Keith Murphy

Friday, June 21st, the summer solstice, we went to a concert given by Keith Murphy at Next Stage in Putney. We hadn't been at Next Stage for a while. Keith is a favorite performer - he was born in Newfoundland, and specializes in Cajun music, though his repertoire is not limited to Cajun. He usually is an acoustic musician, but this time he went electric with a band, and had just released a CD in the same mode, Bright as Amber. It was a bit reminiscent of when Bob Dylan went all electric, but Keith didn't get the pushback Bob Dylan got. It was a very enjoyable concert. His band included Anand Nayak, who is a Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist who crafts beautifully sensitive and atmospheric textures on electric guitar; Richie Barshay who has played with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Natalie Merchant, and Bobby McFerrin, is member of the Klezmatics, and is a drummer of astounding range and musicality; Ty Gibbons is an acclaimed composer for film and TV, and a member of the Vermont indie folk band Red Heart the Ticker. As an acoustic bass player, he melds an understanding of traditional folk song with his other wide-ranging musical talents. Keith was very excited to bring this fresh and unique combination of musicians to Next Stage for a debut performance. Keith also called up his wife, Beck Tracy, fiddle, to join in on several numbers.

Keith Murphy with his band and his wife, Becky Tracy, at Next Stage.

A good, wild day

On June 20th, we did something we had long promised we would do - we picked up Jerome at the Elliot apartments in Brattleboro where he lives, and drove to Grandma Miller's Bakery in Londonderry, VT., a place I have mentioned frequently in this blog. Every few weeks or so, we go there for Morning Glory muffins, a great favorite of mine for breakfast, and we usually go on Thursday because that is the day of the week they bake chocolate eclairs, which we love with a cup of decaf. We had promised Jerome ages ago that we would take him with us sometime, and we finally did. It was a pretty warm day, but the car was air-conditioned, and they have a spot outdoors on the porch in the shade which was quite comfortable, where you can sit at a table and enjoy your baked treat. Jerome is not a big fan of eclairs - he dislkes the custard - but he had a delicious fruit tart.

Grandma Miller's Bakery.

The place you can sit and eat outside is just beyond the top of this ramp.

The famous Grandma Miller chocolate eclair.********************* We came back, as we often do, via Windham Hill, and gave Jerome a running narrative of familiar landmarks, since this was mostly new territory for him. He enjoyed the trip, as did we, but by the time we got him back to the Elliot Apartments, we barely had time to dash home, pick up our Hallowell song books, and go to a Hallowell rehearsal in Westminster West, which started at 6:15p.m. We called Eliza Bergh, because we were too late to meet her at the agreed time. On our way to West-West, the weather took quite a turn, and a storm came through. And then when got to the church, where the rehearsal was to be held, it was dark, and no cars were parked around it. The rehearsal had been cancelled! Eliza was right behind us. Neither of us had seen a cancellation, but then, we hadn't checked our email recently either. But then when we headed back the Westminster-West Road we had just come on, oncoming cars were flashing their lights at us, and just after we passed the Putney Town Line, there was a tree down across the road! That had to have come down just minutes (seconds??) after we passed this spot on our way to the church! Thank God it didn't land on our car!

Tree down!!! ************ We had to turn around and head back to Patch Road, which took us up to Exit 5 on I-91, which we could take down to Putney and then head home. That also meant we could get maple creamees and cider doughnuts at Allen Bros., another favorite stop for treats. So - quite a day!

Juneteenth

Last Wednesday was a federal holiday celebrating the freeing of slaves in Texas. It was also our 19th anniversary. 19 on the 19th. That only happens once.

