I’ve never been someone who believes that friends and loved ones that have passed on have the ability to communicate with you from the afterlife.  Television shows featuring mediums that “talk to the dead” are just a bunch of hoo hah in my eyes and anything supposedly revealed is just happenstance or a coincidence.  But something weird has been happening in my neighborhood over the past couple of months that makes me think…  is Gregg Allman trying to communicate with me?

So before I get into the why, let me step back just a bit.  As many of you likely know, Gregg Allman passed away in late May of this year due to complications from liver cancer.  I’d recognized a number of recent passings of favorite artists, but due to the ever increasing ages of my rock heroes I thought to myself…  do I really want to recognize every artist when they die?  Do I just do favorites or those that have made an impact on me?  What if I forget someone?  After much waffling and internal debate on the subject, I figured it might be best to stop it altogether and make a casual reference to an artist in a shuffle post or in some other form rather than dedicate an entire post.  And I made this decision shortly after the death of Gregg Allman.

I’m not sure exactly when the odd occurrence happened, but I’m pretty sure it’s been over the past couple of months.  I take out our dog three times a day- once when we wake up, right after work, and before we go to bed.  We generally follow the same boring routine of out the door, turn left to go around the cul de sac, and then at the stop sign go whichever direction the dog’s sniffer takes us.  One evening when walking the dog before bed I hear the faint strains of music.  I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from but it was maybe 15-20 seconds worth of what sounded like some sweet melody from an unknown instrument.  My first thought was that someone had left the radio on because it would repeat every few minutes, but each time I was not close to the source of the sound.  I didn’t think much of it…  that is, until I heard it again… and again… and again…  during different times of the day and night.

Oh, it didn’t happen every day that I took the dog out nor did it happen any other time I may have been outside, but each time it slipped from my memory that darn figure would pop up again.  One day when it was fairly quiet I got a good listen to the tune-  a sweet guitar melody that sounded very familiar but couldn’t quite place it.  And finally I deduced the source of said tune-  a kid’s toy that looked like a little pink bus in my neighbor’s front yard, parked under one of their small trees..

What makes this story even stranger is that that toy has remained in the same location for the past two months with nary a child playing with it.  It’s been left out in the sweltering Midwest humidity, it’s been dumped on with inches and inches of rain, it’s been caught in hailstorms and windstorms and whatnot and I’d STILL hear that song.  Just when I thought the batteries may have died out or that the weather had finally gotten the best of it, that little pink bus would fire up it’s 15-20 second melody.  Short of Toy Story coming to life, I thought…  when is it going to stop?

And then it finally did.  Or so I thought…  two, maybe three weeks goes by and nary a peep from the neighbor’s yard.  I started to miss that little tune and tried to remember exactly how it went because it sounded like the Allman Brothers and always brought a smile to my face- was it “Little Martha”?  Maybe it sounds more like “Blue Sky”?  I dunno, but…  I haven’t heard it in awhile.  That is until today, bright and early at 6:30 AM when I was out with the dog as he did his business and then suddenly I KNEW.  This was a sign, a message from Gregg Allman telling me that I should have made a reference to his passing in a post.

So Gregg…  here it is…  it’s not going to be very long but I get the vibe from the short tune that it’s OK to be brief.  Many thanks for great music over the years and I hope you are up there laying down some new tunes with brother Duane and drummer Butch Trucks.  The Allmans legacy will live on in the hearts of jam bands everywhere.  May you rest in peace.

Oh yeah…  I know if I don’t hear any more out of that car then it really WAS you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShNoTozReoA