Hambledon Hill (Mental Medication)

Was I high on Hambledon Hill or was it the oxycodone I was taking to avoid further disruption to my ailing back?  No doubt both were at play, but the moments spent with my youngest son Trey in the morning, and later that day three weeks ago with my friends at Six Flags over Texas seemed timeless. 

It was Raytheon Day at Six Flags which meant that employees, friends and family had the run of the park at a discounted price.  Although she is not a Raytheon employee, I had ironically been alerted to the event by my friend Sher which not only suggests my lack of attention to such things, but the complete absence of effective communication within my own company.  Regardless, it seemed a great idea and I planned to take the whole family only to find out later that Mike and Danny both had conflicts.  What a surprise.  Trey had recently missed an orchestra Six Flags event due to a conflict, so I promised him that he and I would attend.  Bobbi graciously volunteered for basketball fundraiser duty.

It was a beautiful fall day with a chill in the air reminiscent of my early childhood in Indiana.  We were up early as Trey had texted me from his upstairs bedroom by 6:00 a.m. wanting to know when we would be leaving.  I was determined to have a good time, but dubious about how my back would hold up to the obvious perils of riding roller coasters.  Mr. Freeze loomed large on the horizon.  By the time we got to Arlington, it was 10:00 and I felt the need to prepare myself in the event of a mid-ride muscle spasm, so I took an oxycodone I’d saved from a previous need.  By the time Trey and I had ridden our first roller coaster, I was ready for the day come hell or high water.

We rode one ride after another, including the Superman Tower of Power and the aforementioned Mr. Freeze roller coaster which was Trey’s favorite.  The thrill of any ride could not have surpassed the one of watching Trey thoroughly enjoy himself.  To make things even more fun for him, he ran into a couple of his buddies.  I took this opportunity to relax while he and his friends tried to set the world’s record for riding the Texas Giant and Titan roller coasters.

By this time, I was ever so content to sit on a bench and let the sunshine warm my soul.  I seemed to drift in and out of consciousness and started to hum a familiar, but forgotten tune in my mind.  Although I knew it was by Gordon Haskell and I had a sense of some of the lyrics, I could not remember the title of the song.  Without doubt the scene that the song creates, including the brisk but sunny morning, was how I felt.  I was at peace.  For the rest of the day and frequently since, I have been thinking about, and listening to Hambledon Hill.

The lyrics are obviously unique to the artist, but a few lines are eerily close to my own feelings that day.  Suffice it to say, the subconscious is a powerful thing.

Hambledon Hill Lyrics

Gordon Haskell

We walked in the sun on a Saturday morning
You and the baby on Hambledon Hill
And the passing of time was your friend for the asking
And all you were asking was the passing of time

And the whole of my world stood so wonderfully still
And I knew I was tumbling head over heel
And all in the space of a Saturday morning
High on Hambledon Hill

All I remember was not really knowing
Where we were going on Hambledon Hill
The pain you had gone through, the dream you held onto
No longer mattered on Hambledon Hill

And the whole of my world stood so wonderfully still
And I knew I was tumbling head over heel
And all in the space of a Saturday morning
High on Hambledon Hill

It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill
It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill

And if you should need me one Saturday morning
I will be walking on Hambledon Hill
I'll turn every stone there for what I have known there
For it all lies buried on Hambledon Hill

And all the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put us together again
And all the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put us together again

And all in the space of a Saturday morning
High on Hambledon Hill

It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill
It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill
It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill
It all hangs in my head
All of the heaven on Hambledon Hill

     

The phone rang.  Stop dreaming Dave.  It was Sher calling to say that she and her family had arrived as we had planned to meet them and others sometime during the day.  Trey is off trying for the world’s record, so I tell her that we’ll have to see them later.  Remarkably, I am not at all feeling any internal pressure to be accommodating, because I somehow sense things will happen naturally and they did. 

