MORE TO COME...

Latest Posts

Farewell 2014, Hello 2015

Published by DJB

The end of 2014…time for reflection.

As in the past, I’m taking to More to Come… to think about the year that is rapidly coming to a close, to be thankful for the wonder in my life, and to resolve to improve.

The national and international issues seem almost overwhelming. Many commentators have focused on all the bad things that happened in 2014, and there were no shortages of options for those who take that approach. Ferguson. Ebola. ISIS. I can’t breathe. Disappearing airplanes. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Putin. Ukraine. Income inequality. Cynical politicians. Criminal politicians. Torture. Mid-term elections. Right wing fundamentalists posing as Christians. Robin Williams. Endless war in the Middle East. Those are just for starters.

And then there was Dave Barry.

I was tempted to lead with this photo of Claire and her friend Jason, with the title 2014: It’s Done – Stick a Fork in this Turkey!

But then I recalled this picture I’ve used before in More to Come… and decided to follow this piece of advice.

Nationally, you won’t hear much from the media about the good things that have occurred in 2014. Such as the fact that 10 million+ Americans who were uninsured now have health insurance. Or, that the U.S. is finally ending a failed 50-year policy of sanctions against a tiny island nation with a total GNP that rivals what, Omaha? (Actually, since Omaha is home to Warren Buffett, perhaps I’m not giving enough credit to Omaha.) After strong government action averted what was shaping up as a second Great Depression in 2008, the U.S. has rebounded (albeit slowly) to a point where our economic growth and job creation are higher than during the first years of this century. Marriage equality had a great year in 2014, as the tipping point was reached and politicians got out-of-the-way of people who simply wanted to express their love for each other.

But national policies and politics are not my focus on this blog. I try and look to the personal.

2014 was a time when my perspective – thanks to an extensive personal and professional travel schedule – was widened. I have written about these experiences on More to Come… over the course of the year. I have much for which to be thankful. Like celebrating my 32nd anniversary with Candice in Copenhagen (shown at the top of the post). My father suffered a serious health scare earlier this month, but he’s recovered and I am fortunate to still have my father and my mother-in-law who are active into their 80s. After having spent the past two days on a personal family journey with Candice and the twins, I was reminded (for about the 365th time this year) as to how much I love and admire my wife and children. I have great colleagues and a job that challenges and inspires.

In my 2013 year-end post, I outlined seven rules for the next third of my life. All year, I’ve looked at them on my computer wallpaper as I’ve logged on in the morning. Colleagues have seen them and made comments. The family (and especially Candice) was supportive. So…how did I do the first year? Let’s reflect.

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life. Well…I didn’t keep this rule consistently. No, let’s be truthful…I didn’t keep this rule. There were times when exercise was built into my schedule. I did maintain a weekly appointment with a personal trainer, but there were a few weeks when that was my only real exercise. The fall was an especially bad time. Late in the year I focused on finding more ways than just going to the gym to exercise, with a bit of success. I also bought a new Fitbit to replace the one I lost about 9 months ago, and that has helped as well. Year-end result: Yikes! Instead of being 15 pounds lighter than January 1, 2014, I am about 10 pounds heavier. First chance to use my new favorite family line: “Well, this is certainly a revolting development.” I need to remember the caption from a cartoon I saw this fall, where an overweight guy listens to his doctor say, “What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?”

2. Listen more than you talk. Since I’ve added this to my rules, I’ve been much more conscious of the need to allow for others to enter into my conversations. I’ve asked for assessments from a couple of folks who would know how well I’ve done and would be honest. Year-end result: So far, I’m making progress (but let me know if you see times where I can improve…if you can get a word in edgewise.)

3. Spend less than you make. This is one area where I’ve made a conscious effort and have seen good progress. Year-end result: Okay, but keep improving.

4. Quit eating crap! Eat less of everything else. Eleven months out of the year, I’ll follow this rule six days out of seven. Candice and I tend to find good options when we eat out – such as at the Arcadia Farm Field Dinner with Andrew last summer. When I fail, it is usually the french fries or ice cream that call out. Or the holidays for the entire month of December! I’m going to see a nutritionist early next year, who may have some strategies for staying out of the bad zone. Year-end result: Still work to do. I will repeat 50 times, “I do love brussels sprouts. I do love brussels sprouts.”

