Happy birthday geronimo was a heroic Apache leader and medicine man who was born near present-day Cliftonn, Arizona his tribe's lands and freedom and joined with other groups of native people's to resist Mexican and US military forces he is remembered for having bulletproof skin as a legend has it even when he was shot at again and again Geronimo would continue to advance against his enemies

As a young 13-year-old boy in St Paul jeremiah Geronimo's reputation influenced my very own life let me explain that great warrior and man of courage we wanted to emulate. Bravery and courage aren't quite as simple as they used to be for meSuch as flag fishing in grizzly bear country in Montana in the days before pepper spray and now I have vertical because of my one ear that doesn't work and I hardly dared to climb up on a ladder or go outside in the winter when there's ice everywhereAnd I don't care to risk falling and spend the rest of my lifeIn a nursing home with a broken hipI guess I'd probablya potenial girlfriendIf I asked her for a date and a ride to take her out to a nice restaurant Geronimo i could yell

anew book review o troutbirder Tfrozen Hours by jeff shaara

Lone Wolf

 The book I just finished is Lone Wolf.     Lone wolf Luke Warren studies wolf behavior and he leaves his already dysfunctional family for two years to join a pack in the Canadian wilderness and live with them.  Yes, that’s the premise upon which the tale rests. And to add personal drama he returns to civilization to end up in a car crash with his daughter. He suffers a head trauma and ends up in a near brain dead coma. His past is revealed in alternating chapters from his published memoir about living with wolves.

Should Luke be kept alive by artificial means? Is that what he would want?  Luke’s tween daughter and older runaway son disagree fiercely about the answers to these wrenching life or death questions.  This is the deadlock that is at the novel’s center. Ms. Picoult is not afraid to speculate into the future in  her novels.   All this make we wonder about where to draw the line. 
Do fiction writers have an obligation to ensure that the science they put into their novels is credible? Or does the creative license that writers enjoy mean that there's no such responsibility? What happens when a novelist explicitly notes that the work in question is based on trusted science, but scientists insist is it not? In this case it's a zoo, and Picoults “research” is based on a     wolf setting in England with human habituated animals.
Yes its fiction and writers can write what they want but wolves are often judged in our world by myths and legends rather than facts and reality. Little Red Riding hood still lives on as well as  The Big Bad Wolf….
Wolves are magnificent animals whose true-life behaviors are described in a series of books by scientist David Mech. If you want to learbr />

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n about wolves try him.  If you want a interesting novel try Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult….

Madison's gift five partnerships that built America by David O. Stuart

Madison’s gift  -five partnerships that built America by David O Stewart

This one is a gem folks. Published in 2015 Ifyou put the title and author on your search enginem get the book for  five bucks. I found mine for two bucks at the goodwill in Rochester Minnesota also if you have a big enough local library they might have it still for free.

In a popularity and awareness ranking of the well-known names of the founding fathers of our Republic James Madison would likely be at the bottom of the list. He was quite short bald and certainly not the tall Studley athletic military man that George Washington was. Nor a powerful orator and debater Like Hamilton . It was Jefferson  the brilliant, writer politician and who wrote the Declaration of Independence. The fourth partner was another military man, friend and sometime opponent James Monroe who had Madison’s back when a defenseless, broke &  not very united group of states  took on the mighty English  Monarchy for a second time. Madison was president and when the English  destroyed the new American capital city including White House and burned the new capital building down to the ground  in the war of 1812.  In the history texts on that war Madison gets much of the blame for all the defeats as he was not much of a military leader but instead it was his late to marry widowed Dolly Todd who gets the positive notice. Nor amazing persona like his wife Dolly lit up everyone came into her presence and could influence crowds of people . IA beautiful talented and amazing woman the author gives Dolly Madison In an  extra chapter His account of her partnership and support of James

 In a nutshell what made this small modest not very visible man so important?  It was his brain and his ability to pair with the more Outgoing men and one woman aforementioned To   discuss advise suggest and help them use their skills and his insights and organize a bunch of bickering former colonies/states into the only Republic I. E. Democracy existing at that time in a world run by kings and queens. To Find A Republic one would have to go back to that of Rome and for democracy to the ancient Greeks in Athens.