A card I created for Ellen for our anniversary. ********************* It was very hot, so we decided get cool by going to the Amherst cinema to a double feature. We saw Songs of the Earth, a Norwegian film, and Tuesday -a film about death. Songs of the Earth was beautifully filmed, and featured an older man - 85 years old - hiking in mountains above the fjords of Norway. He and his wife were meditating on growing older and dying, so the film cut close to the bone, but in a gentle, lovely way. Tuesday featured a young woman who was terminally ill, her mother, who could not accept that her daughter was dying, and a parrot - a macaw, actually - who was the grim reaper, and had the ability to change size instantly, getting very small or very large, and it could also talk. This was not a gentle film. It was a very strange film. Ellen disliked it and I had mixed feelings. It raised a lot of questions, but parts of it were very uncomfortable to watch. We decided not to recommend it to our friends. It was timely, however, because the previous day, Tuesday the 18th, Ellen, John and I visited Higher Ground, a "Green Burial" cemetery near us in Williamsville, VT, that is just being formed and where I will be buried. Green burial means that you are not cremated, not embalmed, there is no vault, no casket. Your body is simply wrapped in a 100% cotton shroud, and placed in a hole in the ground, about 4 feet deep, and you quickly decompose and become soil. There will be no carbon emissions connected to my death as there would be with cremation, which I like. It is a beautiful spot. The cemetery is wooded, and will remain so. Graves will be scattered among the trees. Here are some photos:

The currant entrance to "Higher Ground" which is next to Mike Mayer's house. Eventually, there will be a road built into a lower part of the five acres, but they do not have a permit for that in place yet. The circular woodpile you can see in the background was built by Mike. It is quite a work of art.

Mike near his mother's grave.

The general appearence of the woods. Rupa Cousins, whom I also knew very well, is buried to the left of Pam.*************************** Higher Ground, which is five acres in size, has been formed out of a much larger parcel of land which was purchased decades ago by a couple who became good friends of Shirley and me, David and Pam Mayer. Pam was very involved with Hospice, where I worked with her in training volunteers, and she was also very involved in Vermont Healing Tools, which Shirley helped create. I also knew both through the Unitarian Church, West Village Meeting House, where, back then, I often preached. We became quite close as couples, often went to their home for a meal, or, for some reason, met at a restaurant for lunch up in Lebanon, NH. The Mayers called their large parcel of land "Manitou" and it became a place of healing and spiritual growth. They have both died, and their son, Michael, has taken on the role of developing the land and has done much of the legal and paper work needed to create Higher Ground. Many years ago, Pam was buried there, and her dear friend, Rupa Cousins, also. They were buried there before Higher Ground was formed, but you can do a natural burial on your own land - you just have to register the grave with the town. I think you could say they were the inspiration for Higher Ground. Rupa was not family, but when Michael asked about burying her there, the town clerk at that time told him (mistakenly) "he could do anything he wanted to in Vermont." Since he acted in good faith on her advice, he was later given a waiver. The main issue I had to resolve was not being buried where Shirley and Betsey are buried - in the Dummerston Center Cemetery. To be buried there I would need either to be cremated (as both Shirley and Betsey were), or be embalmed and in a casket. Our friend Elizabeth Christie showed me a way to resolve that. She had the same dilemma with her husband, John. She is saving hair and nail clippings, and they will be buried where John is buried when she dies. So that is what I am doing. I have the added feature of still having a small jar of Shirley's ashes, and they will go with me into Higher Ground. There will be a small flat marker at my Higher Ground grave, and I also will add my name to a marker in Dummerston Center. I seem to have solved the problem of how to be in two places at the same time! Going back to Juneteenth, after the movies, we met Katie and Brendon in Amherst for supper. We went to Beuno Y Sano which has been significantly remodeled since our last time there, which might have been before the pandemic. I had a delicious fish taco.

The newly designed interior of Beuno Y Sano .

