My second mode of listening is background, and for that I sometimes choose vinyl, and sometimes not. It depends on what else I am doing. If I am doing something that takes 20 minutes or so, or if there are a lot of people in the house and we are playing a game or something, I often put on vinyl because I am being active and don’t mind walking over to the turntable every 20 minutes and turning the record over or putting on a new record. But if I have music on in the background when I am reading a book or relaxing on my iPad with the New York Times or a crossword, then I typically will listen to a digital format, usually Sonos, which I have in all rooms and all locations. I will often put on music that is comfortable in the background, maybe some Ella or Art Tatum or even Bill Evans, stuff I know and don’t have to concentrate too much on, but is comfortable and somewhat soothing even. At night, going to sleep, I always use Sonos. I have created about 60 or 70 playlists I have labeled “Ballads,” as in Ballads 1, Ballads 2, Ballads 3, Ballads, A, Ballads B, in multiple combinations using a mix of music, jazz and vocals, plus other favorites such as James Taylor, Allison Krauss, Nancy Lamott, Sinatra, and The Beatles.

Then, there is the question of what to do with new records that I purchase. In the past, I have always tried to listen to each record before putting it on the shelves and immersing it into the collection. But, that stopped working years ago when I started buying more and more records at at time, and then collections, and, at the same time, stopped spending as much time listening as I did before life got in the way. So, sometimes, new records will get buried in the collection without a listen but with the promise that someday, when I get old and retired, I will have all of this time to put great music on the turntable and it will all come as a pleasant surprise to have fresh music in my ears after all of these years. I do realize that scenario is just a pipe dream and, if the time ever does come where I do have more time to listen, I will much more likely go back to my old friends and enjoy their company and remind myself of great times in my life and how and when I purchased each record and where I was when I first heard it and all of the other associations it brings and all of the other things you do when you get together with friends and family and reminisce.

And that’s my story, today, Dec. 8, 2019. I am perhaps somewhat nostalgic on this day because this was the date, 39 years ago, that John Lennon was shot, just a few blocks from where I am sitting now and writing this post. Sometime this afternoon, I will walk over to Strawberry Fields in Central Park and join the crowds of people there singing Beatles and Lennon songs and paying tribute.