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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Trying Not To Judge It

Happy (belated) Flag Day. Yesterday, the real Flag Day, I sold one of my Gloucester Flag note cards in my shop; a lovely way to start the day.

Following this I met some female, former co-workers for a relaxing lunch. It was a small group this time which enabled all of us to catch up with everyone; hopefully next time the other regulars will be there as well.

On my way home I stopped at a favorite ice cream stand, they make their own products at another location near-by. I just had to have a dish of Chocolate Chocolate Truffle with jimmies (sprinkles to those of you who don’t come from these parts.) After eating the entire overflowing contents of this small dish, I gathered my camera from the car and walked around the grounds snapping pictures of the resident sheep, goats, geese, flowers, and tractor. All of this walking on uneven turf caused a recent injury to my right foot to flare up worse than it had been in recent days – ah, the price of practicing one’s art.

I then drove on to my local, favorite gardening center – Lexington Gardens, Lexington, MA. I was there to buy my tomato plants – yes, I know I’m late but in my mind it’s never too late to put in tomato plants.

While wandering this place, which I was introduced to by my grandmother back in my youth, I heard folks talking about how it had been sold to a developer and soon this fantastic sanctuary to the birds, local choice of gardener’s, home of the original site of Crockett’s Victory Garden, will be taken over and obliterated. Wooden houses will replace the greenhouses, and lawns will replace the many seedlings and burlap-wrapped shrubs. My heart still is sinking when I think of the future without Lexington Gardens.

I arrived home, and after returning a phone call, I dropped my handset and of course it landed on the instep of the already sore foot. Making the best of it, I iced it down for 20 minutes. While doing so, I spoke with my sister and she discovered a great concert that was going to start in 75 minutes at a venue nearly 60 minutes away; we both hurried to get ready and made it there with 5 minutes to spare.

The venue is Amazing Things Art Center in Framingham, MA. They recently moved into what was once a firehouse; we were told they spent much of the day removing staples from the walls, no doubt placed there by the previous tenant of the space - a Boys and Girls Club. Please check out the venue's web site here.

Tony Astolfi, guitar student of the headline performer, opened the show. He did a wonderful job and didn’t get ruffled when, of all things, fire engines with lights flashing and sirens tooting, not only went by, but stopped across the street and remained there for several minutes. Were they missing their old home?

IMHO, Tony’s best piece was called “Farewell”; he did a fantastic job on it. He also arranged and played a Bach piece that was written for cello; he did a great job of playing it on the guitar. Hope you’ll get a chance to see this up and coming performer when he’s in your area. He has an online presence here.

Brooks Williams, a veteran singer-songwriter, gave us a show to remember. He can play guitar like it’s actually a part of him. I don’t know what to say but “wow”. Although I’ve enjoyed his performances in the past, this one just blew me away. He writes much of his own music, but covers others as well – for instance “61 Highway” by Mississippi Fred McDowell. If you love guitar, a smooth singing voice, a wide range of music, and an evening of relaxing entertainment, then please make of point of seeing Brooks Williams; you won’t be disappointed. His web site is here.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my day yesterday, it was just too splendid not to share.
Peace to all, Judi

6 comments:

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

Well it sounds like you ladies both individually & collectively had a fantastic day on Saturday!

Congrats on the flag sale on Flag Day (how fitting!) and on getting to the show with time to spare even last minute :~D

Hope you just do pc work all day today so you can rest the foot!

Unknown said...

Oh crap, forgot I was still logged in as "me" lol

Maine-y-ac said...

Sorry about your foot, but the rest of your day sounds like a really good time.

Along with you I enjoyed Tony/Brooks and had a very productive day in the yard. My very handy n-i-l fixed up my car and did a massive amount of yard work too.

Now back to the grind ;-(

John-Michael said...

Oh Judi!! I was all set to send a note telling you how charming that cottage at the nursery is ... and you say that it is short lived. How sad! the "D" (developer) word is a profanity to me with all that has been "developed" here in the Tampa area. The irretrievable loss of historic and meaningful institutions and landmarks is so discouraging. I did enjoy, nonetheless, your description of a day of pleasant indulgence in casual inclinations.

Namaste

Suldog said...

Hi, Judi:

Thanks for stopping by my place.

If you have to explain "jimmies" to someone, then they're not worth knowing :-)

Take care and God bless.

Judi FitzPatrick said...

Thanks for all of the lovely comments.
Peace to all,
Judi