I know my times are no harder than so many currently, but I feel the ominous hanging of a dark cloud.  I took my mom to see Dad to day at the nursing home. He is now in hospice. It's like watching a zombie. Izzy's accident, Lily not getting her new job and so much more. It weighs one down.  On top of this all I have a wound on my left foot, going to see Dr B on Monday. In good news Matt's present came today, so psyched, hope the Tones can get together soon. Watched Men in Kilts last night, Good fun, "If it's not Scottish it's Crap!" Loved the bio's from people on the Powderworks group, what a special bunch. Let's hope for the Oils and Neil in the US this year!

I can feel the king tide coming
All my senses overflowing
One night waiting out the back
Horns'll blow and cymbals crash
So paint a circle in the sky
I lay breathless in the arms of love
There's a bruise on my back
And a new understanding too - King Tide Neil Finn

The New Year

 The New Year is upon us and the turmoil continues. The government hose up in the Corona vaccine roll out and the continued protest against Biden's win shows just how far we've fallen. I hope Biden/Harris bring some sense of normalcy back to the White House and the vaccine and Covid are in the rear view soon. 

Nice break over the holidays, staying home so a great time for movies and shows. We continue our push to watch the MCU in chronological order, not many more to go. We are currently watching "Cloak and Dagger". While so over the top dramatics and engaging story of social relevance. The NOLA setting also appeals to both Laurie and I. We also just finished "His Dark Materials" season 2 with a third and final next year. What a wonderful, deep and well executed piece. I will have to read the books now!

Izzy continues in Tampa bartending (yuck), she and Casey are such troopers, I'm glad they have each other. Benj and Lil are still in Middlebury, who knows when that will change. Really difficult not having them home for Christmas, opening presents via video chat is just not the same. Missing the Velilla's Christmas Party was also not fun, but what can you do...fucking Covid. 

Milo and Piper are well and swing from full on WWWoof to sleeping on the couch. I think they like me working from home. Olive and Una really like their penthouse beds on the armoire, especially as I built them a ramp system to get up.  We put up seed feeders on the hummingbird feeder hangers and have had a plethora of feathered friends eating there. 

Today is in the low 30's and 20's at night so good to stay in and keep up with the pellet stove. Laurie's return to work was not so bad yesterday, she seems to be settling in at Maple Hill, but not without it's hiccups. She is a trooper!

Hurricane Isaias, power out, generator and sailing...

Well Isaias now a tropical depression pass quite a ways west of us but packed quite a punch here in Mishnock. Most of West Grenwich and Coventry without power for a day. We have a generator but I have procrastinated putting fuel stabilizer in the gas, so I was worried about it started. Drained out the old gas 

put in new (& stabilizer!) and the little Subaru started right up. So were were able to plug in the fruges and phone and lost no food! 

I the late afternoon went on my first sail with Peter on the Eagle, since my foot surgery. It was beautiful on the bay.  Saw some beautiful boats including a 70' ketch from Bermuda and some big survey ships, one with a drill rig. Probably for the Cape wind project. Back to Ida Lewis yacht club for a cocktail at sunset and a close up of the flag lowering and cannon shot at sunset. Pretty civilized! 

Almost August...Begin Again.

So after 5 years I am going to begin my diary blog again.
Summer has been pretty different, what with the Covid pandemic and the Orange Douche in Chiefs
antics, one could lose hope. But Hope is unreasonable and Love is greater than this. (RF).
The riots and response of the hired goons are probably about as Fascist as this country has ever seen.
But I still believe that good will prevail and that we have  more good people than those that hate.
The dogs have been in the lake a lot lately with the 90 deg. 80% humidity. Piper is not as plussed but Milo has take over for Raven and become the fishing dog, he is facinated! 💓
We build a fire pit this summer and just need some cooler weather to utilize it. It looks great, we got the kit and Laurie and I did all the building. Of course now we want a patio around it!
Mom and dad are doing ok, mom still at home and dad is at the Memory Care Unit at Brookdale, at least its right down the street. The Covid situation make it difficult, we have only seen him as we take him to drs appointments. My amputated right big toe is almost healed, still hard to get my head around it, but it is what it is we move on. My really good waterproof boot has allowed me to swim so that's a godsend. Now just a band aid hopefully fully sealed in a couple of weeks.
Lily and Izzy have been struggling with the Covid situation as Izzy's main gig is bar tending, in Tampa, Florida. It's such a shit show down there. Lily has stepped back fro most of her political activities to focus on her health and well being, a good call. Laurie is still collecting as her position was eliminated due to Covid reductions. She finds a Reggio place, loves it then boom the shit hits the fan.😞She is hoping to go back when things improve.
I am still working from home for the RI DOT, a weird New World Order. Hopefully can get back to sailing soon!
Today (Yesterdays soundtrack) - The Blue Crush soundtrack and XTC's Skylarking