As I write this introduction and review I wondered to myself what it was that brought me to pluck this particular history book off the  shelves at the goodwill. The books aren’t categorized there particularly but there’s usually a lot of my favorite escape reading which would be fiction specifically mystery detectives stories. The author of the Madison’s gift David Stewart was unknown to me. Of course a former history teacher I knew the names of Many of the good Historians. The American Revolution and the founding of our Republic is a fascinating subject to say the least Republic, democracy destroying our national capital all of the above are in the news these days and under threat. It was then that I wondered what James Madison had to say about these issues as he debated what form a stronger more viable American system would require to survive and prosper. The pros and cons were debated at the convention in Philadelphia, Just as they are now.  the Constitution was developed and sent to the various states be approved or turned down Washington presided to keep order . Each state had a choice to makeAnd the approval of a strong constitution became a fierce political debate. Lincoln's words before the Civil War were appropriate here a nation a house divided cannot stand

each chapter in the book is based upon one of the five partnerships that Madison made with the leaders that built America. Which is to say the Constitution that is under attack by next president and await extremist groups that lead the charge I can’t stress this enough that reading this book would be well worth your timeTwo of the founding fathers wrote a serious of editorials called the Federalist papers whichAdvocated ratification of the new Constitution they were Madison and Hamilton. The host stood and still does the oil slaveowner Madison predicted that a crisis in the future would eventually them merge as political parties did and sectional differences over the issue of slaveryThere are a number of quotes from Madison's speeches and letters in this fascinating book. I think many of them are relevant to today's political divisions in crisis for those reasons this excellent history is well worth your time make the efffort tto find it in your public library and on the Internet

Thursday, June 23, 2022

 

I T COULD NEVER HAPPEN

 I T COULD NEVER HAPPEN

BUT IT DID

I    AM   NOT OK

MY COUNTRY IS NOT  OK

HEALING STARTS I PRAY  TODAY BECAUSE I T MUST

The Poisonwood Bible

 some time back I picked up Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Flight Behavior and really enjoyed it. In spite of her highly acclaimed and sometimes controversial writing she was new to me.  So when I happened upon her bestselling book in the library, The Poisonwood Bible, I grabbed it….

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

At first I didn’t think I would like it. The father is a uncaring zealot from the word go. On the outside  the mother is a wimp  who loyally follows her idiot of a husband to the entire families near destruction. On the inside she is naturally full of  anger which finally leads to a dangerous choice. .  The daughters are a seeming strange lot at first, very confusing and hard to follow.  Then their role as victims and narrators brings the whole story into focus.

The book follows the family as they try to bring their way of life, and their religion, to the village of Kilanga. They come carrying all the wrong things - seeds that cannot grow in the jungle, packages of birthday cake mix that will never become cakes, and a religion that puzzles and scares the villagers. Words have many meanings there, depending on how you say them. When Nathan talks about baptism, he is also saying ‘to terrify.’ To say ‘Tata Jesus is Bangala’ may mean ‘Jesus is poisonwood’, or he is divine. The villagers are also afraid of baptism as they don’t go into the river; too many of their children have been killed by crocodiles.
The arrogance of Western missionaries is hardly news, but Price's blinding pride makes for a story that's often comic despite its tragedy. After months of incomprehensible sermons, the minister fails to lure even one soul down to the river for baptism. The natives have no interest in rushing toward salvation in the next life by bathing with crocodiles in this one.

