Northern Roots Festival

Every year at this time, the Brattleboro Music Center, through Keith Murphy, puts on a weekend festival of traditional music. During the day there are workshops teaching specific instruments, such as fiddle, accordian, guitar, etc., or specific musical traditions, and in the evening there are public concerts. We went Saturday night and heard Paul McDonnell (from County Mayo, Ireland), playing button accordian; Fiddleheads Brattleboro, a local group of young people with fiddles, cellos, piano and guitar, led by Laural Swift; from Belfast, Maine, Bennett Konesni (fiddle) and Benjamin Foss (guitar, fiddle, mandolin and foot percussion), playing dance music and worksongs; from Norwalk, CT, Deirdre and Sean Murtha, singing and playing Irish music, and especially maritime music; from Quebec, Sabin Jacques (accordian) and Rachel Aucoin (piano), a team for over 25 years, playing very lively dance music, joined by Pascal Gemme (fiddle and foot percussion), who is a force of nature. Pascal played with River Singers a few years ago, so we had heard him before. The program had a finale in which everyone played. This concert was fantastic. These were outstanding musicians, and they poured their hearts into the music. It was very joyful - just what is needed at this time. We had front row seats (having a disability has its advantages!), and what a treat! There are lots of past Northern Roots videos on YouTube (this was the 18th Annual Festival!), but this year's isn't up yet. I assume it will be eventually.

Paul McDonnell.

Fiddleheads Brattleboro.

Dierdre and Sean Murtha.

Pascal Gemme and Bennett Koneski.

Time Flies

Goodness, it has been nine days since my last post! I guess that when I just stay home and sort of futz around, there isn't much to report, and certainly not "vividly!" The big thing that happened, of course, is the Inaugeration. I don't usually report on things like that, though sometimes I do. We did watch the whole thing at home - it was broadcast on PBS. I actually started listening on the radio, and then switched to TV for the ceremony itself. It was interesting to watch if you ignored the fact that it was not a play. But if you let in the fact that all this will affect real people negatively, it was dismaying and disturbing. I have not yet determined just how to resist Trump, though last night I did send him an email through the United Church of Christ about his order to cancel "birthright citizenship," Watching the "news" in the evening now is a very different experience. He is unavoidable. There was one other big thing in our lives this past week or so - infinitely more personal and important. We were part of a small Hallowell group that went to Tom and Kathy's for a sing last Friday (1/17). Tom was in bed when we arrived, but he got up and sat in the circle with us by the woodstove, and sang along with us. It was a lovely and moving time. It was wonderful to be with him and talk. We are going through some similar experiences, but of course pancreatic cancer is way different from Parkinson's.

Tom and Terry. Tom has a walker almost exactly like mine.

Fred, Tim, Patrice, Eliza, Kathy.

Eliza, Kathy, Mary Alice, Mary Cay, Ellen.

Tom, Terry, Fred. ********************* Otherwise? Our retired clergy group met Thursday (i/16) and that evening we went to the Hallowell rehearsal. I listened to a couple of TarHeels games (they lost both by one point!). We watched church Sunday on Zoom (I just didn't feel like getting up!). Wednesday (1/22), Ellen went to a "sound bath," (dozens of "singing Bowls" of various sizes, esp.large ones), which I gather was a powerful experience. Andy Davis stayed with me while she was away (c. 4 hours), and we talked inter alia about a song Andy wrote about aging, and his and Robin's travels to various places (e.g. to the John C Campbell Folk School in North Carolina, and their trips to Ottawa, and other parts of Canada). We even got out the big atlas to look up places they had been.

Postponed

Me and Jerome at my birthday party.********************************* Monday, we had planned to have Jerome over for a visit, including an overnight. This was at his request - he wanted to have a good, long talk. I had explained some of the "problems" of staying in our home overnight, but he still wanted to do it, and so we agreed on Monday. But when I called Monday a.m., he was not feeling well emotionally, and when I explored that, I learned his sister is dying. She lives in Maryland and he wants to go see her. So we talked about that and I said I would help. He will go by train and leave Friday. So we postponed the overnight visit. Probably do that in February. That means Monday and Tuesday were unexpectedly quiet. Actually, Tuesday had also been planned - after taking Jerome home in the morning, Ellen was going to meet Robin and go to a chidren's book illlustration museum and event down in Massachusetts while John stayed with me. But Tuesday, John was dealing with a migraine headache. So that was cancelled too. All kinds of free time. I felt busy the whole time, but not with any one particular thing. Busy with everyday things. That's ok!