5. Play music. I am about on the same level of playing that I was a year ago. Given the hectic nature of 2014, that’s probably not too bad. Year-end result: I’m going to declare success…and work to find even more time to play and keep working on that alternating thumb pattern of picking.

6. Connect and commit. I’ve made serious efforts this year to keep this goal to reach beyond myself. Candice and I are seeing friends on a regular basis, and we’re getting ready to develop a monthly schedule for social outreach in 2015. Year-end result: Okay, but I can always improve, especially in helping those who are less fortunate.

7. Don’t be a Grumpy Old Man. Enjoy life! My boss laughed when she saw this one and promised to let me know if I was being a grumpy old man. She also said she saw no evidence of that so far! Anyone who has read More to Come… this year can see that I’ve had a lot of life to enjoy. Year-end result: Enjoyable!

As I said last year, feel free to call me when I come up short. Also, feel free to take one or more of these goals for your own and modify them as you wish. I’ll keep you posted…but let’s hope you start seeing more pictures of a smiling, slimmer DJB playing more music! Better yet, let’s hope you are with me, enjoying the food, music, wine, and company.

More to come…

DJB

Observations from home: The 2014 year-end edition

Published by DJB

When posting while on travel, I’ll often string together several unrelated thoughts and title them Observations From the Road (see, for instance, the Jeez, Montana is a Big State edition from this summer.) So, I have two or three unrelated items that have been rattling around in my head while at home for the Christmas break, and have decided to title this post Observations from Home (The Year-End Edition).

Here are my observations – take ’em or leave ’em.

We would never have a family picture if it weren’t for John Thorne – When we were assembling our group of pictures for 2014, I commented to Candice that we didn’t have one that included all four of us. Then I realized that our friend John Thorne hadn’t been with us when he had his camera and all four of us were in the same room. Luckily (with three days to spare!) we now have our 2014 family photo. John came up to us at church this morning and asked if he could take a family photo. We quickly agreed. The best photos we’ve had of our family in recent years are due to John and his talent with the camera. You’ll see the results for 2014 at the top of the post.

John also took a great photo of the twins this morning, using his neat new filter to get those sparkling stars in the candles. I’ve noticed that John likes to try out his new toys, which I strongly support. (Keep buying those new lenses and cameras, John, we’ll be your willing subjects.) For our 2013 photo, it was the black and white look.

The first family photos John took for us…and the ones that made us hope he’d ask each year…were in 2012. Candice was bouncing back from her fall and concussion (not to mention a hip replacement) and we were thrilled to have a photo of the twins early in their college careers, with Candice on the road to recovery. Then we visited John and Sara at High Brewster in the fall of the year, and John captured two people who had been through a lot over the past twelve months…but were clearly pleased to be on the other side.

Candice and David on Cape Cod at High Brewster, September 2012

Thank you, John! What a gift you’ve given us during these past few years.

John’s photos also capture my weight gain, weight loss, weight gain… The careful observer will note that my weight ballooned up in 2012 (I used the stresses of being a serious care-giver as an excuse), then fell off in 2013, and then in 2014…well, you can see that I haven’t quite kept that New Year’s resolution from early this year. (More to come on that in a later post). I’m going to push for an odd year weight loss in 2015 – and one that I can maintain!

Candice is a pretty good photographer as well – On Christmas morning, the twins and I were just trying to stand upright and not spill our coffee. Candice, however, was on top of her game – including getting a photo of our stockings before we opened our gifts.

Best napkin ring ever – Candice started collecting antique silver napkin rings a few years ago, beginning with the one monogrammed I.A.H. that her mother took to school with her. (Hey, I have a modest collection of guitars, so she has a long way to go before we have to worry about the amount of money we have locked up in napkin rings!) Whenever a small box shows up via UPS, I don’t have to open it to know that she’s found a new treasure on e-Bay.

So I didn’t pay particular attention when I saw a new one around my napkin a few weeks ago. That is, I didn’t pay attention until Candice asked if I had looked at the inscription.

