Joni Mitchell Morning

Having a Joni Mitchell morning with the first several albums lined up. I’ve always been fascinated with her. I have seen her perform several times as a young woman and have collected all of her albums over the years. It’s been heartbreaking to see her declining health but encouraged by her slow recovery from her recent brain aneurysm. Parts of her story have come up in several books I’ve been reading lately and at his concert Graham Nash told some poignant stories about his time with her. There has been a lot of press about her recently because of her illnesses and the promotion of her new biography Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell which I’m looking forward to reading soon.

Bernie's Guide

 

The Book List

Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution by Bernie Sanders, 2017

Read in October 2017.

Not much here I wasn't already aware of but still a good read. My problem with Bernie is that he should have written this 20 or 30 years ago. Over the years and decades we've not heard a whole lot from him. Sure, occasionally there would be something in the news about something he said and during election years there would be some statements by him but where was the fire? Where was the national commitment. Everything about him was local which is fine but now that he has recently been on the national stage we see what the nation has missed when he was really needed.

That being said... it is a good practical and inspiring guide to political activism with lots of resources. Includes an interesting mix of emotional rhetoric and logical facts that is a guide to progressive change in this country. Again, it took too many decades to come to print or at the very least it should have been used as a guide leading up to the 2016 elections instead of coming out after that disaster.

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O

 

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland, 2017

Read in October 2017

I try to read everything I can by Neal Stephenson and this was another amazing one but admittedly an acquired taste but one I eagerly look forward to whenever he publishes something.

This was a captivating and complex near future thriller that combines history, science, magic, mystery, intrigue, and adventure that questions the very foundations of the modern world. Got me on that one. Time travel, witchcraft and top secret military operations. 

I liked it a lot. The ending was open ended so perhaps Stephenson and Galland will get together again for another book.

Katie's Curls

 A flashback photo to October 1985. Becky and Katie when she had cute little ringlet curls sitting in the rocking chair on Putnam Street.

She would have been 14 months old when this picture was taken. She was such a wonderful little baby and toddler.

Busy Day in Mt. Airy

We had a very busy day while visiting Katie, Todd and Henry in Philadelphia. We really like their neighborhood in the Mt. Airy section of the city. I ended the day hanging out with Dan and Todd at McMenamin's Tavern on Germantown Avenue around the corner from their house in Mt. Airy. I spent some time in that bar in the early to mid 1970's. Todd took a picture of me and Dan which I posted on FB and it got a lot of comments from Dan's friends about how much we look alike.

We started the day visiting the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill. I hadn't been there in a while and it was very nice. It is also now run by the University of Pennsylvania and there have been some significant improvements.

Then we went up to Valley Green in the Wissahickon Park which was certainly a blast from the past for me. I spent a

lot of time up there when I was growing up and later as a teenager. And still later yet me and Becky went there all the time when we were living in Germantown. It was very nice to spend some time there with my grandson.

We went back to their house and Henry took a nap. After that we all went over to Earth Bread & Brewery up on the avenue. It was nice to be able to walk up the street to so many nice restaurants. We had a wonderful dinner and some local brews. I had a Gruit which is an ancient herbed ale. Very tasty. Then I had Bette which is there smoked golden ale. Also very good. It was a very family and kid friendly restaurant brewery.

Then we met up with Dan and went to McMenamin's. 

USS Little Rock

Today I went down on the waterfront to the Buffalo Naval and Military Park and walked up on to the quarterdeck of the USS Little Rock. The Little Rock was my flagship when I served with the 6th Fleet for a six month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. I had stood on this same deck 45 years ago in the Bay of Naples and saluted the flag. Saluting the flag was a ritual I did every day for four years. I did it again today. And then I respectfully took a knee, said a prayer and silently remembered the many sailors I served with in the military who have struggled then and now with the social injustices that no American should be subjected to in our country. My thoughts also included the neglect of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the countless victims of needless gun violence. I enlisted in 1969 to protect and defend our freedoms including the right to peacefully and respectfully protest these injustices whenever and wherever. Then I went over to the Liberty Hound for a locally brewed beer.

I also took another look at this dental room on board the USS Little Rock. I sat in this same chair as a 20 year old sailor getting a couple of wisdom teeth pulled after a long boat ride across the Bay of Naples from my ship. There were not a lot of dentists in the 6th Fleet so when I had a problem with my wisdom teeth I had to wait for an opportunity to get it taken care of and that happened eventually when we were anchored near the Little Rock. I got in a boat and was taken over to where the Little Rock was anchored and went up the gangplank to the quarterdeck and came on board where I was shown the way to that chair.

Afterward I got a one day light duty chit.

I was really surprised when the Little Rock came to Buffalo as a permanent ship tied to the pier at the Naval Park and I was shocked to tour the ship knowing I had been on this ship before but seeing that dental office brought back some memories.

San Juan 1971

Standing on the fortress of San Juan in 1971. I loved our many port visits throughout the area during the several years I served with the Navy’s Caribbean Amphibious Ready Group and especially San Juan and Ponce in Puerto Rico. My heart goes out to all those fine people who made such an impact on my life. Part of our mission was to always be ready to provide support to fellow Americans in the area when necessary and rapidly respond to natural and man-made disasters. We were trained to deploy resources in hours not days and certainly not 8 or 9 days. I find this administration's incompetence, ignorance, embarrassing absence of leadership and appalling complete lack of empathy disgraceful and frightening.