The Hillhouse

Elihu was born to polka, apparently. When we get into the car each morning to drive to the bus the first thing he says is: “Polka?” Now it’s bedtime and he’s singing along to his “Favorite Polkas of All Time” CD. I left the room briefly and when I came back he was trying to sing the tuba part. He said he was planning to be a really good tuba player by the time he was in fifth grade, as he was allowed to start in fourth. (I sure hope he’s big enough for the instrument by then.) “And you know in polka bands it’s not really the drums keeping the beat, it’s the tuba” he says to me as I write this. He is mesmerized by this particular style of tuba playing; short, punchy notes with a lot of groove. Really, some of these tuba parts are pretty swingin. After all this up energy, how do we end this polka jag tonite? Is there such a thing as a gentle, good-night sort of polka? Hmm, we have “She’s Too Fat Polka”, “Clarinet Polka” or “Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay”? I just gotta pull the plug… now he’s singing in Polish. Wow. Whoop De Doo – who knew?