Oh my – the Daddy napkin ring. One that identifies the Paterfamilias! (Knowing that O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of my two favorite movies, careful readers will know where the “I am the damn paterfamilias” quote comes from….others can watch the clip below, around the 2 minute mark.)

Let me say this simply. Best. Napkin. Ring. Ever.

Thank you, love!

More to come…

DJB

A revolting development

Published by DJB

Early last week I received an email from a colleague that said, “Hi David. I wanted you to know that I am in your hometown of Murfreesboro tonight (for a work-related dinner)…What a wonderful place!”

She’s right about the last point. I’ve written about the wonders of growing up in Murfreesboro before on More to Come….

I suspect she had driven past the Rutherford County Courthouse all decked out for the Christmas holidays on the town square, and I suggested she drive by 407 E. Main Street to see “the old home place.” (Photo below – our old home is the one on the right.)

Little did I know that I’d be driving by those same sites in just a few days. But life has a way of intruding on the best-laid of plans. (So who cares if I haven’t bought the first Christmas present?)

On Thursday, my phone lit up at work as both my sister and brother called multiple times within about ten minutes and I feared something was wrong. I soon learned. My 89-year-old father was in the hospital after suffering shortness of breath – not something you want to hear about a loved one who had a heart attack three years ago in the same week that Candice had her hip replacement. He again had heart issues and anemia. I quickly made the call to fly to Tennessee for the weekend.

When I walked into St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital’s ICU unit, my father – surprised to see me – used a line that he told others who asked how he was doing.

“Well, this is certainly a revolting development!”

My sister Debbie posted that line on her Facebook page (the modern-day mother who keeps everyone up-to-date on the family goings-on). Various cousins responded that their parents or aunts or uncles had used the same language. Must be a hand-me-down through the Bearden-Brown family. I think I’ll use it myself in the future.

I’m glad I was able to come for multiple reasons. First, I’ve seen Daddy improve each day. The doctors say they will release him tomorrow and we’re making arrangements for his transition home. He did have some damage to his heart, but nothing that he can’t handle.

Secondly, my three siblings – Debbie, Carol, and Joe – were carrying the entire load of watching my father, being his advocate with the hospital, and trying to keep their own responsibilities during a very busy season. I was able to come and stay at the hospital for 12 hours on Saturday, and felt I was giving all these wonderful people a bit of a break. I don’t thank them – and my in-laws and nieces and nephews – enough for all they do for Daddy on a regular basis, much less when he has a health scare. This was a small way of saying thanks.

Then, I stayed at Dad’s house when I wasn’t at the hospital, which gave me some space to come down after hours at the hospital. While there, Candice sent a text asking me to “look around and see if you can find something he needs for Christmas.”

New suspenders? Nope.

Books? Well, maybe…he obviously enjoys them and he always reads what I send him. But this is just one room of books in his house. There are others.

I think we’ll have to keep working on that question.

Most importantly, I’m glad I came because I got to be with my father. He’s hard-of-hearing, so conversations tend to be short and loud, but this morning we pulled out our various newspapers and Daddy – the unreconstructed Southern liberal – came out.

We talked about the immigration debate after he read one of his favorite local columnists – Saritha Prabhu – in the Nashville Tennessean. He talked about how he was helping out a “working poor” family here in Murfreesboro, and we discussed the problems they are facing. When we talked about how corporations were driving so much of the agenda in America these days, he said, “I’d hate to be some of those people on the Judgment Day.”

Then we talked about my mother – the love of his life – in an unusual way. He was reading an article called Four Rules of Business You Can’t Afford to Forget, and he said, “This is Helen.” The rules?

Be on time, every time
Do what you say you will do
Finish what you start
Say, and mean, “Please” and “Thank You”

He said mother always pushed us to finish what we started. She wouldn’t let us drop something if we said we were going to do it. And she was adamant about saying “please” and “thank you.” In fact, when Daddy turned to Debbie yesterday and said to her, “Open this packet” I said, “Has ‘please’ dropped out of your vocabulary?” Debbie responded, “If mother was here he would certainly say ‘please’ more often!” At age 89 perhaps you get the occasional pass, but I was reminded of my rule “don’t be a grumpy old man.”

Finally, we were able to be together on Pearl Harbor Day.

