On Tiptoe

To continue where I left off, I am at the T in QUALITY. 

Tip-toeing through the tulips…….

That’s almost too easy but it slipped out of my fingers, so here’s a little history lesson. Tiny Tim sang this song in his strange, and some would say spooky, falsetto in 1968. According to Wikipedia, this old chestnut was written in 1929, by Al Dubin and Joe Burke. Since then it was been sung, in 1929, by Nick Lucas who introduced it in the musical ‘talkie’ film Gold Diggers of Broadway. This quirky, romantic song was used in the first Looney Tunes cartoon short, Sinkin’ In The Bathtub in 1930, again in 1945 in the opening scene of the film Confidential Agent. Tiptoe Through the Tulips was revived in 1967 by the California rock group The Humane Society. Since then, it seems to have almost disappeared from the stage and screen. But then I am not much of an aficionado of the stage or screen. It has, however, led me to wonder how much tiptoeing there is in this life. Just a few samples ~

Tiptoeing……..

~ downstairs on Christmas morning.

~ through old photos and diaries, ‘cause you definitely can’t do that quickly.

~ through grasses, trees or on the patio to see how close you can get to a squirrel or deer.

~ through and past fearful times when running away is not an option.

~ up on your little brother just for shock value and to see the look on his face.

~ past the oven that’s baking a cake so it doesn’t fall in the middle.

We take leaps, walks, runs and a lot of tiptoeing in this life but really tiptoeing through the tulips  ~ or anything beautiful ~ is the best.

“Through the blackest night, morning gently tiptoes, feeling its way to dawn.”

~ Robert Breault

Author's note: Edited April 05, 2024