likely these days to head to YouTube, my old iTunes account is full of such purchases. Have you ever bought a song or an album following the announcement of an artist's passing?

The song tells the story of a man (Hall) sitting in a bar at closing time. The old gentleman who is cleaning up the joint sits down next to the man uninvited and shares his life's philosophy. Have you ever had an intimate conversation with a stranger in a bar, coffee shop, public park, airport waiting area, or the like?

The old man tells his companion that after having "tried it all" when he was young, he had found that there, "Ain't but three things in this world worth a solitary dime, but old dogs and children and watermelon wine." Have you ever had...

My favorite line in the song, "Old dogs care about you even when you make mistakes. God bless little children while they're still too young to hate." always makes me think. About things like forgiveness and acceptance, love and hate, kindness and cruelty. About how to become a better person. Is there a line from one of your favorite songs that gets you thinking about What, for lack of a better term, we'll call "big issues"?

The old man's viewpoint seems lonely and sad. Yet, at the same time, it feels so sweetly hopeful- a bit like coming home to that old dog or pulling into the drive and seeing that someone has left the porch light on for you. Can you think of three things that you value the way the old gentleman valued the things on his list? (And yes, that light in the darkness is on my personal list)