U.S.S. Arizona in Pearl Harbor on Memorial Day Weekend

When the nurse came in this morning, she couldn’t remember the date to write on the board in his room. Daddy told her, “It is Pearl Harbor Day.” He then proceeded to tell us that he and his sister – my Aunt Mary Dixie – were at Peabody listening to a performance of Messiah. When they came out, they learned about the attack at Pearl Harbor and their lives were changed forever. Both were WWII veterans by the end of the decade.

I enjoyed sharing an article with Daddy that was in today’s New York Times as part of a series about why Giants and Jets fans should skip today’s football games (something I’ve done for the past year without missing a beat). Tom Coffey, a staff editor in the sports department, suggested that fans use the time to “remember.” I loved his last line:

Sunday afternoon seems like a good time to think about the sacrifices made by the men and women who died that day, and to reflect upon the wisdom of a statement that originated with Marv Levy, the longtime Buffalo Bills coach, that is still uttered in the sports world, albeit far too infrequently: No game is a must-win. World War II was a must-win.

While I never want my father to face additional heart issues and wind up in the hospital, there is so much for which to give thanks this weekend – especially for the supportive thoughts and prayers from family and friends.

More to come…

DJB

Image: Tom Brown in front of Murfreesboro’s City Cafe

Candice and David celebrate their 32nd anniversary in Copenhagen, March 20, 2014

Our year in photos – 2014

Published by DJB

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, I continue my tradition of posting family photographs from the past year on More to Come… This was certainly a year in which we had much for which to be thankful.

Both Claire and Andrew studied abroad in 2014, so all four of us had the chance to travel to new places for new experiences. Candice and I celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary (photo at the top of the post) while the family gathered in Copenhagen to visit Andrew during his studies abroad. We continued to enjoy good health and marvel that the two of us could remain so young and yet see the twins reach their 21st birthday! I’m not sure how that happened, but we loved celebrating with them last December as they came home for the Christmas break.

Andrew and Claire completed their junior years in college in 2014 and are now almost halfway through their senior year. We have visited both campuses this fall and hope to make it back one more time before their graduations in May. There is a lot to capture this year – from time with friends, to work and school activities, to family trips, and more. Because more and more folks are viewing this blog on smartphones, you can still see the captions by placing the cursor over the photos, but I’m adding some commentary along the way.

As regular readers know, I love to listen to live music. One of the many musicians I saw this year was a January show with the incredibly talented Claire Lynch at one of the Institute of Musical Traditions Monday night concerts. Candice captured the two of us during the break.

Andrew left in late January for his study abroad semester in Copenhagen. Over the course of the next few months, he visited a variety of European cities, including Milan, Bratislava, and Krakow, where he sent back lots of pictures of architecture, food, and good times with friends.

Andrew and his friend Gracie in Bratislava

In March, Claire, Candice and I made our way to Copenhagen for a two-week Scandinavian adventure, taking advantage of Andrew’s time abroad to visit this fascinating place.

Candice and Claire with the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen

Andrew, Candice and David at St. Albans - in Copenhagen!

Our apartment was on the canal in Copenhagen

Claire stayed with us for the first week, but then took her first trip to England, where she saw the sites of London and more with college friends who were in the country.

Claire and Ella at London Bridge, March 2014

While Claire and friends were exploring the English countryside, Andrew, Candice, and I made our way on to Stockholm, where we visited museums and cafes when not simply walking the streets of the old section of the city.

Andrew and Candice in Stockholm March 2014

Cathedral Bell Tower in Stockholm, March 2014

2014 wasn’t all travel and play! I am still working, but it just so happens that a great deal of what I do takes place on the road. I had a stretch in May when I found myself in Detroit, Texas, and Hawaii in the span of less than a week. In fact, from the middle of May to the middle of June I traveled to Detroit, Texas, Honolulu, Chicago and Plano (twice), Seattle, Louisville, New York City (twice), and Hot Springs, South Dakota. I am privileged to get to work on, and visit, incredible places. The opportunity to take a private tour of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor on Memorial Day Weekend was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments. Of course, I occasionally do sillier things as well, such as take my first selfie at Mount Rushmore…which a colleague caught on camera.