The need for music

A New Year to begin again....
 The New Year finds Laurie and I having a relaxing day at home...relaxing. I was on the computer most of the day, doing a video recap of 2014. I didn't think it was a bad year, Laurie said she was glad to see it go. As the year came to an end, I was reminded doing the video as to the synchronicity of everything and how that interconnectedness joins us all. For me the strong force of connection is music, and the gift that is given us that play music and as Mr Fripp has said, "get taken in to it's confidence" .
 In a year that finds me playing in two bands my original band MeccaLily and my (mostly) cover band The Strattones, I feel very blessed on a regular basis to get to play with such fine musicians and great friends. To those that don't play, and I know you've heard this before, it's never to late. I really believe anyone can get involved in music and in doing so enrich your life. Join a choir, pick up guitar, piano, uke, harmonica, there are many places to start, and many people to help you along the journey. Many of my friends who are studied, degreed musicians are teachers, and very conscientious ones at that. They have so much to offer and you maybe surprised that many principles that apply to music also apply to how we live our lives. The thing is most of us know of the magic of music. Whether you play or are an avid or casual listener, who among us cannot say they have not been moved profoundly by music at one or more times in their lives.
The glimpse of the riches and magic that lie just beneath the surface of our world, can be glimpsed by the soaring voice, a child's ear being opened, a stunning interpretation on a familiar favorite or the discovery of some new unknown sonic landscape that transports us to another place, time and person.
I was reminded of this, and especially it's importance to our young folk,  in watching the last 3 episode of Dave Grohl's Sonic Highways. The concept for the show was to stay in 8 American cities, with great musical heritage and write a song based on that experience while there. The cities were Chicago, Nashville, Austin, LA, New Orleans, Seattle and New York. I love Dave and the Foo's but let me say, this show blew me away. The history and connections discussed and the people interviewed were stunning. All musicians and music lovers should check this out. The last show was in NYC the site of so many musical memories for me and such a rich musical history. Recording at The Magic Shop it really was a magical web that wove the final pieces of this series together. As the Foos are on a break a family walking by the studio, recognize Dave. They say they are big fans, the kids are musicians and are even learning some Foo's. Dave invites them in for a tour of the studio. I want to see what that young brother and sister are doing in 10 years hence. I would bet something musically special. The threads formed in  the show culminating in Dylan, Woody, Public Enemy, Kiss,  CBGBs, Bowie and so much else, wove this tapestry of why we need music in our lives and culture that it sent my mind spinning. That I met Flava Flav on a NYC subway platform, on my way to my first Guitar Craft show, that with my daughter seeing Robert Fripp at the Wintergarden in 1998 and between shows going up the WTC. Than we saw Midnight Oil and visited Ground Zero in October of 2011 to see Midnight Oil in times Sq and returned to see Robert at the Wintergarden in 2010...well the connections, emotions are really infinite and indescribable.But all this goes back to music. I leave you with a quote from Robert Fripp that continues to resonate with me on a regular basis:

“In strange and uncertain times, such as we’re living through, sometimes a reasonable person might despair. But hope is unreasonable and love is greater even than this. May we trust the inexpressible benevolence of the creative impulse..”

Be creative in whatever media draws you in. For me it 's music and I hope that I may be more open to let it "bring me into it's confidence".

Well this trip was bound, as is this mortal coil,  to ride the sine wave roller coaster and yesterday was a prime slice. The daytime portion was unbelievably good, the nighttime, not so much.
The day started with Lily, Laurie and I heading of for Caladesi Island north of Clearwater on the Gulf.
    The drive was very pleasant across the causeway from Tampa then north to Dunedin to take the ferry to the Island. If you like the Florida tropics, palmettos and palms, beautiful beaches this is pretty close to paradise. The 20 min passenger ferry from the state park was lovely with a history of the area from the captain including the way the area, bay and island have been reshaped by various hurricanes.
     Caladesi Island itself is really a wildlife refuge where people are allowed to hike, beach, swim and fish with conditions under the watchfull eye of the Florida Parks and is the only natural island on the Gulf Coast.
   We walked the five minutes across the dunes via the boardwalk to the beach which was a couple of miles long and beautiful. The park rents chairs and umbrellas, which you really need, as even with mass amounts of sunscreen, you're not going to want to spend extended time in this intense sun. We parked ourselves, there were probably 20 other people on his huge, beach which was wonderful. For me one of the downsides to it being so hot was the ocean was in the 80's, so not tremendously refreshing when you've been in the heat.
    We did some beach-combing and then as Laurie and Lily settled in for some reading under the brollies, I decided to take a walk south on the nature trains through the palm and palmetto dunes. I was wonderful bringing me back to days at FIT JBC in the 80's when I was in college. I walked about a mile and then decided that the heat was too much and took a shortcut to the beach for the return hike. The shell acquisition was particularly successful on this return trip. No Rattlers or tortoises, but the natural vegetation including cacti was superb. The birdlife is spectacular with sandpipers, pelicans and all sorts of shorebirds, hunding for food in the littoral zone. We also learned the "Stingray Shuffle" (everybody form a line?) to keep from stepping on one or getting stung.
    As I found nice whelk shell a the woman of a couple, in a very English accent as where I had found it. We got to talking and the told me they were there with their daughters to celebrate their 15 Anniversary,  and that they were married here on the island 15 yrs ago! They were very nice and we chatted some more while waiting for the return ferry.
   After we had has enough sun (we all got some burn even with mass sunblock!) we headed back to the snack bar by the ferry dock for lunch and drinks. We chatted with a couple from CT who now lived in Orlando and were in a boat club and had taken a 20' center console out to the island for the day.
   The return trip was great and we had a nice drive back to out hotel. We when out with Iz and Hanna and her parents for a nice meal in Ybore, the old section of Tampa. It was a nice meal but everyone, especially the girls seemed tense, and we all felt that Iz didn't care if we were there or not. An emotional and not pleasant evening because of this. The emotions of leaving your child/sister  in a strange place for college are pretty intense and I think this was the time when it all came our. So some drinks were had and tears were shed. I went off to bed and Laurie and Lil stayed up talking in the balcony. The all of a sudden herd strange noises and rushed down to see the fins and blow holes of a pod of dolphins swimming by....

