Strange Bedfellows - In Which Winter Stirs a Musical Memory

It's snowing outside, and--as usually happens--I found myself humming a song.  Not just any song, mind you, but one particular song that ALWAYS comes to mind when I watch a snowfall.  It isn't "Let It Snow," or even "Winter Wonderland," but allow me to explain...

I grew up in rural Kentucky.  I mean RURAL.  I mean that we defined "neighbor" as "we can see their house," and we had but two "neighbors."  As you might imagine, cable TV had not yet extended its reach beyond the city limits of the small town (pop. 800) outside which we lived, so we had a TV antenna on a tower with a remote-controlled motor; if it were pointed north, we could receive 3 channels from Louisville, while a southward orientation would give us 4 channels from Nashville.  My mother was partial to the Louisville stations, particularly WHAS-TV 11, so that was her source for morning news - and, in the winter, for school closings as well.  WHAS always played the same instrumental piece to accompany the list of school closings; if I heard that music when I awoke, there was a better-than-50% chance that I would not be going to school that day.  Needless to say, I soon knew that song by heart.  It was several years before I learned its name and composer, and I've been a fan ever since.

So, if you ever hear me whistling or humming this piece - now you know why.  Enjoy.

Bellavia - YouTube