DJB during an interview on Hawaii Public Radio

Taking my first selfie at Mount Rushmore

In June, Claire left for six weeks study in Vienna. She had a wonderful time studying Psychology and German and exploring central Europe.

Andrew was home for an internship all summer and we loved having him with us. In June, he joined Candice and me at one of our favorite events, the Farm Dinner at Woodlawn to support Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture. It was a time of great food and fun for a very worthwhile cause.

Claire returned home on July 4th, so we celebrated with an appropriate patriotic meal. Candice and I then headed to West Virginia to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of our dear friends, Katherine and Madison Brown, which also coincided with Madison’s 80th birthday. Katherine is Claire’s godmother, and it was great to be in Parkersburg to celebrate with them.

Claire's American Homecoming July 4th, 2014

Brown's 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration - July 5, 2014

Claire’s summer on the road continued in July and August, as she first flew with Candice to Florida to see Grandmother Colando and the rest of Candice’s family. While there, they all enjoyed a Caribbean cruise.

Claire learns how to navigate a casino...from her grandmother

Claire and Candice returned home just in time for Claire to pack for the cross-country car trip with me that we dubbed the Not All Who Wander Are Lost Tour.

With Liz and Dave at the Twins game 08 05 14

Wallace, Idaho and the Smokehouse Saloon

Bruce and Shari Shull with Claire and DJB

While Claire and I were traveling cross-country, Candice and Andrew were exploring Washington on their bicycles, including a fun ride one day down to the Navy Yard to check out a new restaurant.

September, October, and November were months of baseball pennant races, more work travel for me (including a quick but enjoyable trip to Galicia, Spain), dinners with friends (and their dogs!) and trips to visit Andrew and Claire at college.

Claire won’t be with us this Thanksgiving, but you can see that she and her good friend Jason are in the…ahem…spirit.

I can’t think of a nicer way to end our yearly review than with pictures of Candice and me with our two wonderful children from our recent campus visits – with Andrew at Providence’s WaterFire and with Claire during a night out with friends in the charming Claremont Village. We are so blessed.

Candice, Andrew and David at WaterFire in Providence October 25, 2014

Candice and DJB with Claire in Claremont, October 2014

As we enter this holiday season, Thanksgiving blessings to you and yours.

More to come…

DJB

Image: Candice and David celebrate their anniversary in Copenhagen.

They can do this with their eyes closed

Published by DJB

Monday evening’s Institute of Musical Traditions concert featured the Scottish folk music institution Battlefield Band playing to an enthusiastic full house. From the first notes from Mike Katz’s Highland pipes to the last notes of the encore, this thoroughly entertaining and professional group took the crowd on a delightful tour of traditional and contemporary Scottish folk music.

Battlefield Band has gone through a variety of personnel changes over the 40 years since the group was formed. Besides the bearded multi-instrumentalist Katz, the core of the current band features fiddler Alasdair White (who has been with the band since 2001, when he was 18 years old), and vocalist/guitarist Sean O’Donnell.

The band ripped through a strong first half which concluded with a “big set” of tunes featuring the pipes and twin fiddles. Then Katz came out solo to begin the second half, mesmerizing the crowd with the haunting sound of the pipes before being joined by his band mates.

Then, as O’Donnell began singing a song about bagpipes, everything went dark. As in, the power went out. No lights (except for the church hall’s emergency lighting), no sound system, nothing. And we soon learned that the power was out all along Old Georgetown Pike.

The band missed a beat for about 15 seconds, then Katz begin playing the pipes from the stage (he never used the sound system in any event), and the other members of the band began wandering through the crowd. Smartphone lights came on to provide lighting for the strolling musicians. And the magic began, as first a fiddle would pass by, then perhaps the guitar, then a tenor guitar, and back again. If you closed your eyes, you heard different lines rise and fall as the musicians walked past different sections of the hall.

This continued for at least 10 minutes, and then the lights returned. But the band stood at the front of the stage and played “acoustic music” for a while longer, perhaps captured by the magic they had just conjured up.

Live music is wonderful because of special, unexpected delights. This would have been a terrific concert without the power outage. With it, the evening became magical.

Enjoy Eight Men of Moidart from a recent Battlefield Band concert.

