Images of New England
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The band is Java Groove, playing at the Fire and Ice Festival at the Saybrook Point Inn. They play “swing to Sinatra to Sting” (from their website), and the two guitarists each liked to solo, which was a pleasant surprise and a nice treat. Nothing like all the lead guitar you can handle, done very tastefully, backed up by a fine rhythm section.
And out on the dance floor? All ages, 3 to 73 – some stiff, some flowing – a midwinter break to some timeless grooves.
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The joint is jumping in the summer, but come the offseason, not so much.
Today I was talking about FL with a Tai Chi classmate (local Y, great class) who was telling stories of Key West: ” You have to bring another liver…”
It’s that time up here in New England when we start dreaming (and talking) about white sandy beaches and warm breezes (even though it was in the mid-50s a couple of days ago).
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Went out for a walk during the recent snowstorm, right at dusk, and found our neighbor Paul getting a jump on the cleanup. The rest of the walk (normally an easy stroll) was like being in the wintry wilds of northern New England: howling wind, biting cold, icy footing, and no other soul about.
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One last image here for 2016 – one that’s been percolating for the past few days. Not so much a summation of the past year, but more about the way forward into the next.
It surprised me that after looking at all the images that I gravitated to this one: fiery, passionate, fierce, and decidedly not from the flowery old school. But then again, waging peace calls for every bit of talent, skill and discipline we can muster – separately as individuals and together as communities – day in and day out.
I want to thank Andrea and her family, who, like lighthouse keepers of yore, keep this flame burning bright, right there on a main road in Old Lyme. And a special thanks for lighting it up a little early for me tonight.
Happy New Year to all, and may 2017 bring you some pleasant surprises!!
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Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Yule! Happy Solstice! Blessings for Everyone!
And a simple prayer for the season:
“Peace be unto all the world over, under Thy Will, O God.” (Guru Nanak, 1469-1539 AD)
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Though their fruit is incredibly colorful in an otherwise drab November landscape, these plants are woody vines that are terribly invasive and don’t play well with native species. It’s recommended that they be eradicated while still in small patches, something that can be done manually.
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It seems a given in life that things fall apart: our cars and roads and bridges, our bodies and relationships, our simple fences and over larger spans of time, even our complex civilizations. Nothing new there. We put a lot of time and attention keeping things in good working order, and with greater complexity comes the need for skills and vision that rise to the task.
So it’s no wonder things disintegrate, human nature (and our shifting priorities) being what they are. We often just don’t have the time or the money, the inclination or information or the skillset, to do the work to keep things going. So they come apart. And we fix them or we don’t.
So the larger questions: what do we value? what do we hold onto? what do we let go of? what’s worth our time?
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I heard an owl a few nights ago; a soft and beautiful succession of hoo-hoos that woke me up around 3AM, like the call to prayer of a muezzin.
I wonder if it was this little one, who had fallen out of its nest in a nearby white pine over a year ago, and – thanks to the quick response of neighbors and the crew at A Place Called Hope, in Killingworth CT – shortly thereafter re-nested. The crew built a new platform directly beneath the existing nest, lined it with some white pine branches, and placed this little one back up in the tree.
The owl family seemed to leave the area shortly thereafter, perhaps related to the noise pollution of a new house going up nearby. But that is now behind us, and the neighborhood for the most part is quiet again. And the Great Horned Owls may be moving back into the area.
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