Live Music!! For Real!!

Last evening we attended the Tom Rush concert at the Waterville Opera house - a terrific venue so close to home. I have been a Tom Rush fan for over 50 years (YIKES!!) and had seen him in several venues in my home town of Ithaca, NY - the grand opening of the Unicorn Night Club, which was on the top floor of the (at that time) TG Miller's buiding - previously the Eagles Club where I went to Christmas parties several times in my early years. I think I saw Tom there also on the second anniversary of the Unicorn and several years later at the Strand Theater just down the block from the Unicorn. And then maybe a decade ago, he did a benefit concert at the Kent's Hill School - very intimate room and fun night. All of those appeareances were solo shows and I knew from following his social media accounts that he currently does many shows with Matt Nokoa, who I was not familiar with. What a talent Matt is! Last evening Tom graciously allowed Matt several opportunities to showcase his talents and I am just in awe. Tom was his reliably entertaining self - humorous, interspective and so talented on guitar. Because he has continued to perform and record his voice has remained recognizable and steady. He played several new songs of a recently released album and some standards. Physically, he has aged - Haven't we all? - but the talent is still there and shines through. I was, however, disappointed to see the somewhat scarce turnout for this folk icon form New England - I would have expected a better showing from Central Maine. The assembled crowd was, however, enthusiastically appreciative. Anothe note about live music: I suspect because the name acts that are still touring have priced themselves out of many peoples budgets we have seen the rise of the "tribute" bands. While some are quite good, I have decided that I am not going to spend any more money on them. I am not in any way diminishing their talent or their right to make money (as long as they are paying the appropriate royalties to the appropriate people!). I just want to see the original people perform their own music. If this means I have to pass because of budget, or crowd or travel, so be it. All of that said, it was a Journey tribute band - Departure out of Georgia - that brought back to being a Steve Perry fan. So there's that...

New Ballgame!

Five days out from the histoic announcement that Biden was stepping down and it didn't take long for Trump's pledge of being kinder to fade like last week's cut flowers. He and his GOP followers still insist on mispronouncing Harris's first name, a real sign of disrespect. And he has already said he's going to get mean and has insulted her up one side and down the other. Now he insists he can back out of the agreed upon debate in September because the candidate has changed. And there are reported to be several states who are pondering legal action due to the change. All smoke and mirrors. And Trump's VP pick, JD Vance has made some truly stunning statements - the most being that the Dems are a bunch of single cat ladies who are mad at the world. And that childless people should not have an electoral voice equal to that of people with children because they do not care about the future of the country. Typical of the GOP, who do not believe in anything that could benefit mankind as a whole. That is a totally foreign concept to them. His stance on abortion is just what one would expect, including the opinion that women in states that forbid abortion should not be allowed to travel out of state to obtain one. So feaking cruel and backward. Kamala seems to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to VP possibilities - Mark Kelly, Pete Buttigieg, Andy Beshear, Josh Shapiro, Roy Cooper to name a few. Yes, all white guys but each has a unique resume and capabilities. I do agree with one interviewee I saw yesterday who opined that there is a certain percentage of men out there who will never vote for a woman. Sad, as it's their loss. Meanwhile, Kamala has received endorsements form just aobut all the top Dems - just today the Obamas came on board. However, disappointed that Maine's Jared Golden will not budge on that point. (He who last month stated that he would not support Biden and that he'd be okay with Trump as president because the guardrails would protect us. Sigh.)

Travel Blog!

It is currently Thursday as I write this - MONDAY: We left home Monday morning, eventual destination Rochester NY. D. drove until we stopped for lunch in Haverhill, MA. (Friendly's - not as friendly as I remember it being but it's been decades...) I took over driving then which included the usual parking-lot-esque trip along 495. An hour of stop and go and 10mph and we finally hit the Mass Pike. Smooth sailing from then on until our night layover in Albany. Dinner from the 7-11 next to the hotel. tuesday: Breakfast at Uncommon Grounds (localcoffee chain - thanks to the guys at the Sartoga Special for the recommnendation years ago!) and we were on our way again, D. driving. We detoured to Broadalbin to visit D's childhood friend, Mary and her husband Gary. Had coffee and a ride around their family "compound" and then were on our way again. We stopped at the Canastota rest area and switched drivers. We could see the dark clouds gathering ahead of us to the West and by the time we hit Syracuse the heavens opened and it poured - deluged - whatever. Then the Apple Maps GPS blared a TORNADO WARNING!!!! Cars were huddling under bridges, pulled off to the side of the road - we kept going, barely able to see but just enough. Ran into an out of rain several times before we hit the clearing behind the front about 10 miles East of Rochester. Whew! Checked in and relaxed then drove to Wegman's for a dinner salad. WEDNESDAY: A down day - time to stay in one place. Lunch out at Panera, then D. went to play golf with friends while I spent some me time, watching Hallmark and sewing. (5 of 7 pieces finished so far - will save the remaining 2 for the trip home.) THURSDAY: After breakfast took off fot Rochester proper to find Abundance Food Coop where Mary and Gary's daughter works. Nice place with lots of amenities. Rode through D's old neighborhood and he contacted an old friend who will will try to see on Friday. Late afternoon we drove out to the Sea Breeze area for dinner with some friends, Anita and Ray, who live right on Lake Ontario with this view:

FRIDAY: Visited with David's ex-sister-in-law Debbie. She has a lovely small home with wonderful plantings. The hydrangeas are spectacular here! Then we drove out to Palmyra to visit parts of the Palmyra Historical Society - the print shop was of interest to both of us.

After the print shop we walked a block away to the Alling Coverlet Museum.

Then we had dinner at Knucklehead Brewing and retired for the day. SATURDAY: We hung around the hotel for the morning and part of the afternoon, then went to visit another of D's high school friends. Then we went to his nice's house and took her and her son out to dinner at Shamrock Jack's out at Sea Breeze. Afterwards, we went back to Kelly's house and swam in her pool and hung out in the hot tub. SUNDAY: Moving day! Out in the morning to visit with Robin and Greg, then to Pat's house where she fed us coffee and goodies, which sustained us on our drive to Albany. More rain but nothing like Tuesday. Lots of tree damage along the Thruway araound Canajoharie. Reached Albany, checked into the hotel and logged on to find that Biden had stepped aside in favor of Harris. Changes the entire presidential race! Looking forward to getting home tomorrow.

Sigh...

Last evening, without warning, someone decided to attempt to eliminate the threat that one of the candidates for President is peceived of posing for the democracy of the United States. Donald Trunp was not seriously wounded - a bullet grazed his outer ear - but the optics of him diving for cover and then rising and raising his fist in a show of defiance while blood trickled down his face will remain etched in the minds of all. Was his gesture of power appropriate? I do not think so and I'm certain the Secret Service people tring to protect him wish he had just quietly let himself be led offstage. But Trump is going to Trump. Now everyone from Biden to Melania are calling for a cool down in the rhetoric but I suspect it will not change anything in Trump's behavior. Biden on the other hand has already pulled his series of ads that forcefully oppose Trumpism. All this amid the whole "Dump Biden" movement that was the fallout from his one-off performance at the debate 2 weeks ago. I am of the mind to stick with what has worked for us the past 3+ years. I have for years had concerns about the change for change's sake mindset - I experienced it so often in my final years in academia. And it has bled over into politics and business and all parts of life. How often do w log on to Facebook and find everything has changed? And these changes are being driven by the younger segment of the population. CNN recently announced a restructuring and will present more of their content in viceo format. Why? I suspect it is partly driven by the fact that is is less expensive and more expedient to string together some viceo bites that to have an editor analyze a story and then write a thoughtful and coherent piece. And it's certainly less expensive (and often no expense involved) to utilize video from citizen journalists than to dispatch a camera crew. Forget adding context that the average viewer will not consider when viewing the story. (Mainstream media ditched their research departments 15+ years ago, letting reporters do their own research online. I know because I have a friend from college who was sidelined in that movement.) Where we go from here is anyone's guess. I do not know.

Belmont!

