A few days back I posted a photo of some purple flowers from the Central Park Zoo. These purple flowers (again I don’t know their name) grace the Titanic Memorial Garden outside of Belfast City Hall. The new Titanic Belfast held little attraction. But we had scheduled a meeting with our friend Zoe at Belfast City Hall. We arrived early and the garden seemed a good place to visit while we waited – a place of beauty, remembrance, serenity – and purple flowers.
See you along the Trail.
Wait.
Watch.
Something will happen.
Something will happen.
7 May 2012
Central Park Zoo
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Photo
The sun shone as I crested the top of the stairs from the subway station at 125th and St. Nicholas. I had taken but a few steps when I heard drums. Cadenced drums. A drum line.
At 124th and St. Nicholas I saw them, waiting for the light. Drummers, young women with batons, and a band. When they started to play, I realized all the instruments were brass. When they began to march, I saw they were all low brass – tubas, trombones, and baritones.
I have no idea of who they were or what they were doing, but memories of the Grove City High School marching band washed over this old baritone player as the band marched me to Morningside Avenue.
See you along the Trail.
At any given moment, somewhere in the city, someone plays a steel drum. Probably several people playing in several places. Every now and then, I stumble across one of those players.
As I passed through Penn Station today, I heard him play.
“Lara’s Theme” from Dr. Zhivago slowly segued to “My Favorite Things” before the train arrived.
See you along the Trail.
Someday I should learn the names of the various flowers whose photos I take. For now, let me say: spotted these while Tricia and I visited the Central Park Zoo last Sunday. We had a hard time finding the zoo, which surprised us. After all, a zoo is fairly big. Once we found the zoo, we enjoyed ourselves. Snatches of Simon and Garfunkel and Tom Paxton played in my interior soundtrack.
See you along the Trail.
Our quest to hear traditional music took us to several stops. The first evening we heard but two songs. The second, in Belfast, we heard a duo. They covered a number of songs by Christy Moore. They covered Dylan. They played well. We enjoyed the music. But it did not fit the bill of traditional.
On our final evening in Dublin, our final evening in Ireland, Tricia and I ventured to the Cobblestone with Joel and Roja. We talked. We consumed Guinness. We laughed. After a while, we said farewell as Roja and Joel left for a family dinner.
Tricia and I had another round as we waited. And the music began. Traditional. Soft. Sweet. Wondrous. We listened for an hour or so before we decided that the time had come for us to return to our hotel. I made a trip to the men’s room before we did so. On my way back, I looked above our seats. There I saw, present all the time but unnoticed until that moment, an expression of solidarity:
See you along the Trail.
Roja and Joel invited me.
The Presbytery of New York City vouched for me.
The Presbyterian Church of Ireland processed the paperwork for me.
The Republic of Ireland granted permission to me.
Thus it came to pass, on 28 April 2012, the immense pleasure of solemnising the wedding of Joel and Roja came to me.
And our mutual friend Joe photographed Roja and Joel …
… and me.
See you along the Trail.
The Trail has recently taken Tricia and me on a quick trip to Dublin, other parts of Ireland, Belfast, and some of the region around that city. Perhaps quick is not the right word to use, the trip did last most of ten days. But many places remain unseen, calling for a return visit.
The wedding of two friends led to this trip. I have already posted about that joy-filled event: a reflection on a party before the wedding and some notes on the sermon. Here’s one more. Others may follow. This picture of my friends with her mother and sister has received many positive comments on Facebook:
See you along the Trail.
For the upcoming Dublin wedding, I am practicing my solemnising look. How am I doing?
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Photo
The evening saw, not the Scouring of the Shire (written by Tolkien but not used by Jackson), but the Dismantling of the Shire. That word doesn’t really fit either. Let me write a bit about what happened and see if a fitting word emerges.
A few years back, more than I can remember at this point, Tricia and I purchased the Shire – a three-bedroom condominium in Jeffersontown – east of Louisville. It served us well and became a site of hospitality for co-workers, folks who worked on projects with me, family members, and even an Obama campaigner. Not counting family, I think twenty people stayed at least one night at the Shire. Some stayed a few more.
When I moved to New York, the time came to sell the Shire – no Sackville-Bagginses being present to take it off my hands. That has proven easier to say than to do. Over time,we have removed different items. Some given away; some thrown away; and some sold. Still no one appeared on the horizon to buy the Shire itself. But that may change soon. Or not.
In any event, with Tricia and I both in town (it does happen), we used our time to sort through the remaining items. When I leave on Friday, little will remain in terms of household goods. Some large pieces of furniture will remain. But we will have dismantled the Shire, for all intents and purpose.
An era slowly draws to a close.
See you along the Trail.
