Flashback

 

How often are you transported, whole, back to your early teens? To those years of insecurity, of finding out you were different from the kids you played with and the powers that be, of not knowing whether you were cool or not?

We moved to Broadalbin when I was in 6th grade and I found out all about different. I had been fine in Fonda...they were used to me and my quirkiness. That didn't fly up north. I consoled myself by lying on the dining room floor...cold, bare, empty, hardwood...after the dishes were done of course...and wearing out Dad's Kingston Trio albums. They had a little record player that sat on the floor there and I could play them all I wanted if I was quiet. My favorite was, and is,  From the Hungry i. (We still have the one with the grooves worn almost beyond redemption.)

Everyone else was listening to the Beatles. I didn't. (Until later when we got the band going but never with any great pleasure.) Did you know that the Beatles once opened for the Kingston Trio? Yep, I found that out last night.

See, Becky inherited my love for their music and wore out MY cassette tapes when she was about the same age as I was during the dining room years. They played locally during the years we were showing cows every summer, but due to one fair or another I couldn't take her.

 Fast Forward a few years....

Tickets went on sale for a show at the Universal Preservation Hall a couple of months ago and she got seats for the three of us. We searched out maps and parking and off we went in a snaky, slithering rain, with much trepidation.

I had watched videos online and liked what I heard, but had no idea what to expect from this extension of the original band. The founding members all left us long ago.

What can I say but, wow! Becky was one of the youngest people there, by at least a few decades, but they rocked that place and the crowd was downright dynamic. They played the best-known KT classics with a polish and fidelity to the past that was at once exciting, and yet comforting to this old fan. It was great to remember those dining room years from where I am now and realize that weird really isn't all that bad.

They played songs I had never heard before, having moved on to country and rock once our band got going and we needed to please others, so I missed some albums. They closed with one written, I believe, by John Stewart, about America's first moon walk that literally gave me cold chills. (BTW, for historical reference, along with my brother and friends, I belonged to two rock and roll/country bands, Hereafter and Stone Free. We always joked to the audience that we would probably be here after they walked out, and that although we didn't play stone free, we were certainly dirt cheap.)

The show was great rollicking fun. We laughed, sang along, clapped, and laughed some more. Even Ralph sang and amazingly well too. He is not exactly a music guy. At the end of the show the band mingled in the lobby, shaking hands and sharing memories with anyone brave enough to walk up to them. I am a sniveling coward at heart as it happens, but that didn't stop me one bit....nice guys and very approachable.

Among my favorite aspects was Buddy Woodward playing the conga drum. Such flash! What panache! However, it was all fun, from fan favorites to new territory.

Before we were home last night, having traversed the dreaded route down 29 in rain-lashed darkness, lit mostly by ill-placed reflections glaring from the watery road, Becky had found some of my new favorites, and placed them on my "3C Walking" playlist. (You know, threecollie...who is a walking fool.)

Thanks Beck for getting the tickets and coaxing us out there, Ralph for driving under such nasty conditions (at least it wasn't blinding snow like that one High Kings Concert at the Egg), Dad for giving me so much music in my kidhood, and the band for a great evening's entertainment. 

Hope they play here again and soon.

Back in the band days
upstairs at Sherman's Amusement Park
Loved that Framus guitar
and I believe that is the drum set Mike is sellin
if you are interested. It's a good un.

Kidnapped

I was snatched away in a pickup truck last Wednesday afternoon and taken far from home.

My captors tortured me all week. At night I was imprisoned in an air conditioned room...they bought an AC just for my stay....and slept on a bed as soft and fluffy as a summer cloud. They spent the daytime hours showing me around the Finger Lakes region and feeding me. 

This included the older pirate's amazing cooking while the younger pirate supplied triple berry crisp that was to die for. She makes a mean dessert I gotta tell you.

Somewhere along the way, the older pirate became an inventive, and clever cook. From sammiches piled with amazing deli meats to ribs he smoked personally and at great length, there were tempting treats every day. A good thing I was released without ransom or I would not be able to get out of this chair.

And the coffee was outstanding. I am not a fan of perked coffee, but they get it right. A big step down going back to instant this morning....

Sam

Cam

Thor

There were dogs. The kids' dogs are friendly and funny....not to mention gorgeous. I love them and miss them already.

Skulldoggery being planned here I'll bet.

The pirate crew took me to the Windmill on my birthday, the Fourth, and bought me a banana plant, along with a really nice lunch/breakfast.  Hope I can keep it alive for a while, as I have killed a couple of other bananas over the years. ***Montgomery County needs to pay attention and establish such an enterprise. We have plenty of Amish craftsmen and gardeners and lots of English farm product entrepreneurs as well. We could do that here for sure.

There were birds...birds everywhere. They took me out to Mossy Bank (and never once threatened to throw me off even though I had been driving them nuts for days) where we heard Blackburnian and Black-throated Green Warblers and saw Hermit Thrushes and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

We ventured out on Canandaigua Lake on their boat, the Goblin, where we fished and looked at birds and houses on cliffs with elevators down to the water and staircases built right into the cliffs and found Purple Martins too. I found the stairs and trams fascinating. Talk about going to great lengths to get to the water! The trams are especially cool. Cabin 1 at Pecks could use one of these, although I don't see it happening any time soon.

They took me to Wegmans. Why is there no Wegmans closer than Syracuse? Why? 

Then there was a nice party, where I learned the delights of playing corn hole. Who knew? The kids have talked to me about it since the first time the older pirate met the younger pirate, but I just didn't get it. 

I get it now. I laughed a lot and had a go at tossing the bean bags a couple times. Didn't get any on the board, and nearly hit the Camaro once, but I am sure I will get better with practice.

They are planning on bringing their boards down so everyone here at Northview can play. I can't wait. The boss is going to love it and will prolly play like a pro. All that baseball he played when younger and that awful, deadly arm he always had ain't gonna hurt him any.

Anyhow, if you missed me over the past five days or so, I was busy having a great time with Alan and Amber and her family and their lovely and lovable doggos, Cam, Sam and Thor.

A small part of the view from Mossy Bank Park

The kids were so kind to me and entertained me with so much fun that I am still grinning.... and I have a heck of a lot of photos to edit yet.

There are two downsides though. Having spent so much time enjoying their company, I miss them more than ever. Usually I just accept that video chat and lots of texts and phone calls are a pretty good way to keep in touch. However, there is simply nothing that will replace real hugs and face-to-face talking and listening. With their schedule the way it is, especially Alan's work, I am afraid it is going to be a while before I get to enjoy the real deal again.

And while I was gone the House Wrens took over the sitting porch and the ornamental bird house there and I am no longer welcome. Maybe I will just go back to Amber and Alan's pleasant porch. They make S'mores there. 

Thanks kids, for a wonderful weekend...you can kidnap me any time you want to. I love you guys.

Thanks also to the girls and their dad who kept things going at home while I was otherwise occupied. Came home to a cleaner house than I left, laundry all done up, and a generally welcoming situation.....good deal....