The history of the Belgian Congo’s unprepared lurch to independence is particularly tragic. The new “nation” becomes entangled thru no doing of its own in Cold War politics.  The net result is a murdered freely elected leader  and a Western propped up military dictator who ruled and robbed the country for over thirty years.  I can see why this book has been a popular course selection in many colleges and discussion instigator in book clubs.  If you  have a strong heart and stomach I’d definitely recommend it…I use the word stomach in the previous sentence very carefully based  on personal experience for example  both my wonderful grandchildren from Africa's survival was mad possible  by the Catholic nuns whos orphanage fed and cared for the till my son and his wife adopted them and brought them to t America where the are now thriving as students and Americans. 

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

 And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

 It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

 I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

 William Ernest Henley

 

Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) survives 27 years of imprisonment. His guide is the Victorian age poem Invictus. He emerges to lead a reconciliation of blacks and whites into a new South Africa. Matt Damon plays the captain of the countries white dominated and beloved rugby team. The team is also a symbol of white racism and despised by the nations blacks. Clint Eastwood finds just the right touch, avoiding an over the top sports movie and a deep psychological analyses of character motivations. The result is exciting action in a sport that most American wouldn't have a clue about, and a truly dramatic portrayal of real political leadership. It was also something that I found downright inspiring. I recall teaching world history to my senior high students and feeling that the apartheid state in South Africa was as intractible a problem as the issue of Palestine, the Arabs and the Jewish state. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

The poem and the movie are both oldies but goodies.

I highly recommend them both.....

Consolidation

In Theodore Roosevelt's day bigger wasn't always considered . Buying up the competition led to monopolies and price-fixing. More than a century later time will tell if Amazon and Google will rule the world. This dip in the history means I'm consolidating my two blogs. I can't guarantee it will be better but for me it will be more efficient. TroutbirderII is joining Troutbirder which means I'll be less likely to put my book reviews into my nature blog or vice versa

                                                                 http://baron-troutbirder.blogspot.com/

                                                                 Link to Troutbirder
                                                               

                                                                 

 

Troutbirders Favorite Recipes - a retrospective from 2015

Its hunting season here now in Bluff Country and our walks with Miss Lily the GSD are somewhat limited in where we can go without running into deer hunters. My hunting efforts in years gone by were mainly limited to upland game birds. Bow hunting  for a few years was famous mostly for some hilarious episodes of ineptitude on my part. :)
 In the late sixties my bride purchased Cooking The Sportman's Harvest from the South Dakota Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks. I'm not sure why due to the fact that my very first effort to bring home game to the family hearth had engendered the following exchange. "What are they," asked an obviously disturbed Queen B. "Squirrels", was my proud reply, 22 in hand. "You can forget that. I'll be damned if I'm gonna cook any skinned rats in this kitchen.

Here are some of the recipes which didn't get used. I wonder why?

Paddlefish squares (illegal to catch in Minnesota. Now on the endangered list.)

Snipe (Boys Scouts were often sent to search for these in the dead of night)

Fishloaf (probably carp with ketchup topping) or that all time favorite... Carp Chowder with PCB's and other genetic mutations.

Pressure cooked Sage Hens (tenderizes geriatric birds of any type)

Sandhill Crane pie (popular also in North Dakota where if it has two or four legs and is not human it can be shot and eaten including tables)

Barbequed perch (not available at Famous Daves)

Fish Egg Soup ( for those with more expensive tastes) Also in the Moss Back Turtle variety

Fricasse of Young Racoon. Yes!

Also in the book were specialized recipes for Opposum, Beaver Tail, and Groundhog.

What it came too finally was that she was sure anything not certified Grade A by the Department of Agriculture was probably not safe to eat. I then presented her with a copy of Upton Sinclairs book The Jungle. The inside story of the meat packing industry in Chicago at the end of the 19th century. Having decided that Grade A was not a sure fire saftey guarantee either, Mrs T. went on to devise her own recipes for pheasant, grouse, geese, duck and trout and walleye. What a woman! Squirrel never did make the "approved list" though.

Sons Ted and Tony carry on the hunting traditions of the Troutbirder family.

 

The British are coming the war for America, Lexington to Princeton,1775-1777 volume 1 the revolution trilogy

By Rick Atkinson

please double-click on the picture above Troutbirder checking out a Montana trout stream. This will take you to his book review of the British are coming. It's a great book.

