Thanksgiving Snapshots, Part 2

— Friday dawned clear and beautiful. I was up before the kids got up – which surprised me. Mum, Dad and I hung out in the cozy kitchen for a while, having coffee and talking. Surrounded by random copies of The Sewanee Review, of course. Then slowly everyone else got up. Grace and Henry appearing, well-rested, sleepy-headed, a bit cuddly, but ready to go NUTS once they really woke up. They are so cute!! Grace immediately went to start banging on the piano but Betsy said, “No, honey, it’s too early for the piano.” hahaha The dawn’s early light … and banging “chords” from the living room.

— Nice morning. Breakfast. Hanging out. Lazy day. Nothing to do but just … hang around.

— I was reading a FASCINATING book called Snapping … could NOT put it down. It is a book that Emily must read as soon as possible. I finished it over this past weekend. So I sat there, as Grace and Henry played with Fisher Price toys all around me, and read about Jonestown. Awesome.

— Later in the day – we went shopping. Me, Mum, Jean and Siobhan. We converged on Marshall’s. I got a ton of stuff, after a wee meltdown (“nothing fits! I don’t want to go shopping! I hate my body!”) … Jean talked me down … and I ended up getting a boatload of really cool clothes that I feel happy about. It was my birthday present. (Well, my birthday’s today, but you know … we had the whole birthday thing this past weekend). I got the coziest slippers ever known to man. Fur-lined. I mean … heavenly. If I could wear them 24/7 I would. I have them on now. I could not be happier.

— Plans were made to meet up at the beach later and get a bit of exercise with Hudson.

— Came home and read more of Snapping. Moved on from Jonestown to read about David Koresh as well as Loonytunes Moonies. AWESOME.

— Siobhan and I drove down to the beach to meet up with Jean, Pat and Hudson. It was about 5 pm when we got there. The sun had gone down, so darkness was falling pretty quickly – but there was still a wash of sunset glowing in the west, blurring up into the black … You could see the “towers” black and stark against the glow … and the string of orange lamplights lit up, along the sea wall. The tide was low. The waves were crashing – but they were breaking pretty far out … one after the other after the other. The foam was dim, bluish in the twilight … and the water picked up all the stray gleams of colors – so everything looked psychedelic. The sand itself was dark, but then the water rushing across it would gleam like a blue mirror, flecked with orange, smudged with silver. It’s one of my favorite times of day to be at the beach. Siobhan and I pulled up beside jean’s car – and there they were, down at the shore – Jean, Pat, and Hudson. I said to Siobhan, “This is one of those moments when I wish I lived in Rhode Island.” Hey, let’s meet at the beach! So we walked down to the Dunes Club and back … night was really falling by the time we returned, sunset dying out. Hudson chased sticks, and also disappeared into the night to inspect seaweed, or whatever it was he was doing. But then, vroom, he would catch up to us, and fly by us, a blur of ecstatic black. There were a couple of other folks out with dogs – so there were many congresses of the animal world, up and down the beach. Nothing like the salty smell of the ocean, the sound of those pounding waves. It does more for my spirit than pretty much any other healing medicine ever could.

— We made plans to meet up at The Mist later that night. You know … to see John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Or, to Rhode Islanders: “JC and the Triple B”. Uhm … Eddie and the Cruisers anyone? well, they are still going strong and have a regular gig at The Mist which, in general, draws massive loyal crowds. I’ve never been to a “Triple B” show so even though the whole thing makes me feel unbelievably old – I just HAD to go check it out. They’re our local boys!

— When Siobhan and I arrived, the joint was jumpin’. JC hadn’t gone on yet – but the opening band was going strong, they were a cover band – and people were dancing like crazy, jitterbugging. In the rickety shack above the waves. Oh, and the white seagulls (or are they terns?) were in attendance, bobbing on the black-green surging waves outside. What the hell? I love them.

— The JC crowd was already showing up. Rhode Islanders will know what I’m talking about. This is all just local color, local humor … hard to explain to an outsider. Jean was out on the deck of the bar and this girl came out there with her – obviously a JC fan. She had long straight hair, she was rather fat, and she was wearing a gold puffy vest. She stood on the deck staring out at the dark ocean, the bobbing seagulls, the crashing waves … transfixed … Jean was doing her own thing, maybe talking with Pat, whatever, but Gold Vest was having her own private experience. Suddenly, she shouted, to herself, “I LOVE THIS SHIT.” Shouting at the ocean. By herself. In the Rhode Island accent. With the puffy gold vest. “I LOVE THIS SHIT.” We loved Gold Vest. We kept an eye out for her all night.

