"A Happy person breaks in to song at least 3 times a day."

Darrin Fish was one of two Captains of the Warroad Warrior High School football team back in 1992. Besides football, he and I shared a few other things in common. We enjoyed a good laugh -usually at the expense of sacrificing a ground breaking lesson in English class. Darrin and I both enrolled in and actively participated in Weight Training class. Admittedly, he may have been blessed with some genetics that were more responsive to tossing rocks. Either way, we pumped some iron together back in the day. As a matter of fact, he and I both worked for a time being at the American Legion. It's probably a good thing that careers weren't made there but we no doubt got our money's worth out of every single complimentary meal earned once per shift.
One of the things that I most remember binding us together was our affinity for Classic Rock & Roll - not the Chuck Berry and the Big Bopper rock. I'm talking 60's, 70's, early 80's stuff with a little more punch, harder rock. Clapton, Sabbath, Hendrix, Floyd, KISS - good vinyl that I could easily raid from my Old Man's record cabinet. Bluesy, folk rock to some, HEAVY Metal to others. The thread that held it all together for us two friends though was a higher appreciation for four lads from London that once went by the name of "the New Yardbirds". The world remembers them as LED ZEPPELIN.
I fondly remember discussing the finer points of each album like we were heralded music critics. We regularly tried to impress each other by spouting off random facts that we picked up anywhere from books, to documentaries, to even stories from older generations that may have experienced the madness firsthand.
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This morning I threw on a headset in the school's computer lab. Forced in front of a screen for the better part of two hours, I wondered how I would fill the time while my students navigated their way through purposeless, standardized testing practice. Pandora was my answer - Online music streaming at my finger tips! Having plugged a few genres in to the music service website before, I had a few choices when I first logged on.

Not in the mood for Classic Country. The arctic weather outside and this cold computer lab wouldn't mix at all with a dose of 90's Hip Hop. Stone Sour, Zac Brown, not even Carrie Underwood sounded like the right fit to soothe my soul this morning but my day took a Big Uptick when I clicked on Led Zeppelin Radio.
"Tangerine" (by far my #1 song from Zeppelin III) started a wonderful ride - followed by "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (all 9 parts of Pink Floyd's classic composition) - Steve Miller Band, Tom Petty, CCR, back to Led Zeppelin - the music kept the headphones flooded with good vibes. The somber mood in the testing lab had no bearing in my blogging world. A World that, this morning, was accompanied by a clutch soundtrack!
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Darrin Fish, as I remember, was an introvert. Sitting in the crowd at a Football PepFest my Senior year, I could see my friend struggle as our coach called him up front and in to the spotlight. Coach Bengston whipped the crowd up with little effort. Everyone was primed for the next Big game. I sensed that Darrin was uncomfortable when it became apparent that soon the Head Coach was going to hand his Captain the microphone.
Fish froze when it actually happened. He almost went Twilight Zone on us. There he stood with a blank stare on his face while he rocked back and forth - at a loss for words. And that's when I hollered from the masses....
"Lyrics! LYRICS man - hit us with some Lyrics!"
People laughed and Darrin smiled.
Everything was just alright.