The New Year Begins

New Year's Day was, as I recall, a quiet day. Actually, I don't remember it very well. I don't remember going anywhere, but I do remember listening to a TarHeels/Louisville MBB game in the evening on my Tunein Radio app, a game which the Heels lost by about 14 points. Sigh! The morning of Thursday, January 2nd, we had our retired clergy meeting at the Dummerston Church, and had a good discussion on the first chapter of Wilkie Au's Aging with Wisdom and Grace . This is a good book. Chap. 1 developed pretty fully the difference between faith understood as belief and faith understood as trust, with a strong preference for the latter as a foundation for aging with grace. Friday, January 3rd, we had an odd situation. I had responded to an Internet offer and arranged with a roofing company to send appraisers to assess our roof and make a free, no obligation estimate on replacing it. The shingles are not broken and are not leaking, but they are 25 years old, which is usually considered the life-span of asphalt shingles. The appraisers never showed up, and never called to explain why. Was the whole thing a scam? If so, what do they get out of it? I called their # and asked where they were, but they didn't call back. We waited all afternoon. I guess I'll look for a local roofer to give me an estimate. Friday evening, I led a rehearsal of the Dummerston Choir, which sang on Sunday the 5th, the day before Epiphany, and thus had the star and the magi as themes. We had only seven people present, including Mary Westbrook-Geha and myself, but we had all parts covered, and it went well. We worked on two pieces, an Introit, Lovely Star in the Sky, a Korean hymn which I found in an Asian hymnal I own, Sound the Bamboo, and an anthem, Behold the Star, which I found in the African-American Heritage Hymnal, but which has been around a long time and is in many hymnals (including the old Friends Hymnal which Ellen used as a child). Some members of the congregation remembered singing it at camp and loved hearing it again. I called it an "anthem" - it is really a hymn, but arranged to seem more like an anthem - e.g., the verses sung by a soloist and the refrain by the choir in 4-part harmony. Our soloist was our organist/pianist and former soloist for decades with the New England Bach Festival, Mary Westbrook-Geha, who, of course, sang magnificently, and since we sang it a cappella did not need to be playing the piano at the same time. I can't lift my arms very high to direct, because of severe arthritis in my shoulders, but I manage, and everyone is very supportive. I also have to accomodate my friend, Calvin, a bass, whose vision and hearing are both compromised and has trouble following along if we move too fast. Despite various limitations, however, the choir sounded quite lovely on Sunday. Saturday, Jan. 4th, we had sort of an "encore." Back on December 11th, we had our traditional "fruit cake weather" event when Ellen makes many fruit cakes to give away, and I read aloud the story by Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory, a wonderful evocation of a time when Capote was about seven years old, living with a distant relative, an older woman, who initiates several days of making fruit cakes by looking out the window and announcing, "It's fruitcake weather!" Back in December, our only audience for the reading, beside ourselves, was Ruthie, Ellen's god-daughter. Nancy Tierra, who is usually there, was unable to come this year. So we did a repeat on Saturday of the reading, when Nancy could come, and John and Cynthia came as well. But I did not read aloud- my voice was hopelessly phlegmy - and instead, I played a recording of me reading the story, made many years ago when I was in full voice. Ellen did not make any cakes, but she did serve some. Everyone seemed to enjoy hearing the reading. Saturday was also a TarHeels game day - at Notre Dame. It was going on during the fruitcake reading. It would have been a great game to see. The Heels won it in the final seconds. Down 3 with just a few seconds left, Elliot Cadieux made a 3-point basket, tying the game, but was fouled in the process. He made his free-throw, and the Heels won by a point. I was not listening to the game - I was listening to myself reading! Oh well - they are on again tonight at 9p.m., against Southern Methodist University, a very recent addition to the ACC. I'll listen to that for sure. Sunday, Jan. 5th, we were in Dummerston for church, as indicated above. The choir sounded really nice. We had Sam Farwell in additiom to the seven who came to rehearsal. We had a Music Committee meeting after church - Mary, Eliza, Phyllis Emery and myself. Shawn normally attends, but was not feeling well. He got through the service and went home. The four of us planned out what Sundays the choir will sing through the summer and who will lead. I'm on Feb.9, March 9, April 20 (Easter), and May 18. I didn't put anything into my calendar for june. Mary sends out a summary, I'll check that. Sunday evening, Cliff and Eliza Bergh came over for supper with us. Nothing elaborate, just a simple meal together. We talked about coming to their home to watch the Heels on TV - I haven't actually seen a game yet this season - but there are no games on ESPN until February. Sort of strange. Cliff asked if we would like some wood from the wood pantry, and I said "Yes." We don't have quite as much wood left under the deck as I would like at this date. They have a lot of wood, according to Cliff. Yesterday, Jan 6, was Epiphany. We had a quiet day at home. One thing running through these past couple of weeks is my annual Christmas Letter. I've gotten almost 20 in the mail and have 7 or 8 left to do. I have also been very faithful with my daily exercises in the New Year. I didn't explicitly make a resolution to do so, but it's like I did. Which brings us up to today! No plans to go anywhere today. Stay home and blog! Do Email! Read! Nice! Oh yes - we watched the Christmas Piffaro concert online, featuring a male quartet, New York Polyphony. They were really good! The music was mostly 15th Century, much of it from a MS called the Worcester Fragments. Wikipedia says, "The Worcester Fragments comprise 25 short pieces of vocal music. They are referred to as "fragments" because they do not exist in one unified manuscript but have been reassembled from sheets used as book-binding material in later centuries. These old materials had themselves at some stage been bundled together into several collections of flyleaves and saved in various books which had historical connections with Worcester. Once it was recognised that these scattered fragments came from the same source it was possible to piece them together, though much remained missing." LATER: The TarHeels handily defeated SMU. The first half they played almost perfect basketball against a very big, athletic team. They were ahead by 15 points at the half, and pushed that lead to over 25 during the second half, winning at the end by 15. That was late Tuesday night. Wednesday was a quiet day at home. Today, Thursday, we went over to the Bergh's to watch Jimmy Carter's memorial service at the National Cathedral on TV. That was quite moving. After that we drove to Grandma Miller's bakery in Londonderry for eclairs and morning glory muffins. Now we are home, listening to the news.

