Pioneer Dreams

I remember finding out Fred used to play drums when he hung out with his friends at the Bedford Street Club in the sixties and seventies. I picked up drums in 1999 and performed for a while, including at my own wedding.

Music was his friend. Fred loved the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Doors, and later, Steely Dan and even Frank Sinatra. I learned about music and even how to speak from early Beatles songs. I still know the words to most of the songs he played. He told me to “listen to the words”, which inspired me to love music and write lyrics. I love those very same artists.

Unbelievably, another thing we had in common is that we both constantly dreamt about Pioneer Supermarket, which has been a Banana Republic since 1985. We spent many a day in Pioneer as youngsters. I dream about the oil section, the cold cuts, dairy, produce, and the unique Italian products including that bitter liqueur-like flavoring whose name I cannot recall. I remember where everything was in that store. Where we received our nutrition, love, as Freud might say, in our formidable years. I dream of crossing the street near there, going back home. I remember when I couldn’t wait to shop for groceries independently, a chore I now disdain.

We both dreamt about Pioneer. I would visit it again, as a Banana Republic. But I cannot fathom sweaters in the place where the canned tomatoes that made Mamma’s wonderful spaghetti sauce used to live.