Long ago, when I was living in a small town in southwestern Pennsylvania, among other locales, I was lucky enough to have teachers that were passionate in their field. Each state where we lived had teachers who gave their all to their work, and who were allowed to use their skills and interests to make their subject sizzle. My father's job made us move a lot. We moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, when I was 10. All the public schools were great. My third-grade music teacher tried to teach us the Canadian National Anthem, "O Canada" in both English and French, but she gave up when too many of the students giggled.

We also learned folk songs written and performed by Bob Dylan, such as "Blowin' in the Wind," and Pete Seeger's "Tiny Boxes," and many more. In my earlier education, there was definitely more freedom of speech in the classroom!

Terry Kitchen and his CD We All Dream is a unique compilation of songs written by Kitchen, including a few others, such as Rod Argent's "Time of the Season" and Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne's "Do You Hear What I Hear," both of which have been restyled in Kitchen's own way.

In the song, "Rain, Rain, Rain," Kitchen, with harmony by Rebecca Lynch and Bob Vivona, sings of dealing with the effects of climate change upon the Earth, and how we must not lose our hope and internal sunshine to keep going. "Time of the Season," a groovy classic from the Zombies released in 1969, is sung by Kitchen (with harmony by Michael Holland) as a gentler, loving song written by one lover to another.

"Loretta's Icebox" is not about a stranger, but someone who is familiar to many of us: Loretta Lynn, whose cabin in the Tennessee woods contained antique pieces of furniture, and also an icebox containing over 1,000 songs, all found after her death. Many of these songs were written on napkins, or other stray pieces of paper.

Throughout this CD, Kitchen addresses issues such as climate change, the hard work of a romantic relationship, urbanization of treasured wild spaces, getting old, and the power of thunder, especially to children and veterans.

For the casual listener, this is a good listen. For those who read the liner notes and then listen to the CD, deeper waters lie ahead. Either way, Terry Kitchen's We All Dream is well worth the time and the season.