"After the waves were breaking, ancients eased in their pain, mothers took fire in their hands,'
Then the dolphins came..."  TTDC - MeccaLiy

Across the Big Pond - Observations of the State of the Union...Jack

So in contemplating posting some current observations, I decided to start a blog as I've been having the urge to write as of late.  Life has been a bit of a roller coaster ride as of late with our youngest Isabel (Shmell, Bel, Chiga la Nupe, et al) heading of to the University of Tampa for the next chapter in her exciting young life.
     So I find myself with Laurie J, Iz  and our oldest Lil, back in Florida, the scene of my college years and much of my misspent youth. I attended college from 1976 - 1980 obtaining a Degree in Oceanography from Florida Tech at their now defunct Jensen Beach campus, near Stuart on the East Coast just North of West Palm. These were the college years, with many fond memories, a few regrets and some trepidation that my youngest would chose a Florida university to attend. Ocean Enginnering at 8:00 AM or waves? Tough decisions.
    But 2014 is not 1976 and Tampa is not Jensen Beach and Izzy is really not a lot like I was at 18. That being said I was happy that one of her baggage items was her acoustic, her music is to her as it was to me, solace, a way to express yourself and ultimately something you have to do. The years with Jim Johnson doing coffee houses, the Rat and parties have served me well as a performer.
     So we arrived Tues after a pretty sleepless night at Tampa Airport where we met up with Lil who flew down from Burlington, Vt for this delivery/family vacation. She was in some distress due to antibiotic etc, and was very emotional upon seeing her little sis when they set eyes on each other across the terminal. Laurie had booked us into a lovely suite at Sailport right on Tampa Bay with a vista of the Middle Bay and  the causeway to St Pete to the south. Walking out of the airport.  it hits you immediately, this is Florida in the summer, hot and sticky, where AC is a must. It was a nice change from the unseasonably chilly nights we have had in RI the past week or so, So we hauled all our luggage (80 % Izzy's stuff) into our suite and had a relaxing day getting acclimatized. Laurie and I made one trip out to Publix to get groceries so we could eat in some meals as the suite has a kitchen and then we camped out by the pool, before venturing out for a lovely meal at "Bella's" a fantastic old style Italian restaurant in South Tampa. The meal was superb.
    So with some weird deja-voodoo in my head here are my observations on Florida, and Tampa so far:
1.  The landscape:
It is flat, flat, flat. The saving grace for Tampa is the bay and the surrounding ocean front. The vegetation especially the palms is lovely.
2.The Birds:
The birds around here are amazing. From the cranes in front of the hotel, to the pelicans and all manner of crows, wrens and smaller birds, it is a thriving avian ecosystem. This morning I had the privilege of seeing a mating pair of Ospreys, my favorite raptors, hunting just off the point in front of the hotel.
3. The heat and humidity:
As Laurie J said, as we were walking around, I don't think I could do this tropical heat and humidity all year round. As my friend Louis said as we messaged "It's not the best time to come to Florida, it's Africa hot right now.
4. The driving.
     The highways and interstates around Tampa are fucking looney bin, I pride myself in having a good internal compass, but we to a wrong turn, 3 times in two days. And when you do you pay dearly with the re-route to get you back on course. I drive a tweaked WRX so speed is not an issue, but in general people drive really fast here, Kinda glad we took the insurance on the rental. The signs, road number and right and left exits seem at best to be randomly placed and it seems to cause GPS to go into conniptions on a regular basis. Right, left, North, South...Tilt, Game Over!
5. Customer Service
     If this is southern hospitality, then us Yankees could take some lessons. We have had nothing but pleasant,  friendly and courteous service and interactions with the majority service personnel. At grocery stores, restaurants, etc people are friendly, chatty and seem generally interested in talking to you. How lovely and especially when you're on holiday.
Final thoughts:
The deja vu is tempered with the sense of foreignness for a place you once lived but are no longer a part of. Like an old friend you feel the warmth, and your senses, sights, smells are at once familiar, but distant, like the faint sea air a little too far inland.  But as was stated so beautifully by Frosty Hesson in
"Searching Mavericks" which I watched again two days ago:
 "We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don't come back leaving only that which was touched along the way."
May the tides and the waves look kindly on our Izzy as she navigates the seas of the next few years in this tropical landscape. Oh and watch out for the foot fuckers....