More to come…

DJB

Exploring Savannah’s Gem of a Cathedral

Published by DJB

A week would generally be enough time to explore large sections of a city the size of Savannah, Georgia. Time to linger among the live oaks and Spanish moss in the historic squares, eat at the growing list of restaurants, visit the museums, and share stories with friends and strangers in the coffee shops and bars scattered throughout the downtown.

Plenty of time…unless one has a conference to run.

Well, run is actually much too strong a word. While technically responsible for ensuring that last week’s PastForward 2014 – the National Preservation Conference went off without a hitch, there are many staff members who carry a far heavier load as we worked to reach that goal. Much of my oversight actually took place over the past 18 months. Once the week of the conference comes, I just “enjoy the field trip” as Candice – the former elementary school teacher – says at times like these. At the conference, I often have my day structured by others: be here to welcome this group, then go there to say thank you to the folks who made it all possible, to be followed by a pre-arranged dinner with colleagues and partners.

But it all means that I had precious little time to really explore Savannah. That is just the nature of my job, and I am not complaining, as I get to see and experience so many wonderful places. Candice – who was traveling with me to the conference – took a half-day bicycle tour of the city among other jaunts and still had time for 6-7 of the conference presentations. Me? I was able to catch glimpses of the city while traveling between sessions and meetings.

So when I found myself with 90 minutes on Friday afternoon, between the closing luncheon and a scheduled tour of historic homes, I decided to stretch my legs and visit the church whose two spires were visible every time I opened the drapes in our hotel room.

I wasn’t disappointed.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a gem of a building in the historic district and the mother church of the Savannah Roman Catholic Diocese. It sits on Lafayette Square, and the outside of the building dates from the late 19th century.

The inside was rebuilt following an 1898 fire, and the results are beautiful.

I’ve visited Savannah on multiple occasions since the 1980s, but have somehow missed seeing the interior of this gem of a cathedral. Earlier in the day, I had the chance to listen to my colleague and friend Tom Mayes speak to a full house about the place of beauty in preservation. His blog post on the topic is a highly recommended and wonderful read that includes the following:

President Kennedy said, “I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of our natural environment, which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks of our National past, and which will build handsome and balanced cities for our future.”

I’ll take it as a bit of grace that 90 minutes popped open on a very busy schedule during this trip to allow for reflection about the beauty of this space and the beauty of the world I get to work in every day.

More to come.

DJB

Family, Friends, Food (Or How Candice and I Spent a Wonderful Weekend With Our Daughter)

Published by DJB

For the second weekend in a row, we’ve enjoyed time at college with one of the twins and are the richer for the experience.

I had appointments that took me to Los Angeles for two days late last week. Candice joined me so that as work wrapped up, we could take the short drive east to Claremont for a visit with Claire and her friends.

Claire’s friends are much like her – sharp, inquisitive, interested in others, outgoing, and easy to be around. When we arrived on Friday evening, we stopped by Claire’s senior dorm suite and then headed to The Junction for an evening of small plates, laughter, and conversation with her suite-mates.

These three young women all come from the west coast (California and Oregon) and have bonded over swimming, academics, and their shared optimism for life. We have known two of these young ladies for three years now, and have enjoyed getting to know the third over the course of this year. They all seem to be taking in everything the college experience has to offer.

The Pomona-Pitzer Swim & Dive team hosted a relay invitational on Saturday afternoon…which arrived with some of the first meaningful rain in Southern California in ages and cool temperatures that felt much more like Providence – where we were last week – than a typical fall weekend in Claremont.

But Claire and the rest of the Sagehens took it all in stride. This was their season opening swim meet and we had a blast watching the team, which has grown progressively stronger during Claire’s four years. Like most of her teammates, she swam in multiple relays – even competing in her first breaststroke in some time. We may not be able to see another of Claire’s college swim meets live before she graduates, so even in the dampness and cold, we savored every minute.

Later that evening we joined Claire and three friends who bonded early in their freshman year for a time of family updates, laughter, post-graduate plans, and good food. All four had been away from Pomona during portions of their junior year, and it was clear they were enjoying being back together on a regular basis.