Belmont at Saratoga! Due to massive construction project at Belmont Park (total destruction and reconstruction of the grandstand and several barns) the Belmont Stakes has moved to Saratoga for this year and next. While it was uncertain how the small town a Saratoga Springs could/would handle the crowd (allegedly capped at 50,000) it seems to have worked. All the photos and live shots I saw featured packed crowds all over the place. The weather cooperated, at least for the first 3 days - today's turf races came off and the scheduled 1st - the Beverly Steinamnn Hurdle was cancelled and will be added to a Belmont at Aqueduct card later this month. There were no breakdowns and only a few weird things - Thursday saw Irad Ortiz Jr. come off his mount just behind the gate and due to landing awkwardly, he took off the rest of his mounts and went for diagnostic test, which were negative. he was back Friday and continued his winning ways. Frankie Detorri left before his final mount on Thursday, thinking his horse had been schratched. And Friday he came off just out of the gate. No injury other than maybe his pride. He did win a race so he was able to perform his flying dismount for the crowd. There were some thrilling races - Graham Motion's The Grey Wizard won a stakes race on Thursday and Thorpedo Anna won her race yesterday - minus the fore shoe she lost pretty much right out of the gate. Neither of the winers of the first two legs of the Triple Crown were any where near the front runner - Dornoch - at the finish of the Belmont. In other news, the hits keep on coming - David receieved word a week ago that his high school friend and band mate, Bob Pugliese, had passed away. And just last night was notified that Pete Huck's wife, Veloice, had passed. Pete and David worked at Duplex in Ohio, and we had visited them in Minnesota in the past. We are at that age where our contemporaries are expiring. (Late edit: Bob's wife, Patty, passed away this week. She had been battling cancer for years. Bob's service is the 23rd and D. is flying out for the weekend. Ten years ago he likely would have driven but the years and our planned trip there next month made that unpalatable.) Oh, and TFG was convicted on all 34 counts in the NY case. Has to report to a probation officer tomorrow. He's been out grifting for his campaign this wekend, making his elderly patrons stand out in the blazing Nevada sun all afternoon to hear his diatribes, lies and gobbledeegook.

First Show is Done!

Memorial Day weekend has traditionally been very low-key in my life, save for the town's parade and commemorative ceremony. This year was a bit different. I had a show! The Kennebec Valley Art Association relocated from Hallowell to the Snow Pond Center for the Arts here in Sidney and they combined to put on an Artists and Makers Market on the grounds of the center. Beautiful location and the weather was perfect! I wish we had all had the foresight to reloacte outside! For a first year show the arttendance was respectable. I have some quibbles with the way the show was organized and run but in general, it was a positive experience. I hope to partner with them in the future to tweak some things to make it even better. I had had enough of people by Monday so when the rain forced the town's gathering indoors I opted to stay home and rest in bed. A much better use of my time than standing in the back of the room and then having to help put chairs away and make nice. I understand my librarian shushing experience could have been used at times for a couple of chatty SHS members. Once I arose, I cleared the car and put things away, did my deposit and made chicken soup for dinner. Tuesday was clean and get stuff delayed done day. Today was groceries and buy flowers and herbs day. Tomorrow is gardening day. Someday I'll get back to sewing - I need runners! I didn't realize I was low and I sold 4 this weekend. So there's my emphasis for the coming weeks along with the Acadia throw. Miracle Horse Rescue lost another friend this past week. Sheila, my west coast counterpart, past away on Saturday after a brief illness, although she had been in poor health and declining mental capacity for some time. Last year I contacted Stephanie about sheila's status and she said it was not her story to tell. She passed on a message for Sheila to call me which she did some weeks later. I could tell that she was not the person I remember talking and joking with before about everything from politics to the Giants. So it was not a surprise but still a bit of a shock.

Preakness 100

Triple Crown on the line but Mystic Dan just missed. Not too upset as he was beaten by Seize the Grey, a son of Arrogate (how many great horses will we miss because of his far-too-soon death?). Trained impeccably by the super veteran D. Wayne Lukas, who turns 90 this year! Mystik Dan settled for second with Brad Cox trainee Catching Freedom third. NOTE: All 3 of these horses ran on Derby Day just 2 weeks ago - Mystik Dan and Catching Freedom in the Derby and Seize the Grey the Pat Day Mile.) Baffert's lone entry after the scratch of Muth ran next to last. Sloppy track. Undercard highlights were a series of 3rds and 4ths for Matz trainees. Tequilera led much of the Gallorette but faded to 3rd. Next show is 6 days away. I've been refreshing the scented items and slowly working on another throw. Have to stop to make more sachets this week - Lavender and Balsam. Plenty of trivets. Other than that I am set. Slowly plugging away on yardwork. I did some pruning and cleaning of the central bed last week. Still have the back herb bed to go and just waiting on the PJM to finish flowering so I can prune that and the forsythia. And the Summer Sweet. The daffodils are almost finishe blooming so I can cut them back a bit and transplant the ones that need it. And finally spread the last 4 bags of mulch. Whew. I cleaned the fridge this week - thankless job but glad it's done. Still need to do the counters and, at some point, sort through the cabinets. I'm sure there are some expired things and also some donation candidates. Ordered a new bathing suit - hope to use it in the new pool at Bren's and maybe on our trip to Rochester. Not sure what I', going to do for 5 days there but I'll hopefully have some finishing to take with me. Might be time to start on holiday stuff.