— Oh – and I just fell in love with this big huge goombah in his backwards baseball cap – who had no neck – and a blonde petite girlfriend with a tan that seemed burned onto her skin … but the cover band was playing “Signed Sealed Delivered” and suddenly I happened to glance at him – he was standing with his back to me – his huge back – the back of a linebacker – and he was hugging his girlfriend from behind, and they were watching the band, and he was just jamming out, in his own small way, to “Signed Sealed Delivered”. He was jiggling his butt back and forth, bopping his head up and down … It was adorable. We couldn’t stop appreciating him. We appreciated him from afar all night.

— By the end of the night, and by the end of my 2 vodka gimlets, I had made plans to go to Burning Man with Sean in a huge Winnebago. Hahahaha “We have to go!” “We must!” “Burning Man! Burning Man!” ‘See you at Burning Man!” Guys … is this a REAL plan or just vodka-fueled enthusiasm?

— And then …. JOHN CAFFERTY!

— You know, people make fun and all that, but here’s the deal, and here’s what I saw: I saw someone who has not gone bitter and pissed because his moment of fame did not pan out to a lifetime of fame. According to the folks in Rhode Island, he IS a star. And he IS. And not only that: but there he is, playing the songs that everyone knew once upon a time – way back in the 80s when they suddenly were national, rather than local … and he has probably played them thousands, and thousands, of times. And to me it felt like the first time. He had that same enthusiasm. He’s not pissed that people remember. (A lot of one-hit wonders ARE pissed if you remember their one-hit … because all it means to them is that they didn’t have TWO hits. Now I get that … I get that it’s freakin’ tough to not have your dreams pan out … I get that on almost a cellular level, because I’ve lived it … ) But to see someone who LOVES that people remember … and who plays those songs with as much gusto and as much enthusiasm as when he played them in the 80s … You know, I just really loved him for that. I loved him for being okay with being loved. The crowd goes NUTS for the Triple B … and I was telling Beth and Michele about it the next night and they both were saying, “Oh my God, we all HAVE to go the next time you’re in town.” This is our high school years. There he is. The same band. All together. John Cafferty would come out into the crowd with his guitar – and people would jostle him, crowd around him … give him a stool so he could then step up onto one of the tables in the middle of the crowd. Jean and I, watching, were just laughing and clapping and loving him. He’s an entertainer. He’s a local staple. He made it big for about 2 seconds. And people remember and still come out in droves to see him. And he loves that. I had a couple of moments when I teared up. Because I am a geek of the highest order. But I’ve also been an emotional basket-case for about 3 weeks now. Just let’s go way up, shall we? And then let’s go way back down again, shall we? Seeing John Cafferty stand up on that table, in the middle of a sea of pulsing throbbing arms in the air, people shouting up at him, people who know all his lyrics, who remember him when … gave me a little lump in the ol’ gizzard, I’ll tell ya.

— But we also sang along at the tops of our lungs. Pat was openly laughing at us. And Sean was openly scornful. I think he didn’t want to go to Burning Man with me after seeing me go nuts over John Cafferty. Hahaha

— It was a BLAST. TRIPLE B!!!

Livin in the C-I-T-Y! Livin’ in the city!

Or …

On the dark side, oh yeah
On the dark side, oh yeah
On the dark side, oh yeah

— When I got home, Alex called me … I’ve missed her … and I stood out in the driveway … and we had a great talk. I’ve missed hearing her voice. I was probably shouting. And the neighborhood is dark and quiet at about 7 pm … so to the neighbors … my apologies for shouting into my cell phone at circa 1:30 am.

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29 Responses to Thanksgiving Snapshots, Part 2

  1. amelie / rae says:

    happy birthday, sheila! may God continue to shower you with blessings ^_^

    *hug*

  2. Emily says:

    Dude, I am so going to move heaven and earth to go to Burning Man this year. Come!

    Can’t wait for Snapping. I’ve cleared the reading schedule for when it arrives.

  3. red says:

    I need to talk to Mitchell about Burning Man too. I just so want to go, at least once in my life … it’s kind of coming up, isn’t it??

  4. Emily says:

    It’s at the end of August.

  5. red says:

    Oh! For some reason I thought it was in Feb. or March.