The October horse

 

This is the final volume in the Masters of Rome series and covers the time from Caesar's search for Pompey in Egypt to the battle of Philippi, which marks the end of the “liberators” and the beginning of the final rise of Octavian to Augustus. It is a book as much about Octavian as it is about Caesar..

 The current volume recounts Julius Caesar's final years, focusing on his involvement with Cleopatra, and his final campaign in Spain. As Caesar's fame and power grows, so does the discontent of the Roman elite. Perhaps, if they had the benefit of reading McCullough's works, they could have seen how the pressure of the ever-expanding sphere of Roman influence, and the reforms instigated by Marius, required the focus of a single, brilliant man to steer its vision. However, to the powerful men of the capital city, who have watched the power of the Roman Senate erode from absolute, to merely advisory within a single lifetime, his ascendancy is percieved as a grave threat to their cherished way of life.

 This long time fan of Colleen McCullough grabbed the October Horse book as soon as he saw it on sale at Goodwill. I do love Roman history and read the entire series Masters of Rome.  This one was the clinker for me. Maybe just because I’ve entered my golden years  the endless complexity of the genealogy and names previously mentioned in her series was just  plain too much. The drama was exciting. The characterizations sometimes interesting and sometimes irrelevant. The confrontations seem true but the details went and on and on for 600+ pages. But the fact is while I knew the plots and what it was all about I couldn’t keep track much of the time of who was talking and even sometimes about what. I started skipping parts which I never do and thought the book would never end. Sorry about that fans, of this wonderful writer but she seemed tired and inattentive to making the story flow for me.

Paradise

Dear friends it is with great sadness that I inform you Barb left Cottagewood for her final reward last night September 10 at 2 AM. She appeared the last several to be calm days calm and composed. Tony was with me and Deanne appeared the next morning. Today the three of us met Jim hindt the funeral director and later father Mahreddy of St. Ignatius parish for Saturday’s mornings wake and eleven o’clock service.

 ray

Saying Goodbye

As those of you who are my long time blogging pals know Mrs. T. (Barb) is in Cottage wood memory care and now under Heartland Hospice authority a private business for Medicare.  She is safe, comfortable and quietly waiting to meet our son ted again who is with God. Our youngest son Tony who teaches High school science in Arizona, flew up to say goodbye to his mom several days ago.  We are now just waiting  sharing  reminescences, laughter and tears.

Ray

The Passionfruit Cookbook

In the beautiful Cottagewood garden memory care unit, where Mrs. T. now resides, nearby the gazebo where we were recently sitting, I found an unknown to me flowering vine. The flowers color  & structure were both stunning and unique. Take a look. (Photograph by  my friend at Cottagewood Autumn Kunz)

 

A bit later I met the lady who had originally  planted the passion vine as she began to water it.

In Patrick Jesse Pons-Worley book, The Passionfruit Cookbook, he writes, “Early explorers Spanish explorers  felt that the passion flower had a special purpose to promote the spiritual life among the people where it grew”

Then he goes on to explain the beautiful meaning of each part of the plant:

 “The spiraled tendons of the plant, he notes, were taken as symbols of the lashes Christ endured, and the central flower column as the pillar of the scourging. The 72 radial filaments of the flower were seen as the crown of thorns; the three stigmas as symbols of the nails used in the crucifixion, as well as the holy Trinity; the five anthers, as the five wounds of Christ; and the style as the sponge doused in vinegar used to moisten Christ’s lips. Taken together, the five petals and five sepals were used to refer to the ten apostles who did not either betray or deny Christ. The fragrance of the flower, continued Pons-Worley, helped recall the spices used to embalm the body of Christ. Finally, its globular egg-size fruit was taken as a symbol of the world that Christ saved through his suffering.”

