Radio waves

I was listening to the radio this afternoon as I unloaded the groceries from a pilgrimage to the huge (and I mean huge!) grocery store about half an hour away (catering to the family's taste for a particular soda that you can't find anywhere in Pennsylvania).

I'm almost done when Barnacle Boy bounces in the door with Frisbee Friend. "Are you listening to the radio?" he demanded. Uh - what else would be belting tunes from the 70s and 80s in the kitchen? Then I had a moment of cultural shock. It seemed obvious to me that the music would be coming from the radio -- that's the default. But to the Boy, there's many more possibilities: iPod playlist playing through the speakers on the radio, Pandora, YouTube...

I remember playing with a radio much like the one in the photo at my paternal grandparent's house. It was huge, built into a cabinet about the size of a modern big screen TV. The bass notes of the carrier hum seemed to make my very insides vibrate.