“Peas’ed” to be Graduating…

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

Delaney Lynn Ruble.

Our oldest granddaughter.

She graduated recently from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Plans were to graduate in the spring of 2023 but a “bookkeeping error” of sort forced her to stick around in Bloomington for just a little longer to collect a credit.

The neat thing was she had to find an “extra-curricular activity” to be involved with so she re-joined the I-U “Marching Hundred” for the 2023 football season.

The best part for us was seeing her march with her younger brother, Keaton so this family had a significant share of the band population.

The bad news was the family had to suffer through an ignominious Hoosier football season at “The Rock”.

Being a family of “music nerds”, football was always that activity where there was this football game sandwiched in and around the bands’ pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.

Delaney was part of the percussion section initially and pounded on a snare.

Did the same thing in high school, too.

The drum section tends to tilt a bit more toward the masculine side so Delaney had to learn how to deal with that.

She put me in my place years ago when I told her I played drums in the high school

band.

She acknowledged me with “I know, Grandpa, but you were a drummer. I’m a percussionist.”

She was so right.

She can play anything you can hit or strike and do it quite well.

She even decided to play the trumpet when she marched with IU this fall.

Picked one up and learned how to toot.

Any wonder she wants to teach music?

Her Grandma always said she could carry a tune, too.

That went back to a church play when she performed as “Delaney O’Dell”.

Not only could she sing but she exhibited a stage presence even at a young age.

There’s a bit of a ham in that young lady.

But I witnessed another side of her during her college music recital.

She performed on a number of instruments and then taught the entire audience in attendance to sing a song.

She handed out the lyrics and directed us, verse-by-verse, until we were all up-to-speed and we all sang together.

Under her guidance.

Now, I had never heard the song before.

It was from “Over the Garden Wall”.

“Send me a Peach” has lyrics that dive deep into the heart of a special relationship and it has become on of my favorite tunes.

“I never dreamed that there’d come a day

when I’d find myself far from your arms.

Now that I am I can hardly stand

not to be near your sweet southern charms.

Send me a peach from ole Georgia

down where the Savannah flows.

If I could have one bite of Georgia

I would feel right here at home.”

I remember Delaney sitting in the back seat of my truck and we would play word games to pass the time while we we waiting on someone.

At times, she was almost “too fast for the room”.

But that ability has served her well and will continue to do so as she moves forward in her life.

I think she’ll be able to do pretty much what she “peas-es”.

(That’s our own little joke.)

Good luck Laney Bug!

I love you.