Turntable

Yesterday morning I was cleaning my house in anticipation of a guest. I thought I would put on some music and decided a record was a good choice since I hadn’t played anything on my turntable for a while. I lifted the cover and saw a record was already on the turntable. It was the Beatles “Abbey Road,” which I had since I was in high school. I had no recollection of putting it there. I admit that some nights I drink a little too much wine, but I was very shocked to see that album. I looked down at the other albums I have and the “Abbey Road” album cover was there among them but was backwards and facing the wrong direction. I am kind of anal about such things and it is unusual that I would have done that, wine or no wine. I looked again at the album and it was on side one. “Abbey Road” is one of my favorite albums but it is because of side two that I like it so much. I rarely play the side that was on the turntable. So I took it off, flipped it over and started to play the first song on side two which is of course, “Here Comes the Sun.” Something else was wrong. The turntable speed had been changed from 33 to 45 making the record spin too fast and the vocals sound more like The Chipmunks than the Beatles. My turntable was a recent gift from a friend and since I have had it, it’s always been on the 33 speed. In fact, as I stood there in amazement, I realized that I didn’t even know how to change the speed.

That was the point where I shut everything off and sat down. I had no explanation for what had just happened. There is the possibility that I may have done some of these things myself but not all of them. And certainly not changing the turntable’s speed. Of all the signs, whispers, messages I have received, none have been anything like this was. Figuring it out is like trying to interpret a dream which I have never been very good at. I always needed Coleen for that.

This morning I tried it again. I had on side two, queued up “Here Comes the Sun,” found the speed switch, slowed the revolutions to 33 and played it. Everything worked just fine. The album is old and has a few scratches but still sounded quite good. I must be doing something better today than I was before.

I have to leave for a few hours this morning but when I come back, the first thing I am going to do is check that turntable.

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