I was thirteen years old when Tammy and the Bachelor came out. I had no way of going to see the movie, but the theme song played all the time on the radio.
Of course I identified with the song because when you're thirteen years old, you're always in love with somebody or other. The words to that song are embedded in my heart.
I hear the cottonwoods whisperin' above,
"Tammy ... Tammy ...
Tammy's in love"
The ole hooty-owl
hooty-hoos to the dove,
"Tammy ... Tammy ...
Tammy's in love".
Does my lover feel
What I feel
When he comes near?
My heart beats so joyfully,
You'd think that he could hear.
Wish I knew if he knew
What I'm dreamin' of
Tammy ... Tammy ... Tammy's in love.
Whippoorwill, whippoorwill, you and I know
Tammy ... Tammy ... can't let him go
The breeze from the bayou keeps murmuring low:
"Tammy ... Tammy ...
you love him so".
When the night is warm,
Safe and warm,
I long for his charms
I'd sing like a violin
If I were in his arms.
Wish I knew if he knew
What I'm dreaming of
Tammy ... Tammy ...
Tammy's in love
What I didn't know back then was that cottonwood trees really do whisper. I didn't find that out until we bought this place; at that time there was an old cottonwood tree in our front yard. In spring, summer, and fall, with our windows open and a breeze blowing, that tree whispered.
It was a damaged tree, hollow in the center. Cliff was happy to bring it down because of the sticky fluff it dropped at certain times of the year that put little spots on our vehicles. Oh, and by the way: Hooty-owls actually did hoot from the branches of that tree. I miss them.
I still like to stroll out there in the pasture on a breezy day and listen to my cottonwood whispering.