The vine had been planted along the garden fence in memory of her mother.  All she knew of it was the name and after some discussion I  said I would try to find out more about it to determine whether it was winter hardy Minnesota. The answer was mostly doubtful on the subject of winter survival, although with over 500 species of it worldwide, most of which are tropical plants, there might be a few exceptions. Thus volunteering, I apparently inherited the plant in the attempt to keep it alive  in our basement. I’ve managed  that in the past with orchid cactuses. Hopefully. next spring it will be returned to it present location in the memory care garden  to thrive and bloom once again bringing joy to all the memory care residence residents…
   In summing up this perhaps quaint review the passion I had developed immediately upon first sight of a flowering vine, led me to a cookbook which was the first one I had ever purchased. Gardening, flowers, history, cooking (a new venture for me), religion etc. A good book for me. Perhaps you as we depending on you interests!

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The Golden years

 

Back in the day when I was growing up my father and all his brothers called it The Shakes. More recently my neurologist identified the problem simply as Benign Familial Essential Tremors. Lucky me! I call it  annoying. The Golden Years have begun. It’s clearly not fatal the experts told me and it likely won’t get worse. It did though to the point that holding my head still, keeping my arms and hands steady and drinking a cup of coffee without spilling became a major problem. Also other problems include, using a camera, holding my binoculars for birding still and even typing (now called word processing). So what to do?

The experts recommended testing various epilepsy pills. Thanks a lot. I got some bad headaches. Finally, I decided to adapt. Plainly filling the coffee cup only half-full or using a straw seemed a reasonable adaptation. Then I discovered Kwick Trip Coffee. It seems the miraculous lid has a small opening which allows the drinker to cover it with his mouth thereby preventing any spills. Amazing!

 

That was followed by a telescope sitting on a tripod for birding. And best of all my computer guru Brian added the Dragon to my computer. The Dragon quite simply listens to me talk and it types what I say. I could email and blog again.

Wow with that positive note all stop for my morning coffee and six boxed doughnuts for the ride up to Rochester and Cottagewood memory care. If Mrs. T knew of my morning diet I'd definitely be chewed out. Actually though my real danger in the morning is not my bad diet but the fact that thousands of Iowans are racing north, passing on yellow lines darting in and out and all because there late for work at Mayo Clinic. This happens on a two lane narrow curving highway with lots of small dips. This definitely places a safe driving cautious law-abiding Minnesotans in serious danger. Of course, they do the same thing later in the day when they're anxious to get home.

See you later dear friends, I'm looking forward to a good day.

July 4, 2019

 

From my blogging friend in Montana, Army Dr. in Vietnam during the war, surgeon in the Northwest, trout fisherman, and Genial Misanthrope (his blog). A  conscience for American values.

Not a review of William Kent Krueger's Sulfur Springs

 

William Kent Krueger is one of my favorite Minnesota authors. There are many such authors, both male and female, who write in diverse genres, usually set in Minnesota. As you know, when a book is placed in a location that you’re familiar with, it helps to bring it alive.  Krueger basically writes detective stories.  The background is often in Minnesota's forested lake country, known as Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Lake Superior or the nearby towns of the Iron Range. In Sulfur Springs Cork O'Connor, Krueger's protagonist and former Sheriff, has a new wife named Rainy.  She is an Ojibwe.  Cork is partly Indian and mostly Irish. In Sulfur Springs, Rainy’s son calls from Arizona and tells his mom that he has murdered someone, mentions one name and the phone goes dead. Cork, now retired from the detective business, and Rainy rush off to Arizona to help. There they encounter an environment far different from the lakes and woods of northern Minnesota. In this alien environment they find out that her missing son is part of a group(Coyotes) who try to rescue refugees from Guatemala fleeing from wars and extreme poverty, all to seek refuge in America.   These families are often left to die waterless and lost in the desert by scammers who take their money and abandon them. Blocking their way, besides the desert, are the beginnings of real walls and barbed wire, border patrols and vigilantes.  Besides the vigilantes, there are also the drug traffickers who all have their own reasons for building higher walls, or in the case of the vigilantes and the drug traffickers, killing people. In plain English, the refugees are people crossing through a war zone. The story inside this  Krueger's mystery is a tragedy writ large in the place far away from Minnesota. This issue divides our country ever further between the red and blue states of America.

