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Sarah, when you read my Tarot last night at the Jawn of the Dead show and drew the “Tower” card and interpreted it to mean you saw changes in my life you were spot on. This year has been a year of many changes for me.
First off, over the last decade or two I become very isolated, going to work and going home and reading math books. I didn’t socialize much except with coworkers and family and a few out-of-state friends who I saw rarely. This became exacerbated by Covid! I had just retired the previous year and moved from suburban Media to rural Upper Chichester. Now I socialized with nobody. I became immersed in Internet Message Boards and played a new computer video game, Outriders (a pretty good Sci Fi RPG), for 2,000 hours before finally defeating the damned sneaky and powerful AI-powered NPC’s (i.e., artificial intelligence powered non player characters) and completing the final Level 15 missions.
In March of this year I decided to “come out of my cocoon”. I called Sligo Pub in Media to see if they were going to have the traditional Irish Bagpipes and Drums for St. Patrick’s Day. I think I talked to you, Mary Kate. You said they were on again this year with Covid dying down. I e-mailed my former co-actuaries, Carolyn, Kendra, Rhonda and Tina, to meet for lunch on St.Patrick’s Day to hear the Irish bagpipes and Drums after lunch. I began hanging out at Sligo’s and socializing.
Long a Dead Head, I found that my old friend Push who owned the Indian restaurant in Media was also a Dead Head and had started having Dead Cover Bands play at his restaurant. I began attending the local shows and began following my favorite, Jawn of the Dead, more widely and traveled around Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Consequently I met a number of kindred spirit Dead Heads, including you, Sarah.
I also upgraded my environment! I bought new furniture this year and in the last couple of months have been accumulating art prints to hang on the walls.
I live in Upper Chichester, maybe ten miles from Media and very rural, right next to the Delaware border. A bit over a year ago I started taking one-mile walks every day into the nearby woods, and sometimes two a day. It’s great exercise and I’ve lost over 70 pounds in the last year or so.
Now I have lots of activities and socialize regularly. Starting Sunday night with my weekly trip to the big city, Philly, and my visit with you Erica, “where it’s always sunny!” Then Monday is Irish night at Sligo, with local musicians playing traditional Irish music, and a visit with you Dawn. Tuesday night is Open Mike at Off The Rail and I play my Classical guitar. Dawn sings there too. Wednesday is Karaoke night at Shere Punjab, followed by more Karaoke at Off The Rail. Thursday is Chess Night at Sligo and a half dozen regulars and a number of less frequent player get together for a few hours of Chess. the king of the house is your brother, Kevin, Mary Kate, but I beat him this week fair and square and have now beat him twice! Friday and Saturday I usually catch music with friends at various places, including of course Dead Cover Bands at Shere Punjab.
So sitting in the woods this morning after sunrise smoking my morning joint, I came across this pertinent Incredible String Band song, “Cousin Catepillar” (ISB was a late 1960’s, early 1970’s Irish psychedelic folk group who was at Woodstock):
“My cousin has great changes coming, one day he’ll wake with wings!”
Am I a butterfly emerging from his cocoon?
Here is another more recent song, “Rocky”, about “transformation”, about a loving family who nurses a dying bird back to life. (“We called him Rocky for his fighting spirit.”) The singer, Emily Linge, is one of my musical discoveries this year. This Viking lass can play classical (nylon stringed) guitar, acoustic (steel stringed) guitar, electric guitar, plays piano, sings beautifully, and writes and composed her own music and lyrics, including this song, “ Rocky”. She’s beautiful too and dresses beautiful. Comes from money, I suspect. (“rich people and their pets! )