Sunday – with the extra hour of sleep – was just what we needed. The weather was perfect – more like we expect when we travel to California. After a slow rise and some exercise, we met Claire downtown at the wonderful Claremont Farmers Market, where we filled up bags with cheese, nuts, and fruits for her suite. Then we met another group of friends for brunch in the dining hall, with yet another set of lively conversations.

As we dropped Claire off tonight after a tapas dinner in the village, I thought of the last time we parted in front of Pomona Hall. This time there were no tears, just hugs, kisses and thankfulness for time spent with such a wonderful group of friends.

Thank you, Sweetheart, for the terrific weekend.

More to come…

DJB

The “Not All Who Wander Are Lost Tour” Lives On!

Published by DJB

Regular readers will recall those intrepid travelers – Claire and David – making their way cross-country in August on what I dubbed the “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” tour. For twenty days, father and daughter crossed this great land, all the while keeping readers of More to Come… updated on our travels with daily posts, photos, and stories. It was a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list adventure for both of us.

So you can imagine my delight when Claire told us a few weeks ago that she had placed a map of the US on the wall in her dorm room, with the route outlined and photos from the trip displayed along the way.

Old school wall posting. Oh my…do I love that daughter of mine!

The first thing I did when Candice and I walked into Claire’s dorm room on this late October/early November “she’s not coming home for Thanksgiving so we’re going out to see her” visit, was to go and see THE MAP.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

Just look at that beauty. Twenty days of memories captured in one place, with the route marked and pictures pointing to the places we had visited along the way.

As Andrew and Claire were growing up, we had a map of the world on our downstairs wall. We encouraged friends who were traveling to send us postcards from far away places. When the postcards arrived, we would post them on the wall and attach yarn to the back, which then stretched to a pin located in the appropriate city or country. It was a great way to learn world geography (we have a lot of friends who travel extensively) and it stayed up until we painted the house sometime in high school.

Claire used that map as her inspiration. She shows us at the beginning of the trip – with the picture by the rental car outside our house on the morning of August 1st – and then heading up to Cleveland (first of three baseball stadium pictures) and Chicago. Our You Want Nutrition, Eat Carrots! day in Madison is captured as well, with that delicious ice cream cone photo. (That was the top-rated post from the trip, BTW.)

Here you can see Claire’s part of the map I dubbed the Central Time Edition in one of several Observations from the Road. Seeing the world’s largest ball of twine rolled by one person, our second baseball stadium (Target Field in Minneapolis), and fields of sunflowers were among the highlights.

The last two portions highlight the western and coastal route of the trip, along with our arrival in Claremont. I’m not going to say much about these photos or I’ll start crying again, but you can get a sense of my gratefulness for this trip in The Thankfulness Edition of Observations From the Road. Candice, Claire, and I are going out to dinner on Sunday evening at the same restaurant where I wrote that final post…and had to put on sunglasses so that the waitress wouldn’t call the manager because of my tears. Sunday should be much more joyful!

What father wouldn’t want to come into his daughter’s dorm room and see their special time together posted in such a wonderful way on the wall.

She is one in a million.

More to come…

DJB

Music of Water + Fire

Published by DJB

Saturday evening’s WaterFire Providence – an award-winning sculpture installation featuring 100 blazing bonfires floating atop the water of Providence’s rivers – was capped with a terrific Brown University Chorus concert of Water and Fire-theme music. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful fall Saturday of activities during the university’s family weekend.

After a late-night Friday dinner at Gracie’s (if you go to Providence you must eat at Gracie’s, and then have breakfast at Ellie’s, the restaurant’s partner bakery), we slept in a bit on Saturday but made it up in time for a fascinating lecture as part of the Family Weekend Forums. Professor of Medicine Richard Besdine spoke on Fit at 50, Sexy at 70, Nimble at 90: The Fundamentals of Healthy Aging to a room full of parents who looked a great deal like us! (He added the “Nimble at 90” part of the title on the fly, and noted that our children’s granddaughters – Andrew and Claire’s granddaughters – would have a life expectancy of 100.) While there wasn’t anything we hadn’t heard before, Dr. Besdine did present some sobering data about health care and healthy living in the U.S.

But he did it all with a dry sense of humor…as typified in cartoon caption that read,

What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?

But I’m here to talk about music…not successful aging.

