Dad was famous around
town and in the family for his
"bellows shake" on the accordion, and I
can still
hear on these tracks today that it really gets the
tempo jumping when he launches into that bellows
shake and the crowd
always hooted and my uncles
would stamp their feet when doing the "double hop"
polka around the room. Every time I see the "wedding
scene" in the
movie The Deer Hunter
it
brings back
memories of my childhood and teen years because
that scene was very similar to our German and
Polish family weddings
and the dancing to the
ethnic music is one of my fondest memories
growing up. And how could I forget to include
the story about how Dad
was the only person we ever
knew that played the "door"? He would roll up his
sleeves and make a big pretense about getting ready
to do
something big. Then he would slightly wet his
fingertips with his
tongue and open the cellar door or
closet door, which were not painted
but had a rough kind
of wood surface. He then would rub his fingers
over the door
with just the right amount of friction to produce an
amazing
bass sound. We all laughed every
time Dad played
bass on the rough wood surface of the door.
