I hope all dads in this circle enjoyed as fine a Father’s Day as my family gave me.
It went like this
1. A sweat-hog Nordic Trak session. Heat reduced my time aboard but increased perspiration and heightened a sense of righteous virtue. Even with a full-cold shower, I think I continued sweating throughout and thereafter.
2, A mystery venture began with “Pops, slip on your flip-flops and get in the car” and took us to Jumpin’ Jacks. Non-locals: It’s a revered fast-food mecca on the Mohawk River where orders reach the grill crew in jargon/shorthand: “Whale fry!” = clam roll; “Indian” (this may have to change) = onion rings. When a customer drops a tip at the register, the cashier hollers “Subway!” and the whole staff yells back “THANK YOU!” But I digress, because we were headed to the adjacent ice-cream parlor – first such outing and first ice cream since The Plague hit.
3. My siblings – sister Annie in Bethlehem, PA and brother Jim in Nashville – sent warm-fun texts and photos, greetings of the day.
4. Dinner was maybe my favorite recipe: roasted potatoes with feta, tomatoes and olives, from the “Turkish Cooking” book; and green salad picked from the Newville farmstead garden. Damn good! Dessert was strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. Ellie expertly cooked all the above.
5. Then Zak and Ellie – hosts/facilitators for the whole fine day – staged what they called an “after-party” on the front porch: Romeo y Julieta Corona cigars for Zak and me, Talisker single-malt scotch for us and (gentler) Balvenie for Ellie, and – best of all! – a Zoom chat with Pisie and husband Tony “Apple-Jacks” Oswald (no relation) who are hyperactive in Kentucky electoral politics and activism. They’re producing videos of street demonstrations and in support of Charles Booker for moscow-mitch’s Senate seat. Bless ’em; so damn proud. We discussed current events and the issues of the day, particularly racism.
6. Then Ellie, Zak and I continued talking about race – we’re having the BEST conversations these days!
For more on Jumping’ Jack’s: https://dailygazette.com/article/2018/03/29/jumpin-jack-s-opening-day-a-glossary-of-terms
Unrelated to any of this, I’ve been thinking these days about Patti Smith. More later…
Hoke's Jukebox 