I recently met William Kent Krueger in our town library. The taxpayers of Minnesota passed a legacy amendment referendum raising our state taxes for protection of the environment as well as cultural and art support. Mr. Krueger has visited a number of town libraries because of that referendum. I arrived at the Spring Valley's public library early to speak to our librarian and her aides when through the door the famous New York Times best-selling author arrived to set up for his presentation. I greeted him and we spoke for about 10 minutes. We compared a few notes on both of our living at one point in St. Paul, and I said at the end of his presentation I was going to ask him a question. He then said I should ask him now, and I'm glad I did because after his presentation he was surrounded by fans and people clamoring to buy his most recent yet unpublished book.  I said something like this, "Surely you had to know that you would get bad reviews and comments and perhaps even threats for writing about refugees crossing from Mexico into the United States in Sulfur Springs? His answer in a nutshell was to nod his head and say ‘Yes.’ ‘Why,’ I asked and he explained. I can't remember his exact words, but they were what I wanted to hear. He cared. It was an issue that touched him deeply and he needed to write this book. And he did.

His actual presentation, at least for the first half, was quite a surprise. He never mentioned his own books but talked about libraries and books and their great influence on all of us in our early childhood. There were many parents and grandparents in the audience so he spoke of how those early books that our parents read to us had a powerful influence on us for the rest of our lives.  He explained and reviewed the impact of Dr. Seuss and  other authors like him. The audience even could mimic his words as they anticipated his punchlines. The audience was enthralled. Later he talked about his books and his experiences and how he wrote and what was coming and answered all the questions that his fans wanted to hear about. I didn't ask any more questions and when I left ahead of the crowd, I thank the taxpayers of Minnesota for making this special evening possible and William Kent Krueger for being there. And since then I've finished reading all his books and can tell you, if you love a good detective story, now you'll know where to find quite a few.

 Cork O'Connor, the hero of many of Krueger's books has  a favorite beer. I hate to say it's brewed in. But it’s my favorite as well. The brewery is in in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Some years ago I bought a Lienies hat at the brewery and wore it for more than a decade till it recently fell all apart. It was white and red so I won't try to Trump or change anything about this not a review but plainly the books references to refugees and walls might seem out of today's headlines. But what I'm concerned about today is getting a new red and white hat and I've located several.  So I could drive over to Wisconsin and get a new one or perhaps the following might example might serve just as well and so here is perhaps even better alternative. The colors are right though it doesn't say make America great again. I remember reading Orwell's 1984 when I was in high school in the 1950s. The literary reference to that book  might just as well apply today. What you think?        

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A Dogs Journey

Serendipity means a happy coincidence of effects and  circumstances. Recently, after a long morning at Cottagewood, where was the usual reports about Barb falling repreatedly usually out of her confinement to a wheelchair. That night she was found on the floor in her room about 2 AM facing the bed and yelling for me to come and rescue her. My suggestions of having her where her walking shoes during the day to help give her some balance and have assisted morning walks ran up against various state laws and local protocols and all the usual excuses and mumbo-jumbo. After lunch somewhat giving up, I decided to go to a movie based on a book I'd  read some years ago.  So I went to see a Dog’s Journey the dearly. The next day  at 11 o'clock I had an appointment with Dr. Kirsch who told me my hope for  the  right knee sometime in July was off  due to my recent bout with pseudo-gout and more specifically the cortisone shot which over night ended my desire to meet St. Peter at the pearly gates. It seems cortisone reduces the ability of the body to fight off infections. I guess that explains why both Barb and I for years after left knee replacements had to take antibiotic pills whenever we visited the dentist. I asked the doctor how serious the risk was of going had with the surgery and his reply basically was “well, you  get an infection there and we’ll probably have to amputate you right leg”. Hmmm I guess I’ll wait till September…..