Andy and Robin's tree - we were there for breakfast.

Watching the Piffaro concert on my laptop.

Jimmy Carter

I want to add my voice to those honoring Jimmy Carter on the occasion of his death at the age of 100 on Dec. 29th. I agree with those who regard his presidency as more effective than it was seen at the time. I think the Iranian hostage crisis and the failed attempt to rescue the hostages when a U.S. helicopter crashed, cast a pall over Carter's entire presidency, and was exploited by Reagan (who as I recall made a secret deal with the Iranians to wait until after Reagan was inaugerated to release the hostages). And his post-presidency work and accomplishments have been remarkable - uniquely so, I think. His honesty with the American people was highly commendable. But I also have a personal reason for speaking out. I met Jimmy Carter and visited with him. And believe it or not, that happened right here in Brattleboro. He made a campaign stop here in 1976. I don't remember if it was before the primary election (which was held on Town Meeting Day, March 2nd, my birthday!), or before the general election in November. The event was at what was then the Community College of Vermont building overlooking Putney Road up behind Fast Eddies (I think). Somewhere (I can't find it at the moment), I have an enlarged photo of me talking with Jimmy Carter. I knew the photographer and he gave me the print. I'm sure I must have shared with him my own roots in Georgia - my father was born and raised in Georgia and got both his Associate's Degree and Bachelor's Degree from Georgia colleges. (Young Harris and Piedmont). I guess a lot of Vermonters didn't quite know what to make of a Georgia peanut farmer as president, but I had no trouble with that. I did a little research and found that Vermont's response to Carter is a bit bewildering. He won the Democratic Primary in Vermont handily, getting 46% of the vote in a 4-person contest. But a few months later, when VT Democrats met to elect delegates to the National Democratic Convention, they sent only 3 out of 12 delegqtes committed to Carter. And in November, Republican Gerald Ford defeated Carter in every county in Vermont! There were individual municipalities that Carter won, e.g., in Windham County he won Putney (not surprisingly), but also Westminster, Ludlow and Marlboro (more surprisingly) and lost Brattleboro! He was a person of faith, but his faith was surprisingly nuanced, especially for someone who grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition. His fundamental belief was the supreme importance of doing good to others, and that he did, again and again. I hope I will be able to watch his funeral(s)- the one in the Washington National Cathedral is most likely to be broadcast, but I would like to see the one in his home church too. Rest in Peace, Jimmy!