Something every day

Since my last post, which was last Wednesday, something important has happened every day. Thursday was a memorial gathering for violinist, Peggy Spencer. Peggy was concertmaster of the New England Bach Festival Orchestra, which for decades performed with the Blanche Moyse Chorale, of which I was a member for over 30 years. It is no exaggeration to say that I have performed Bach with Peggy over a hundred times. Peggy was married to cellist, Zon Eastes, for decades, and had dementia for the last decade of her life, though judging from things said at her memorial, her experience of dementia was gentler and sweeter than many, and Zon was a loving caretaker. The memorial gathering was held at the Brattleboro Music Center, and brought out people I have known for years but haven't seen for quite a while, including former Chorale members. One of those was Meredith Morgan, the wife of Jerry Morgan, a former minister of the Dummerston Church. Meredith was also Deborah McKean's roommate at Mt. Holyoke College back in the 1960's. There were several others. So this was a meaningful gathering for me at several levels. A lovely aspect of the service, not surprisingly, was music - specifically a string quartet, who played before, during and after the service. Peggy had two sons (by a husband who died before she married Zon), and one of them led the service, which had ample opportunity for anyone to speak who wanted to. We learned that in addition to being a world-class musician, Peggy loved games, and had a delightful silly side (which was not evident in her concertmaster role!).

Peggy Spencer (1941-2024).

Friends at Peggy Spencer's reception.

More friends.

Meredith Morgan and Beth-Ann Betz, former members of the Chorale.

Calvin Farwell, Me, Beth-Ann and Margo Lacey, all Chorale members. ****************** After the memorial service, we met John and Cynthia at Panda North for supper, which was very nice. I had my usual- Mala Tofu - which I enjoyed twice, at Panda North on Thursday and at home as a leftover on Friday.

My platter of Mala Tofu at Panda North. ****************** Ellen went directly from Panda North to a GCC Council meeting, and J&C took me home. Friday we listened on NPR to "The Daily Antidote of Song," which was being led by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. The DAOS was a creation of the COVID-19 pandemic era, and continues to this day because people love it. At noon, on public radio, someone leads 15-20 minutes of singing. We don't listen faithfully every day, but try to be there when people we know are leading. In the afternoon I had a follow-up blood test, because the test I had on Manday showed I was anemic - i.e., I have a slightly low red blood count. In the follow-up, they were checking my Folate (B-9) and B-12 levels. Then in the evening, we had a Dummerston Choir rehearsal. We rehearsed The Rose, which was sung on Saturday at a memorial service for Lisa May, Sallie May's daughter (Sallie is the Dummerston Church secretary and prepares oodles of food for Senior Meals and for the homeless). I did not attend that service because it conflicted with a Guilford Church retreat, but Ellen does a lot of meal prep for/with Sallie, so she went. We also rehearsed God So Loved the World, by John Stainer, an old classic. I know it well - I have sung it many times, and it happens to have been the first anthem I led a choir in performing - back when I was a 19-year-old college student. Saturday, I went to the Guilford Church Retreat, which analysed the discussions coming out of nine recent small-group gatherings. We formed nine 4-person groups and each group worked pretty carefully on 3-4 pages of a total of 30 pages of notes coming out of those gatherings. We were looking for the important themes and issues that were brought up. Our interim pastor, Allyson Platt, was in charge, and she summarized our work and reports on newsprint sheets which will later be typed up and distributed.

Pastor Allyson standing by to use the easel to make notes. All this will eventually be boiled down into a church profile as part of the process of finding a new permanant pastor. It was a beautiful day, weather-wise, and we had a pot-luck lunch which I ate outside, along with many others. People were very helpful to me (Ellen was in Dummerston), and I had a good day. We also picked up Jerome to bring to the retreat, and took him home afterward. Saturday evening we were at home. ************** Sunday we sang at Dummerston, John and Cynthia were there, and our anthem, God So Loved the World, went well. There were almost as many people in the choir as there were in the congregation! After church, J&C invited us to their place for a Father's Day dinner and afternoon. A feature of dinner was cole slaw made following a recipe I had made and written out by hand and given to John decades ago! I had completely forgotten that I had done that. It was good - it had crushed pineapple in it, along with raisins.