    Okay. So I will keep it on my radar.

  6. mejack says:

    I just ordered snapping on the amazon. I can’t WAIT.
    Oh, and happy birthday!

  7. Mark says:

    You should start planning for Burning Man now, since you need to lug in your own tents and gallons of water and whatnot. I read about all the stuff you need to do and thought, “Oh man, screw this. We invented house and air conditioning so we wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of crap any more.”

    I know, I know, I have the soul of an actuary.

  8. Emily says:

    Mark,
    I’ve been reading a lot about it and it’s not really all that different than camping, except there’s a lot more naked people around.

  9. red says:

    Mark – hahahaha, I know – I’m not a big camper at ALL … especially not in a place where I might see giant ‘s’s or giant scorpions … but I just want to go dress up and make papier mache masks and have cocktails and go to bonfires and wear fishnets and hi-top sneakers … and cavort about on bicycles and who knows what else – but yeah, the Winnebago idea seems so attractive!! It’s AWESOME to commune with nature. From inside a damn winnebago, thank you very much.

  10. red says:

    mejack – HA! I could not put it down!!

    The authors traveled around in the 70s and 80s and interviewwed people who had left cults – and asked them questions about the moment they either snapped IN to the cult or snapped OUT of it. The moments when they succumbed to the cult, or had the “A-ha” moment of realizing they had been brainwashed.

    It’s soooo creepy. The authors are interested in the physiology of such moments … what actually happens to the brain when it is subjected to intensive brainwashing techniques, etc.

    I thought it was a really good book.

  11. Ken says:

    Happy birthday!

  12. Alex says:

    Best converstaion I’ve had in weeks. Drunk and loaded. It was JOYous!!!!!

    I need to send you that e mail.

  13. Lisa says:

    Oh, man, it’s your birthday! Happy Birthday!

    (and by August I may be in the mood for some nakedness. Where is Burning Man?)

  14. red says:

    Alex – yes! Please send it!!

  15. red says:

    Lisa – it’s in Nevada.

    Oh man, if you come?? My life will be even MORE complete. We need to bring water and also LOTS of alcohol. And sunblock. And art supplies.

  16. Emily says:

    And we might want to think about food, too.

  17. red says:

    You mean vodka tonic is not a valid food group?

  18. Emily says:

    Of course it is. The other food groups are to absorb the alcohol to keep up your stamina.

  19. red says:

    Ah. Good thinking.

  20. Lisa says:

    Nevada in August? I see the need for nakedness.

    And vodka.

  21. mere says:

    Happy Birthday!!!

    (JC and the triple B?????)

  22. red says:

    Mere – hahaha Yes! It was so ridiculous and so fun.

    To quote Gold Vest: I LOVE THIS SHIT

    I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you this trip (and I left a comment on your site but it didn’t show up!) … definitely at Christmas. Or Ca-ree-su-ma-su.

  23. alli says:

    happy birthday, sheila!

  24. red says:

    Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone. :)

  25. Ann Marie says:

    Happy Birthday! I need an address to which to ship something I got a little while ago, btw.

    And in one of those weird “click-click-click” moments, less than a month ago, I was at a party and started talking to these 2 guys and by the end of the evening, I’m stating loudly “we MUST go to Burning Man” to Rick. Who is looking at me dumbfounded, because, *he* has been saying that to me for a couple of years. The guys I was talking to have founded this:

    http://www.babarist.org/

    something that started honestly as a joke in a bar … “that’s it, from now on, I’m just going to ask ‘what would Babar do?'” … and now, they’re now really INTO it. They gave me a bracelet (WWBD) a la every other bracelet people wear. It was honestly one of the funniest evenings I’ve ever spent with people.

    Anyways, let me know if you go!

    Ann Marie

  26. red says:

    Ann – hahahaha We share one brain. Never forget that.

    You know, I owe you a bazillion emails … I’m sorry about that!!

    Maybe we should meet up at Burning Man … how hysterical would that be??

  27. Anne says:

    Happy Birthday, Sheila!

  28. mitchell says:

    i would love to go..Rachel and Alex go all the time..they love it!!!

  29. Ceci says:

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHEILA!!

    Sorry for the shouting, but I wanna make sure my wish gets you, since… you know… ehem… I’m late in wishing it (**blushes profusely**).

    In any case, I am very glad to read that you got to spend your birthday with your family and had such a great time in Rhode Island.

    All the best wishes!!!!!

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