Backyard Turkeys

Surprised this morning when I looked up from my laptop and saw these guys out the kitchen window.

There have been times over the years when we've seen an individual turkey wander into our yard but this is the first time we have seen a group of them here.

Apparently they have been wandering the neighborhood and probably moved here from the Forest Lawn cemetery. I had often seen groups of turkeys from the library window as they moved around in the cemetery across the street. Sometimes cars would slow down on Main Street to look at the turkeys.

We have rabbits and groundhogs in our backyard and one time we had a deer hop the fence into our yard but this is the first time seeing a flock of turkeys.

Extra Innings

Extra Innings. My sister Rita recently posted a  picture of Tom and her at a Phillies game and along with that marathon 18 inning World Series game last night I was reminded once again how much I miss him. He would have watched that entire game.

It also reminded me of another Tom baseball story. Uncle Tom, our grandmother’s brother Tom Keegan, lived around the corner from us when we were growing up and he would take me and Tom to afternoon Phillies games. We did this with him for a few years when we were kids before we started going to games on our own during our high school years. Me and Tom would walk around the corner to the Seymour Street house where Uncle Tom lived with his wife Aunt Pauline and his sisters Aunt Mary and Aunt Frances. Aunt Mary would usually pack us a sandwich and a piece of fruit although we always wanted a ballpark hot dog. We would walk down the street to Germantown Avenue and catch the 23 trolley to Lehigh Avenue and then over to Connie Mack Stadium. We would often sit in the outfield bleachers which was fine especially if Stan Musial or Willie Mays were playing. Tom would obsessively keep score. After the game we would get off the trolley but instead of walking back down Seymour Street Uncle Tom would take us over to Gallagher’s taproom. He would sit us at the bar with a couple of sodas while he had a couple more beers and we played the jukebox. We were coached by Uncle Tom to come home and say “extra innings” to the Aunts when asked how the game went. (Of course they knew where we were that last hour) Years later Tom and I would often refer to staying out too late or having too much to drink as “extra innings”. 

Tom was somewhere last night enjoying all those extra innings.

Happy Birthday Tom

Happy Birthday Tom. It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years and 4 months since he left us. I especially miss him as we approach the World Series. He was the ultimate baseball fan and the bartender that always had the argument solving statistic on the tip of his tongue or in those books on the shelf under his bar. When we were growing up I was always excited when he had his birthday because mine would be coming soon too. But during that time between our birthdays we would be the same age. Irish Twins. Born 10 months apart. Poor Mom. 

So obviously we shared a lot growing up including toys, bedrooms, clothing (although we tried not to), friends and eventually even brain surgeries. We also shared a love of music. We both played piano but he also played the trumpet and the bugle while I also played the clarinet and the tenor saxophone. We both played in school bands but he also played in a drum and bugle corps while I also played in a Mummers string band. 

By our mid-teens we also shared a love of collecting music… singles and albums. But our tastes were different. Back then I was buying British invasion music, garage bands, and soul music. Tom was bringing home novelty songs. I was running out to get the latest Beatles record or a new Motown collection LP while Tom showed up with Winchester Cathedral or They’re Coming to Take Me Away. Around Halloween we would be fighting over the record player because he wanted to play the Monster Mash over and over. He had songs like the Witch Doctor (I can still remember every word), Purple People Eater, The Chipmonk Song, Snoopy Vs The Red Baron, The Martian Hop, Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, No Matter What Shape Your Stomach’s In and the list goes on and on. 

I was off in the Navy when he was still buying music in the early 70’s like Hocus Pocus by Focus and Bloodrock’s DOA but I did like when he got a Cheech & Chong album. Although he stopped collecting when he started bartending he was a big fan of novelty song DJs like Dr. Demento. 

Of course he certainly redeemed his musical taste with his decades of work at the Philly Folk Festival. Well, we all miss him. The photo here was from when he was Best Man at my wedding. I’ll be tipping one back for Tom tonight.

The Battle for Paradise

The Book List 1970 - 2020

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes On the Disaster Capitalists by Naomi Klein, 2018

Read in October 2018

And yet again another eye opening book… I spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico while in the service and it breaks my heart to see what the so called “Puertopian” shock doctrine disaster capitalists have done to this beautiful island. It’s a moral disgrace and a crime against fellow American citizens.

War On Peace

The Book List 1970 - 2020

War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrell, 2018

This was another eye opener and disturbing reality check...

The Angry White Man

The Book List 1970 - 2020

My Mother. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. And the Last Stand of the Angry White Man by Kevin Powell, 2018 

Read in October 2018

 

A fascinating and challenging perspective of being an American today and something everyone should read.