Trey sends me a text that he and his friends are riding the train to the Batman area.  As I make my way there, I walk up behind Sher, her husband Mark, Steven a workmate of Sher’s and his wife Beth.  Much like Trey, Mark and Sher’s daughter Heather had gone to spend time with her boyfriend.  I had just earlier met Beth, but it was the first time to meet Mark even though I felt as though I already knew him through Sher’s many anecdotes.  The greetings went well as they waited with me to catch Trey.  I kidded that I would lose that “Dad of the Year” award that I’d just earned if I lost him.  Beth took it to heart and became my lookout for the rest of the day.  While we waited on Trey, Sher coerced a “coaster averse” Mark into riding Batman.  Beth spotted Trey, so I told him to wait until he met my friend before he left again.  Shortly thereafter, Steven spotted Mark and Sher coming off the ride and joked that my friend’s husband might not be in a condition to meet anyone.  As it were, he seemed no worse for the ride.  Unfortunately, this was not to be a harbinger for further coaster events.  I let Trey run off again with his buddies and I became a willing 5^th wheel for the afternoon.

Again, just like the song lyrics, one of the things I liked best about the afternoon was not knowing or really caring where we were going or what we did.  I was just along for the ride so to speak.  I did suggest that the ride formerly known as Tony Hawk’s Big Spin had been pretty easy on my back earlier in the day and that Mark would probably be okay.  After a short wait during which Steven and I agreed to disagree about appropriate disciplinary actions for kids (another indication that I was chillin’) we embarked on our roller coaster ride.  Boy did I have a short memory.  Of course a ride with the words “Big Spin” in its title should have been our first clue.  Within seconds I was wishing aloud that I’d taken another pill and Mark was verbally regretting his choice to trust my judgment.  All the while, Sher was laughing so hard at us, that she was crying.

Sher and I were the only ones interested in the next ride, a pendulum-like carriage that eventually goes full circle, turning you upside down.  Trey and I had also ridden that one earlier in the day.  After we’d been locked down for safety, it became clear that Sher was being pressed too tightly to the seat.  After we complained, the attendant actually asked if we wanted her to reset it.  Duh, YES.  After what Sher later referred to as her free mammogram, I think she had an enjoyable ride.

Heather finally responded to her dad’s persistent texting as she and her boyfriend Christian joined the group.  It was great to finally meet Heather, a very cute girl whom I also felt familiar because of her mama’s stories.  From my perspective she quietly accepted more than her share of grief regarding an award winning bridge built from spaghetti.  Apparently Steven was under the impression that she received too much help from her father.  Oddly enough, this was the most awkward I felt the entire day and it really had nothing to do with me.  To spare her any further angst, her mother adeptly and thankfully suggested the topic be dropped.

We all headed towards the big roller coasters which included the newly reconstructed Texas Giant.  Seeing as though the last time I had ridden this thing had been at least fifteen years ago and it hurt me then, I decided discretion the better part of valor and stayed with Mark as the others rode.  As luck would have it, Trey and his buddies also showed up and rode the same coasters.  Mark and I rested and talked shop while occasionally bonding with a moment of shared conservative political views.  Meanwhile, the others concluded their day of coaster riding at various times.  Unfortunately Beth became somewhat ill and Sher would suffer from vertigo for a few days. 

Of course Trey was the last one standing and we all waited on him to finish his last ride on the Texas Giant as the park closed.  As the shadows drew near, I was glad to be wearing my fleece vest and I again recollected the many times during the day that I felt the sun shine upon me.  I felt warm inside. 

There have been many times that I have had feelings that were directly connected to both music and lyrics.  Seldom have they resulted in the feeling where the whole of my world stood so wonderfully still.  Another song, one which actually describes this process is Mental Medication by the late seventies progressive rock band U.K.  A brief snippet of the lyrics follow.

Mental medication
Sweet music's conversation
Play for all creation here

Melody fair.
Lost in contemplation
Drowned in meditation
Need your inspiration near.

I’m sure my physical medication was a factor for my mood, but on this timeless Saturday, Hambledon Hill, sunshine, great kinship and friendship were my mental medication.