March 26, 2022

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 26, 2021, official spelling mistakes.
Five years ago today: March 26, 2017, the disturbing thing . . .
Nine years ago today: March 26, 2013, classic sidecar scene.
Random years ago today: March 26, 2014, I found $20.

           Another retirement Saturday, let’s recap the day. Because I have no energy left to do much else. The pace of this week must have caught up to me. I spent the morning on yard work and setting up the new compressor. I found out what was wrong with it, a fitting where the pressure gauge had been snapped off, leaving a permanent slow leak. Still, it is a 3.3 HP unit rated at 40 CFM, so the most powerful compressor I’ve ever owned. Here is a pic of the most expensive food at the fare. Twenty bucks for a small container of conch. Small enough that JZ, a sea-food enthusiast, was able to walk right past.

           It was a cool bright morning, so I did some repairs about the place, including the soles on my work shoes, using the time to think. I also transplanted some small flowers and got three bits of oregano stem into some rooting solution. Around noon I became aware of a weariness familiar from my stage of recover some 15 years ago. You can’t shake this. Nothing like before, because I repaired the leaf rake and got out the shovel to begin filling in the holes Cash decided my yard was short of.

           I have no convenient spot for that compressor. It is out in the scooter lean-to for now. That’s 30 feet away from where I’ll need it for any work in the shed. A new bird family has shown up, again not in the Florida guidebook. Like a small wren, but with blue-grey coloring. Parson called to move the gig later today ahead one hour, but to show up on time anyway as they’ve invited the band to a free pot luck. These tend to be very popular events and the Biden grocery bills have spurred them in number.
           The new hot water tank is in position, but now I cannot find that expensive catchment tray from a couple years ago when I first planned the installation. I moved more supplies into the silo and would have done more except the dang lumberyard had no MDF board. So I spent the $100 on 2” PVC piping to get started on the Roman A/C. I did not know what oregano looked like in the wild. Here are the chutes I hope will propagate. The scent reminds me of air freshener.

           I’ll jot down notes from the gig later today but I can already predict I’m not partying later. (Turns out I hit the sack for 9-1/2 hours.) There’s not explanation except age. And the gig reflected that on me as well. It was largely not my music, yet that should not make any difference. As ever, my analysis is aimed mainly at my observations which are biased to what I think does the most good for my concept of stage pesentation.
           The gap between our styles was as evident as ever. It’s a contrast for the audience, so it’s all good. The looser comping style of the others versus my structure, were every song is precious and played in its unique way. I counted four times we were asked to play again, this was not lost to the social committee. I don’t care for committees as usually none of them have any inkling about music or how it is produced.
Where Parson got some of the tunes befuddles me, but he had several ladies who wanted to sing. Some of them had experience, but did not remember the lyrics. There was a sharp bass player in the room who piped up with there’s a app for that. Before long there were a few vocalists of sorts. The only music I recognized was “Blue Eyes Cryin’ In The Rain.” Aw heck, I’ll say it, these gals were pretty terrible.

Picture of the day.
Pointing north.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Arriving at the gig 45 minutes early, I was happy to find the old bass amp on its dolly. Plug & play. You know how bands sometimes improve when they have not rehearsed? That was today, you see, everybody falls back into their old habits, so you actually get a better compromised sound. The food was great, it was the Ariani trailer court, so women outnumbered the men three to one. Once more I was the youngster in the crowd and got scoped often enough. Of most concern to me was once again the music and presentation.

           The vocalist reverted quickly to tunes he knew best, which were well before my time. At least I presume he was not making these up on the sport. The hall is large so we had a large crowd of dancers. For some reason, all the floor fans were gone. Usually there is one in each corner but today the room was quite sweltering and the drummer had to take regular breaks. These events are dry so I was reduced to drinking soda. I often bring a puzzle booklet to avoid too much chit-chat with the older ladies in the bunch. I wear the most shapeless clothes I have to that gig.

           I sang maybe five tunes, the rest I faked as best I could. Once more, the crowd liked the music, I’ve said how once it gets going, this is a very danceable band. There is my stunt double telling the old country line, “I bought the shoes that just walked out on me.” This older 1940s music isn’t my forte. My method is to memorize the chord pattern during the first verse and chorus, then embellish that as the song progresses. It does not work that great with these early pieces, as the regular pattern of blues-like structure had not yet made much of an appearance.
           We were repeatedly asked to play again, I left that up to Parson. The tips were decent, as in $31 each. More, on average, than the Hippie pays for a full gig. That’s big tipping for a crowd in their 80s. I mailed letters on the way home, I have a habit of not using local mailboxes. Intending to drop into Bartow for a cold one, the fatigue mentioned got the better of me. I felt like 300 pounds and slept like it. Blog rules, I have to report the most significant events and that was it today.

           Except muffins. That was an event. Cranberry muffins from a mix. But the fancy mix where the cranberries are bitter and come in a little tin that won’t work with the electric can opener. That reminds me, did I mention Fred took another job as a baker. They kept calling him back, so he’s part-time twice a week. I could never keep those hours.

ADDENDUM
           Here’s some random shots from the Fair, including a plate of Greek fries. As JZ said, just add a scoop of feta cheese and sub yogurt for ketchup. They were okay, this once. This animal is a Zedonk, I guess a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Mean disposition. And there is the saloon cutout, with tourists hamming it up for the camera. Even the photos taken by a passing stranger turn out better than the ones I carefully instruct my acquaintances. I know of nobody in Miami who can point a camera and depress a button.

           The last picture in the lower right corner snuck in. It’s the birdbath I intend to move closer to the wall by cutting that stem in half. I see it has already collected a little rainwater on it’s own. This is the hummingbird attraction planned, now in an area of the yard that only gets that blistering sunlight at mid-day.

Last Laugh