President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

New Year’s Eve

There is a 24-year-old tradition in Brattleboro of the Amidon family, and friends, giving a New Year's Eve concert. The earlier ones were held in the Baptist Church, then it moved to Centre Church, across the street, and now it is in the Brattleboro Music Center concert hall. When I met Ellen, it had been going for 3 years. If 2000 was the first year, I was in Chicago. But I think Ellen and I have been to almost every single one since we met. The early ones featured Peter, Mary Alice, and their two boys, Sam and Stefan - snd they were young boys. At some point they were joined by Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy, and members of their band which was called Nightengale. When the boys became men and got married, Stefan's wife, Zara Bode, joined the group. Now Sam's son, Arthur, and Stefan's son, Desmond, have been added. Keith and Becky's son, Aiden, has appeared occasionally - he was there tonight. It is always a great concert. Some are on YouTube - take a look if you can. Tonight, the BMC was very solicitous of me - they reserved a parking spot for us and seats in the front row!. Very thoughtful of them. Peter has cancer; no one knows how many more concerts he will have. But I suspect it will just evolve with time, as it has for the past 24 years. Just as Nowell Sing We Clear has evolved after Tony Barrand's death, with the addition of a new generation. I got in and out with no difficulty, and am glad I could.

The Amidon Family, plus Zara Bode.

Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy.

Aiden Murphy on far left, then Becky, Sam, Stefan, Mary Alice, Zara, Desmond and Arthur (partially obscured), Keith and Peter. Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Day

I think Christmas Day we fulfilled all the Tolles family Christmas traditions, of which there are many. Ellen always makes stollen (a German fruit and nut loaf of bread - very yummy). We were running late leaving home to go to Shutesbury and stollen is supposed to be there when people arrive, and since Jim and Mary were ready to leave before we were, Ellen sent it along with them. We were hoping to get there by noon, but it was closer to 1 p.m. Getting into the house proved challenging for me - the back steps into the kitchen have a railing only on one side - but I made it with some help. I took a chair near the wood stove and had some stollen. There were thirteen of us - Katie and Brendon, Tye and B, the Feinlands: Jerry, Julie, Ben and Tamar (Max is in California); Jim and Mary, Ellen and me, and Nancy, a friend of Katie's from church who lives alone. We did the basket tradition as I mentioned earlier, Brendon did a MadLibs with the group out of a book of MadLibs for Gays he had gotten. A group went for a walk, and while they were out I worked on setting up an Amazon gift card for Ellen, which proved challenging because it kept forcing me to "switch accounts," the process for which I was unfamiliar with. I think it would have been easier if I had been using Ellen's phone - somehow it didn't recognize me even thoughn I order stuff all the time on my phone. When it came time to eat, we had all the usual - tourtière, a meat and veggie pie - a tradition among French Canadians which Savanna brought from her background and which we still honor; squash and cranberry chutney. Julie brings salad, but I passed on that - it is hard for me to chew it up and get it down. We always wait until later for dessert - which is figgy pudding, another tradition Ellen makes. We sang carols from the Tolles family carol book, and we played a game. In the past it has been "Fictionary Dictonary" or "Salad Bowl," but this year it was "Neanderthal Poetry." It is a game Brendon had gotten, with cards in a box, though you could do without that. It was fun. There were two teams. A team-member draws a card. On the card there are four words or phrases - two worth one point, two worth three points. For example, on one side it might read "pancake" (1 point) and "blueberry pancakes" (3 points) and on the other "movie" and "Award-winning movie." (3 points). The person who drew the card chooses one of those four and announces how many points it is worth. Someone on the opposing team is holding a Neanderthal club (made of plastic and blown up like a balloon). Now the game begins in earnest. The card-holding person has to get his or her team to say the word or phrase he or she has chosen. In that respect, the game is like "Salad Bowl." But in this game, the person not only cannot say any part of the word or phrase itself, they can speak only in one-syllable words. If they use a word with two or more syllables, or say "win" or "cake" (cf. the examples above) they lose 1 or 3 points and get bopped with the club. To elicit "blueberry pancakes," for example, they might say "eat," "dough," "round," "fry," "fruit," "bits," etc. If the team member said "pancake," (i.e., singular), they could say, "not just one - two or more." You can use as many words as you want as long as they are just one syllable. I used "orange" in my turn, which was a no-no (or/ange). So it's easy in one way and hard in another. It's good for a lot of laughs and groans. We stayed late, got home a bit before midnight. I was tired! Good day though. I need to get to bed now. Photos later!

Tamar, at left; Katie, Jerry (standing), Mary and Jim - from where I was sitting.

Tye, sitting on floor, opening things in their basket; B behind her; Brendon looking on and Katie over by the window.

Our tree back at our house.