The Brown University Chorus is a group of highly talented musicians under the able direction of Frederick Jodry. Andrew is one of the tenors, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know Fred a bit and hearing the chorus whenever possible. Saturday evening, the program consisted of five Songs of Water along with six Firesongs based on Italian Renaissance texts by the contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen, all wrapped up with Thomas Morley’s Fyer, Fyer. Among the water songs, the Robert Pearsall Full fathom five and Victoria’s Super flumina Babylonis (Psalm 137 – By the waters of Babylon) were wonderful. Candice was over-the-top excited to see that the chorus was singing one of her favorite pieces, The Water is Wide (in the John Rutter arrangement entitled O, waly, waly.)

The firesong madrigals were terrific, as the fire that was featured was that wonderful Italian fire of love.

Eyes bright and clear,

You set me on fire, you, but my heart feels

Delight in the blazing fire, not pain.

Following the concert, Andrew, Candice, and I strolled along the riverside for more than hour, enjoying the sights, sounds, and people of WaterFire.

Not content with two evenings of wonderful music (having attended the Brown Madrigals concert on Friday evening…more on that later), we made the decision to attend Central Congregational Church on Sunday morning in order to hear the Gloria by French composer Francis Poulenc. It was wonderful – ranging from “exuberant to haunting and introspective” as described in the program notes. The final Amen was such a delicious ending that the soloist (a Brown voice teacher) and choir sang it at the end of the Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris and then again – as a final coda – following the Benediction.

Amen!

More to come…

DJB

Beer and bluegrass

Published by DJB

Beer and bluegrass. Betcha never thought of that combination before.

Yeah, right.

At a festival that took “parking lot picking” to its logical conclusion (i.e., it was held in a parking lot next to the Clarendon Courthouse Metro Station), Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen rode to the rescue when the organizers of the Clarendon Arts & Crafts Beer Festival’s Acoustic Music tent were struggling with a bad sound system and horrible logistics (the sets were almost an hour late in starting). When the Dirty Kitchen band finally began their set in the tent’s lengthening shadows, we were only ten minutes away from the festival’s posted closing hour.

Somehow, with six Virginia Craft Brewers and about a dozen local food trucks to choose from, it didn’t seem to matter!

The artist who was really shortchanged in the logistical and sound mess was Christie Lenee.

This finger-style guitar tapper was new to me, but she has obviously been making waves in the acoustic music world for a while. Her inventive sound reminded me of Michael Hedges, but she clearly has taken a range of influences and made them her own.

She began with the beautiful Breath of Spring from a new all-instrumental CD entitled Chasing Infinity. Four tunes later, she had to call it a night to make way for the headliners. It was much too short, but enough to whet the appetite for more.

Take the time to listen to her studio version of Breath of Spring:

After Lenee’s too-brief set, mandolinist Solivan and his band – fresh from winning the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Instrumental Band of the Year award – tore into those bluegrass standards The Letter and Ain’t No Sunshine. Banjoist Mike Mumford’s Line Drive gave him room to stretch out, and the entire band showed their considerable chops on a tune I requested of Frank before the show – Tony Rice’s Is That So. Chris Luquette on guitar led the way, followed by Solivan on fiddle, Mumford on banjo, and Danny Booth on bass. Dirty Kitchen didn’t hit too many songs from the new album Cold Spell, but they did showcase She Said She Will. The band played their full hour set and may have kept going, except that the cops were shutting us down.

At the end of the evening, it was a satisfying festival and a very satisfying show by FS&DK. We’ll go out with the video of She Said She Will (and don’t try and say that three times fast, as WAMU’s Katy Daley finds out at the front of the clip).

Enjoy!

More to come…

DJB

Image: Frank Solivan at Red Wing Roots Festival in 2015 by DJB

MORE TO COME…

Encounters, discoveries, and observations from the slow lane of life.

Latest Posts

Farewell 2014, Hello 2015

Observations from home: The 2014 year-end edition

A revolting development

Our year in photos – 2014

They can do this with their eyes closed

Exploring Savannah’s Gem of a Cathedral

Family, Friends, Food (Or How Candice and I Spent a Wonderful Weekend With Our Daughter)

The “Not All Who Wander Are Lost Tour” Lives On!

Music of Water + Fire

Beer and bluegrass