This is not intended to be what Stacy, my very wise cleaning lady and EMT, calls a “pity party” nor some extraneous “drama”which I am getting rid of by writing about a dog movie.. The movie began about 1: 30 and I found myself all alone in the theater both literally and figuratively.  The scene was a farm we see  a beautiful young woman and mom of a little girl. The mom lost her husband in the war in Iraq. Now she was drinking too much and paying little or no attention to her child. The grandparents offered to raise the little girl, and instead their daughter took her child planning never to return to the farm so she could a musical career life in the big city. The catch to this story is all about Bailey, the beloved dog of the grandparents. Bailey had already adopted and protected the little girl. Given the mission to protect the little girl we see  Bailey return to protect her in the form of a series of other dogs who carry on his life and mission.

Pretty sappy I guess but in our family there was Max our first dog, and big guy a. K. A. Baron our first German Shepherd and Ethan our oldest grandson and several other coincidences of names and circumstances. Halfway through the movie sitting in the seat for two I lost it. Later, on the way out unbeknownst to me, there was an elderly couple in the theater. Out in the parking lot the lady came up behind me and said “your a dog lover like us aren’t you?” I could only nod in response, while thinking that's just a small part of it.This movie hit a too close to home.

Starry Stary Night

 

Dear fellow bloggers and friends, I am writing tonight about yesterday’s visit to Mrs. T’s memory care facility at Cottagewood. It’s actually a story I’ve titled  “Starry Starry Night”after French artist Vincent van Goghs painting of the same name. The song itself is named Vincent by Don Mclean.

I and Barb were discussing with the head nurse Chris, Barb’s numerous recent falls. The issue was simply what to do to keep her safe and if possible avoid permanently assigning her to a wheelchair. During this lengthy semi successful discussion I finally heard some music from the commons room around the fireplace. Taking Barb’s hand we chose to follow the music.

Finding a seat in a large circle involving most of the residents and their aides and caretakers we focused on a large boned blonde woman beautifully singing as she played her guitar. Her companion, also in his 50s was quite short with thick glasses and looked to me like a retired hippy the from an earlier decade. He also was playing his guitar while occasionally pounding on it for rhythm. He also sang quite well. She asked the audience for any further suggestions on what they could play. No response. So I raise my hand and volunteered the notion of some “golden oldies”. That’s the phrase I had used and previously writing about the Valentine’s day where we got rock ‘n roll from the pianist and later waltzes for the Dementia land luncheon with your sweetheart and Ball .

This time though, I’m not exactly sure how to describe the music, let’s just call it old time hip big city folk music from decades ago. Some of the audience was sleeping, some watching and listening and a very few tapping, smiling and singing along. It was all good. And then….

And then I heard the phrase which they were both singing, “Starry Starry Night.” And I put my face in my hands, listened and then began to cry. I don’t believe anyone except the female guitarist noticed my reaction at first but in any case she kept on going and so did I. As the song concluded I stood up and approached her to thank her and she nodded and pointed to her husband. As I approached him he held out his hand and said”I know”and I said bipolar. And the name? Ted. Then she approached and gave me a hug and said”I’m so sorry, we will play it again for you at the end. Later, when she looked at her watch, I waved my finger and shook my head no and she nodded and I requested American pie. The audience smiled and Barb and I stood up to dance as we had when Don McLean sang the some years ago in the Rochester Civic Auditorium.  Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye

Singin' this'll be the day that I die

Everyone has been guessing the meaning of all these words since forever. That song is  now is legend.

Oh, could that man could sing and composed the songs  he sang and for others as well. Often to be their greatest hits. Roberta Flack   sang her greatest hit “ killing me softly with his song, ” with these words 

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song

It was about McLean.  Ending this story with one of Barb and my favorite songs composed and sung by Don Mclean. AND I LOVE YOU SO.    I played our piano back in the day and we both sang that song.......