I have been to Mayberry on two different occasions. My kids stood in the jail where Otis Campbell
slept it off. I stood in Floyd’s City
Barber Shop while that guy I live with got a little trim. We took turns sitting at Sherriff Taylor’s
desk. We stopped at Wally’s Service Station and we drove past the house where
Andy Griffith was raised, bathed and disciplined.
Of course, some of these we only did through the imagination
of Andy Griffith as Mayberry is actually Mount Airy, North Carolina. I find the life of Andy Griffith through the
character of Sheriff Taylor to be fascinating.
I love the simplicity of the plots.
I love the morals of the regular people.
I love the clutter-free program that my grandsons call the Gray
Guys.
You probably have a favorite scene or moment from the
sitcom. At the very least you can
whistle the theme song. Go ahead. Pause for a second to whistle the tune. Visualize Andy and Opie almost skipping down
a dirt road with fishing poles laid over their shoulders and pitching rocks. Even in black and white you can see the sun
is shining brightly. They are happy to spend some time at the fishing hole.
By the way, that is the name of the song; “The Fishin’ Hole”. It’s not called the Andy Griffith Show theme
song but it is noted as the most iconic theme song ever written.
Also, did you know that there are actual lyrics to the
song? I hope it doesn’t disappoint you
to know that according to the World Wide Web it wasn’t written by Andy Griffith.
The link below is Andy Griffith singing it for your
listening enjoyment and the words in case you want to karaoke along.
and meet me at the fishin' hole.
We may not get a bite all day,
but don't you rush away.
and mighty fine for skippin' stones.
You'll feel fresh as a lemonade,
a-settin' in the shade.
whether it's cool,
oh what a spot
for whistlin' like a fool.
and wander by the fishin' hole.
I can't think of a better way
to pass the time o' day.
when we get to the fishin' hole.
There'll be you, me, and Old Dog Trey,
to doodle time away.
we'll cool our toes in dewy grass.
Or else pull up a weed to chaw,
and maybe set and jaw.
takin' our ease,
watchin' that hound
a-scratchin' at his fleas.
and meet me at the fishin' hole.
I can't think of a better way
to pass the time o' day.
So, who cares? Why
did I write that little blurb with information that you could have easily
retrieved for yourself with a few clicks on google? Could you have gone the rest of your life
without those facts? Without a moment to
pause and whistle? Without knowing the
words? Of course. I typed this for one
brief analogy that I promise not to beat to death.
Possibly you didn’t know that lyrics ever accompanied the upbeat whistling but you still knew that show. You most likely know the characters: Aunt Bee, Deputy Barney Fife, Opie, Floyd the Barber, Goober and/or Gomer, and of course Andy. We know some facts about the characters: Andy didn’t typically carry a gun. He only allowed Barney one bullet most of the time and he often took that one away from him. Aunt Bee raised Andy and moved to Mayberry to help Andy raise Opie. We probably could imitate some of the buzz words or phrasing from the show like, “Shazam!” or “Golly”; “I reckon so.” And “Hold on a cotton-picking minute!” Only the true sitcom scholars will remember how many girlfriends Andy had through the years, that most, if not all, of the patrol cars were made by Ford, and that Deputy Fife and Sheriff Taylor were cousins. Feel free to test you Mayberry trivia at
Again, why?
The analogy:
Isn’t that how we are with the Bible? I know the general tune, I know a lot of the
characters by name, I have a list of phrases and quotables, and I definitely
have my favorite scenes. I don’t know
the words as well or maybe well enough to sing them aloud. Like I did with some of the fun facts above,
sometimes I must google to find details of the Bible.
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