In Appreciation...of the Simple Pleasures of Life

Zeena Singh Hello folks, I believe that life has so much to give if only we cared to give a little thought to the most minuscule of joys (which we’d find so much of) only if we’d stop looking at the looming discomforts and discontents. So here I am, to share with you the simplest joys in my life as I have experienced some time in my life and those that I take as I face each day, at a time. Being in ( Muskrat) Love It dates back to a time in the 70’s when Willis Alan Ramsey wrote it, to be sung by the group ‘America’ to reach the Billboard Hits, and then re-sung in the mid seventies by the duo, Captain and Tennille , hitting number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart , touching even No 1 on the Easy Listening Chart. 2014 had it featuring in a production of a Circuit Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts. When was my first encounter with it? Perhaps a good two decades since its inception. It struck a good chord in my ear. In an interview in 2001, Toni Tennille was quoted to have said –“people either love it or loathe it”. I choose to be on the side of those who ‘have a thing for’ it, in simple words meaning to say,  ‘love it’. This tale in melody, is about the two,( Suzie and Sam) in love and a-courting. No big deal you say? I accept; nothing exceptional to a love story of two individuals. Deigned by the creator.                                             It but happens almost every other minute of every other day! In Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters; in the neighbourhood parks, displayed or subtle, in serious boardrooms and dizzy bar rooms. So, what of THIS? Easy and Unadorned, I‘d say, Unpretentious, Effortless and Untainted – that’s how it presented itself to me, this lovable love story from out of a mixed album two decades ago.  It had at first stopped me in my tracks in a somewhat wry smirk but on the double take it turned into something more pleasingly enjoyable. Today as I raked through what I found speckled and strewn along my pathway I was glad that this remained locked in my trove of treasures and I share it with you because it still cheers me up however trivial a pleasure it might appear. Do give it a listen and a read. I am confident it will turn your smirk into a smile as well. MUSKRAT LOVE – by Captain and Tennille Muskrat, Muskrat, candle light Doing the town and doing it right in the evening It's pretty pleasing Muskrat Suzie, Muskrat Sam Do the jitterbug out in Muskrat Land And they shimmy... Sam is so skinny And they whirl and they twirl and they tango Singing and Jinging a Jango Floating like the heavens above Looks like Muskrat Love Nibbling on bacon, chewing on cheese Sam says to Suzie, Honey, would you please be my Mrs. Suzie says yes with her kisses Now he's tickling her fancy, rubbing her toes Muzzle to muzzle, now, anything goes as they wriggle, Sue starts to giggle And they whirl and they twirl and they tango......