“Good Raisin'”

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Ray and I spent nine twelve-hour days with our sound engineer Lee and one twelve-hour day and an evening with his assistant while recording two sets of curriculum. We recorded for three days in February, four days week before last, and three days plus an evening last week. I know twelve-hour days sound grueling, but the studio where we recorded charges by the hour. If you schedule twelve hours in one day, you get two hours free. Ray and I figured that, as long as we only tried to do three or four days in a row, we could do it.

As we read on hour after hour and day after day, Ray eventually read 150 lessons and I read 150 lessons. We took turns. Ray read a unit of five lessons, then I read a unit. It worked beautifully. During our off-mic times, our voices got a rest; and if it was meal time, it gave us time to eat. We eventually learned to grab a cup of tea to warm our vocal cords at the beginning of each of our reading sessions, and we were, as folks say in modern vernacular, “good to go.”

Through the whole process, Ray and were comforted by Lee’s calm manner. When we flubbed a word or swallowed or needed to clear our throats or if I dinged my ring on the table or when my tummy growled (I didn’t know my tummy growls about 11:30 every day, but I do now), we’d hear Lee’s kind voice from the control room on the other side of the glass: “Let’s get that last sentence . . . ” He rewound the digital recording back to a few words before the flub and played it back for us. Just at the right moment, we heard a click and Lee’s encouraging, “Go for it.” And off we’d go again until the next glitch.

Every lesson in each full-semester and full-year Notgrass History curriculum ends in a Bible verse. I was in the sound booth last when we finished the two projects Friday night.

After I read the last Bible verse after the 150th lesson, Lee looked through the glass and told a story about what his father did when the kids were all out of the house. Once a week his dad sent his children an email, catching them up on news. In the email, he included a verse from the Bible.

We knew there was something special about this well-mannered, well-spoken, hard-working, encouraging young man. Now we know one of the reasons why: good raisin’ is what we call it down South.

My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
Proverbs 3:1-2

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