The Little Red-Haired Girl

Due to dense cloud cover I had trouble with my satellite internet connection this a.m. Is this what they mean by "cloud computing"? I doubt it.

Few there are who've never read the comics in a Sunday newspaper. And fewer still who have never seen the Charles Schultz classic Peanuts. For some it is a "fix" and for others a habit.

Schultz created more than 18,000 strips and Charlie Brown even made it to television.

Most of us know the main characters, with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy being the head of that pack. What's interesting is that we not only know all these characters -- and some really are characters -- but that we've even gotten to know those characters who are not ever seen in the strip. A short list of these would have to include the Great Pumpkin, Red Baron and the Little Red-Haired Girl.

Over the years much has been made about who these characters are. That is, what are the meanings these characters symbolize. Whole books have been written about this, though like other great art, maybe all this defining goes far beyond what Charles Schultz envisioned. But art allows for this. The non-specificity lets readers take it into their own spheres.

Is the Great Pumpkin a myth like Santa Claus? A benevolent hope founded on wishful thinking? Or can it be a reference to something more, something senses beyond the senses?

The Little Red-Haired Girl whom we never see is... well, we all know who she is. Like the other symbols, she may have a different name, but we remember her. How could we forget that unrequited longing? Who hasn't been in Charlie Brown's shoes, noticing her but not knowing what to say. The moment comes, it goes, is gone. Anything touched by her, or remotely associated with her, becomes sacred. On one occasion he finds her pencil dropped in the hall. The little teeth marks are a reminder that this is no ordinary pencil.

According to Wikipedia, she first appeared in 1961 in a lunch room scene. We never saw her, but we know she was special because Charlie Brown said, "I'd give anything in the world if that little girl with the red hair would come over and sit with me." We've probably all been there at one time or another.

I guess the Little Red-Haired Girl came mind because of convergence of sorts. When I read Eric Clapton's autobiography a couple weeks ago I learned that his album Derek & the Dominoes was written entirely as an ode to Patty Boyd, George Harrison's wife. He invited her over to hear the album before its release. She rejected his overtures, but the album is a great one, conveying much of Charlie Brown's unreserved, tragicomic stoicism.

Layla was one of the great songs on the album. This link takes you to the lyrics of Bell Bottom Blues, Clapton's Ode to Patty Boyd. To her credit, she remained with George. He wasn't ready for a mature relationship yet.