December caught me by surprise today. We left last Tuesday to go to my brother’s in Maine for Thanksgiving, with a stop in Boston on the way back to see Martha’s folks and pick up our son at Logan Airport as he returned from London. We got back late Sunday night.
It was all good, but exhausting, and yesterday I just zoned out. I stayed up late last night to watch the Pats get a whuppin’ from the Saints (that’s American football for my international friends.)
This morning I woke up to see the first snow of the season, and thought, well, it’s the last day of November so that’s about right. I blogged on being ill-prepared in Advent, but still didn’t realize I’d lost a day until I posted and noticed the blogpost indexed in DECEMBER!
I recall all those crazy years in local church ministry when the First Sunday of Advent fell in November, and came hard after Thanksgiving. Now I can’t even keep track of the date
The snow on the ground this morning reminded me of a line from the James Taylor song Sweet Baby James:
“Now the First of December was covered with snow
And so was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Lord, the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin'”
Whenever James Taylor comes to Tanglewood and sings that song (and he always does) a big roar comes out of the crowd when he gets to that line about the Berkshires. We even have some dear friends who named their baby James after that song. I have many warm memories of all the James Taylor concerts we heard and saw over the years camped out on the lawn at Tanglewood when our children and the neighbor's children were all growing up together. One of those children is all grown up and the mother of baby James.
And now it is the first of December after all. The snow has stopped, and is melting, but for a time the Berkshires did indeed “seem dream-like on account of that frosting.”
(Photo: R. L. Floyd)
A beautiful photograph, Rick.
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of listening to James Taylor on your radio program at Coe. And once as a favor to me, although it was totally out of character for your show, you played Joe Cocker's "I Am a Walrus." What Proust gets from a cookie, I get from a mention of James Taylor.
Liked the earlier post on Advent, too.
Thanks, Bob. The photo is of the marsh behind my house, and I took it out a window.
ReplyDeleteYour mention of my KCOE radio program brings back lots of memories. I recall it was in that ever-popular 11-3 am slot, and it was called “Spiritual Soothing Session.”
It was a grab-bag of mellow folk, rock and jazz, basically anything I wanted to listen to. I would get calls from drunks in bars requesting “Born to be Wild” or other jarring tunes. I don't remember you ever calling, but there is so much I don't remember. But I do love Joe Cocker. Remember John Belushi's impression of him on SNL? Hilarious.