"Blow the Man Down!"

Yesterday, making her way across the "Circle of Death" to cross over the Massachusetts Turnpike via the walkway along the Boston Marriott Newton, Marash Girl was nearly (and literally) blown down by the record high winds.  The experience, though a bit unsettling,  caused her to remember the fun days in the living room at 474 Lowell Avenue in Newtonville when her dad and uncle first brought home a record player and with the record player came the recorded sea ditties "Blow the Man Down" and "What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor" . . .

Blow the Man Down

Come all ye young fellows that follows the sea
To me, way hey, blow the man down
Now please pay attention and listen to me
Give me some time to blow the man down

What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor

What do you do with a drunken sailor,

What do you do with a drunken sailor,

What do you do with a drunken sailor,

Earl-ie in the morning!

These lyrics and tunes she sings to herself on occasion, even to this day.  What fun that recording afforded all six of the kids.   They would put the record on the record player, raising the volume as high as it would go, and stagger through the living room, pretending to be blown down by the wind, or to be drunken sailors, laughing and falling into each other, then laughing even louder.  What fun, those days!