The screened porch at J&C's house where we ate our dinner and visited. It was very comfortable. ****************** After dinner, I shared my response to an email John had sent me asking for some ideas for his class in "Eco-spirituality" he is preparing for Antioch. I had written a new ending to a song we had heard a week ago at the Amidon Choral Arrangements Concert - "The Seed in the Ground." John had specifically asked for ideas relating to one of his themes - "subversive speech" - i.e., words that undo the self. He sees the self as a major villain in our obsession with consumption and growth and our alienation from the natural world. My verse is sort of a humorous jab at the un-intended consequences of agriculture. Here it is: New Verse for "Seed in the Ground" for John's course I had the sun and I had the rain So I dug a little hole in the old back lane I planted some seeds and kept down the weeds but nothing came up so I said, "What's up" And I went down to see But I had a bad knee And as I looked around I fell on the ground I hit my head And was almost dead And now a year later I am still in bed And in the night I think it might Have been better had I never Dug that hole in the ground.******************* If you want to see how this fits into the song, go to this link: ********** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWz9NpQaYnQ *********** I got home late afternoon and we spent a quiet evening listening to All the Traditionsn on Vermont Public Radio and then watching TV. Today Houghton Sanitary Service came and pumped out our septic tank. Something I had not had done for several years.

Health and Car Care

Not much has happened since Sunday. The main thing is that I had an appointment with my PCP, Dr. Alexandra van Dyck, on Monday, and had blood tests following that. The test results were all good except my red blood cell count is just a little low - I am a little anemic. This has happened before. I'm supposed to go back and give another sample so that they can check specifically my Folate count (B-9) and B-12 count. As a little treat, we got a maple creemee at the Dutton Farm Stand in Putney, after the blood test, and ended up exploring a road in Putney that was unfamiliar to us - East Putney Falls Road - which brought us out onto Route 5 up in Westminster (I think). We like to spontaneously explore roads. I had probably been on that road before, but not for a long time, and it did not look familiar at all. Part of it went along the Connecticut River. I was confused because I thought that road went south - I expected it to take us to the Landmark College campus, and when the river showed up on our right, I thought we had to be in New Hampshire! That wasn't possible. But of course we were going north. John, meanwhile, had an adventure with his Honda Insight. It needs new clutch lines, and he had to get it from his house in Westminster down to Brattleboro without using the clutch! He managed to do it, but it was stressful. They fixed it - he wasn't sure they could - it is impossible to get parts for the Insight - but the clutch still needs adjustment. I don't understand why they wouldn't adjust the clutch before returning the car. But he has to take it back Thursday. He has had endless trouble with that car. It's a cool car to look at, and it gets great gas mileage - in the 60's (it's a hybrid) - but it's over 20 years old and is a maintenance nightmare. But buying another car right now is daunting - even old used cars are expensive.

John's Honda Insight looks like this.

Dr. van Dyck, my PCP.

Finally, some time with Mary Andersen.

Mary Andersen is someone we try to get together with pretty regularly - usually at her place in Bennington, or meeeting at a restaurant in Wilmington, which is half-way between us and her. Last time we met in Wilmington, but we chose the wrong day - all our usual restaurants were closed. We finally found an open one on our fifth try! That was last year. This time, we met at her house in Bennington and had lunch at the Country Club, which is very close by her place. Since our last time together, she had spent time with her daughter, Erica (and her family) in Capetown, South Africa. That was over Christmas (which is summertime in South Africa) So it had been months since we had seen her. We picked up a mutual friend, Anne Janeway, who lives in Marlboro, VT, on our way to Bennington. Anne is pretty old - in her 80's - and is pretty hard of hearing. But she is game, and is a very interesting person who has been all over the world, as has Mary. So we had a lot to talk about. We had hoped to eat outdoors at the Country Club, but it started to sprinkle just as we arrived, so we ate indoors. The disadvantage of that is that the other patrons - usually golfers - are pretty noisy talkers, and that makes it hard for Anne to hear - we have to repeat almost everything we say! But we managed. After lunch, we went back to Mary's place for a little cake - it was her birthday! Before we knew it, it was 4:00p.m., and we had to leave to get to Shutesbury, MA to have pizza with Katie and Brendon before our Tony Trischka concert (see previous post). So we didn't get to talk quite as much as we had hoped. If you have been following ths blog faithfully, you saw pictures of Mary with Shirley in Switzerland, taken back in the 1980's, which I posted just few weeks ago (cf. May 17th). Here are two from Friday:

Top: Anne Janeway, me and Mary Andersen, at lunch. Bottom: Mary, Ellen and Anne. TODAY. This morning we went to the Guilford Church. The service was going to be held outdoors, under the pavillion, but it was raining pretty hard and quite cool - in the low 50's - so it was indoors. It was Trinity Sunday, and Allyson's sermon was on the Trinity, or even broader, on the many ways and names we use to refer to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The children's story was on a theme they have been studying - "Caring" - and they sang a song on that theme in the children's story time and also at the end of the service. The choir sang Thomas Tallis' If Ye Love Me, which we know from Hallowell Singers and which I love singing. Here is a link to it being sung by VOCES8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvHuNTkk0ig

The children singing about caring for self, friends, neighbors and earth.

The GCC Choir singing If Ye Love Me. I'm there, but I'm hidden behind Stefan Amidon, who is leading the choir. These images are from the BCTV recording of the service on YouTube.

Concert Bookends

This week was bookended by two concerts - one on Monday that we sang in, and one on Friday that we attended. The Monday concert was a Peter Amidon Choral Arrangements Concert, held at the Brattleboro Music Center, called I Still Have Joy, and Friday was a Tony Trischka concert, held at The Drake in Amherst, MA called Earl's Jam. The Peter Amidon concert was an absolute delight. It featured the Guilford Community Church Choir, augmented by some guests, and an octet called West Willow, made up of younger Amidon family members and their close friends. Plus a guest appearence of Desmond Amidon, Peter and Mary Alice's grandson, and his friend Leo, who had solos in two numbers. There was a very special energy in the whole concert, and the love and good feeling washing around the room was palpable. And we sounded really good. I personally had a good night - my voice was good, not plagued by phlegm as it often is, and I felt I sang well and actually made a contribution. It was extra-special for me also because not only did John and Cynthia come, but my friend, Phil McKean was there also. It was also wonderful to see Peter in such good spirits - he is fighting prostate cancer, but is doing pretty well at the moment. It was sort of a "Legacy Concert" for him.

Al Stockwell doing a sound check with the GCC Choir.

Desmond and Leo singing with West Willow.

The audience - Phil McKean is right in the center in the front row.

Peter Amidon leading West Willow. ********************************** Tony Trischka is a world-famous bluegrass banjo player, 75 years old, one of the best there is. Ellen's brother, Jim. was in a band with him fifty years ago called Breakfast Special, so we feel sort of a special connection with him, and have heard him before at Next Stage in Putney. The program was a tribute to another great banjo player, Earl Scruggs, who had a profound influence on three-finger banjo picking. This Earl Jam concert was inspired by the discovery of some never-heard-before-publically recordings of Scruggs playing banjo back in the 80's and 90's. Trischka has been transcribing these recordings. Trischka was playing with three other musicians: Michael Daves, guitar amd vocals, Alex Hargreaves, fiddle, and Jared Engel, string bass. They were all fantastic. Tony is a good story-teller, and he was very entertaining both in his narration between songs, and in his playing. The hall was packed and wildly enthusiastic. Katie Tolles joined us, and we had supper with her and Brendon at their house beforehand - Brendon made pizza, but decided not to come to the concert.

Tony Trischka.

Tony, Alex, Jared and Michael at the Drake last night.

Tony at the "Merch" table.

