It’s that time of year again. The When PatientsHeal You concert is back. Only this year we’ve moved out of the lecture hall at the BU Medical Center and we’re back at my alma mater, Boston University. In fact, we’ll be performing in the concert hall where I did my undergraduate recital lo these many years ago.
It will be much like years past, all the performers will be neurology patients of Boston Medical Center and many of them will be epileptics like me. We’ll all get to perform two pieces and probably bring the house down at the end with big sing a long with Denise at the keyboard.
There’s usually a reception afterward with tasty food and a chance to mingle with the performers and the medical staff who not only provide us with excellent care, they sometimes even perform with us. Please join us on Friday night for a great concert and a lot of fun. This is a free event. Tell your friends.
As we have been adjusting to the new place, arranging everything and getting things unpacked, so have the animals. And the adjustment is particularly eventful for Violet, who is also getting used to Kelly and me and the dogs. And of course, the dogs are still getting used to her. Especially Dash, who often seems quite obsessed with her.
A blurry Dash makes a running leap towards Violet, who is sitting in Scratch’s favorite cat bed in the basement window.
If you haven’t actually gotten it together to go see Meravelha perform yet, well, I have no idea what you’re waiting for. They’re reprising their signature concert for two performances this month. Do your best to go and see, you don’t want to miss this.
Even semi-regular visitors around here know that Geoff and I like old stuff. And by old stuff I mean antiques. We have a lot of them around the house. (To be fair we have a reasonable amount of old rocks too, but most of them are set into jewelry.) Some of the antiques we own come to us in rough shape. Some of it we’re good at restoring ourselves, but sometimes we need to involve a professional. Note that you’ll never see an antique piece of furniture painted “shabby chic” or with chalkboard paint in our home. NEVER.
But, you will see furniture with good bones get reupholstered. Reupholstery is part of restoration, sometimes the fabric on a piece isn’t original or is but is too badly damaged to salvage. That’s where a really good upholsterer comes in.
After losing Bucky back at the end of May, and then going through the insanity of buying a house and moving, Geoff and I talked about getting another cat. It was especially evident that this was a good idea once we moved in here as this place has a lot of room and Scratch turned into a SUPER cling monster. Yesterday, after searching on multiple websites here and there for a couple of weeks, we went to the MSPCA with a couple of kitties in mind as possible contenders.
Our only criteria was that the cat was female, not a kitten, had lived with other cats, and could get used to other cats. We were not planning on getting a ninja in the bargain.
This is going to be so much fun. This year I get to participate as a vendor in The Look of Local Fashion Show, an event put on by Cambridge Local First in conjunction with The Garment District and Boston Costume and a bunch of the most happening local businesses around. It is going to be fantastic.
My first Fall show is upon us! That’s right, it’s Riverfest 2016! Everything is happening tomorrow from 12-8pm and when I say everything I mean absolutely everything.
The extended radio silence around here has been due to several factors. The major factor has been because Geoff and I spent the better part of this summer looking for and then buying a house. (YAY HOUSE!!!!!) Then we had to move.
We had to move ALL the stuff and things. And ALL the books. OMG.
Before I start talking about this particular Park Service ranger, I wanted to put it in context of my own relationship with the Park Service. I have been a fan of the Park Service for a very, very long time, at least since I was a boy. And for about a decade in my twenties and early thirties I was a volunteer for them at Stones River National Battlefield (in fact, you can occasionally still see a photo of me in my Union Army Civil War uniform in old park literature) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Occasionally I also did programs at other Civil War battlefields and sites. I miss it, frankly. Perhaps one day I will be in a position to do that sort of volunteer work again.
Anyway, I still read a lot about things going on with the Park Service and I generally try to keep up with things going on with NPS. Like any organization, NPS has its celebrities. I had the privilege of meeting one of them, Civil War historian Ed Bearss, now retired, on several occasions. Ed is a warm, funny, extremely intelligent and knowledgeable guy with an incredible work ethic. And in that regard I am reminded of him by Betty Reid Soskin, another NPS celebrity. Betty is an extraordinary woman who also happens to be the oldest serving U.S. Park Service Ranger. She currently works at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Park in Richmond, California. In fact, Betty was absolutely instrumental in the creation of that historic park. And since she herself lived through the events preserved at the site, she has her own unique and fascinating stories to tell about that time in our history, including what it was like to be a woman of color in that segregated era.
US Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin (photo by Justin Sullivan via NPR)
Last year she lit the National Christmas Tree and got to meet President Barack Obama, who gave her a special commemorative coin as a souvenir and gift. At the ceremony, she carried a photograph of her great-grandmother, who was born a slave in 1846 and died in 1948 at the age of 102. She carried the same photograph in her pocket in 2009, when she witnessed President Obama’s inauguration.
Well, something terrible happened to her this past Monday. She was beaten and robbed in her own home there in Richmond. And one of the things the a**hole thief took from her was the coin the President gave her.
What kind of person does that? Who attacks a 94-year-old woman? How utterly depraved and/or desperate do you have to be to do that? God, I hope the police catch whoever did this to her. And the President has already said that he will replace the coin.
Luckily, she seems to be recovering. But if you want to help her, the Rosie the Riveter Trust has organized a fund to help Betty out with her expenses while she recovers. And being the awesome person she is, Betty has already said that any excess funds will be used for a special documentary film history project about her life.
Glad you are still with us, Betty, and from the East Coast, we all wish you the very best and hope you get well soon. We love you.
Life is always a mixture of the bitter and the sweet, the dark and the light, the gratitude and grief. I admit that I often focus on the bitter parts to the exclusion of all else. That is in large part due to the fact that a large portion of my 20’s and almost all of my 30’s have been spent dealing with one crisis or another and, last year, dealing with death after death. That, and the way that people treat you, tends to color one’s outlook on the world a bit. Depression doesn’t help either.
That being said, this year is turning out to be one of the best in a long time. Despite losing Bucky last week, things seem to be looking up for us.
The Books are Taking Over... 