The Shirley Harris Crockett Awards

Today at the Guilford Community Church we presented two SHC Awards. Normally, we give one award a year at about this time near the anniversary of Shirley's death. But last year, we had a big event on May 21st to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Shirley's death (May 24th) and that took up so much of my time and energy that I didn't organize the award for that year. The two awards this year went to Carole Crompton and Fred Breunig - both particularly dedicated members of the church. I'll include tributes to them here.********* Tribute to Carole Crompton The recipient of the Shirley Harris Award today has given fully to the life of the Guilford Community Church. She has served as a Deacon and performs her duties well. She has taught many years in the Sunday School. She sings in the choir. She contributes in other ways: whenever there is a pie sale fundraiser, for instance, she not only bakes countless pies herself; she also facilitates the baking of others by, for example, preparing the dough and other ingredients. This person has also worked with others in the congregation to support the refugee/newcomer community. As a craftsperson, she has served the church in many ways. Her beautiful and creative Christmas cards and tree ornaments are always a hit at the bazaar. Over the years, she has astonished us with her Ukrainian egg decorations and when the war in Ukraine began, worked tirelessly with Robin Davis to make and sell pysanky eggs, raising thousands of dollars for war relief. Most recently, it is easy to see her artistic talent in the design of our new name tags, which she has created. Her prayers and reaching out to others in the church are also evidence of her compassion for others. In short, the Shirley Harris Crockett Award Committee thinks it is entirely fitting that Carole Crompton be chosen as an award winner this year. The committee is not aware of any specific project that Carole might undertake with the funds accompanying the award, but the committee is certain that Carole will have no trouble thinking of new projects herself. By her faithful presence and involvement in widely diverse aspects of our church’s life, Carole serves quietly as part of the glue that holds the Guilford Community Church together. Tribute to Fred Breunig I am sure many of you are familiar with the phrase “What would Jesus do?”. Well, at the Guilford Community Church, it would not be a stretch to suggest that over the past 25 plus years, we have frequently heard the question: “What would Fred do?” That would be Fred Breunig. How does one sum up the years of dedicated, compassionate service that Fred has given to this church? Lay Leader more than once, Deacon, clerk, member at one time of almost every committee, by-law revisionist, pulpit supply organizer extraordinaire, home visitor, service leader, music leader, effective leader through times of pastoral transitions, self appointed ambassador to every new person who walks in the door, chair of numerous suppers, online host, Fred has taken on all these roles with such grace that he makes it look easy! But make no mistake, Fred takes on every role with a serious commitment, and an uncanny way of inspiring us all. One of Fred’s current passionate projects is his involvement in Vermont Interfaith Action. From their website: “The purpose of this organization is to advocate for the allocation of funds needed to create enough affordable housing to move people out of homelessness, and fund the financial and human service supports needed for them to remain successfully housed.” The Shirley Harris Crockett Award Committee can think of no better way to honor Fred than to support him in his commitment to this critical cause. So as our gift to you, Fred, we will donate a monetary gift to Vermont Interfaith Action and hope that this recognition will inspire others to ask themselves, “What would Fred do?”

Me with Fred Breunig and Carole Crompton. The altar was especially lovely today. Robin Davis had the idea of inviting people to bring small vases of flowers, and many did.

The altar flowers today at GCC. Shirley and Betsey's graves look really nice too. Shirley's "women's group" - Lise Sparrow, Elizabeth Christie, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Connie Woodbury and Anne Janeway, spent a lot of time the weekend of the anniversary of her death making the grave gardens lovely, and it shows.

Betsey and Shirley's graves.

The women at the cemetery.

Glorious rhododendron

The rhododendron bushes are in full bloom, and I think they are larger and more filled with blossoms than ever. They rival the house itself in size. They are maybe also just a few days earlier than usual. They came into full bloom while we were in Maine. All blooming shrubs and trees have been prolific this spring. John came over for a visit today, and since his car is not drivable because of leaking fluid, and Cynthia had their other car up north, he came over on his electric bike, which I don't think he's ever done before. It's about an hour's trip. Ellen prepared a lovely lunch for us and we had a good visit. I also took the opportunity to get a picture of him with his bike! These next couple of days are full: tomorrow we are giving out the Shirley Harris Crockett awards at church, and then Phil Mckean is coming for a visit in the afternoon through till Tuesday morning. The Peter Amidon Choral concert is Monday evening and both Phil and John and Cynthia will be coming to that. A full life!