Yesterday was fun

David happened to pick up a copy of AM New York on Friday morning and happened to see that Pete Seeger was going to perform at the Chili Pepper Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  This was very exciting to me, since I haven't seen him in a very long time.  I've written before about my connection to Uncle Pete; I won't bore y'all with it here. 

So, after going to the gym and dropping off a 5 huge bags of clothes at the laundry mat (our dryer died on Friday, repair service can't come until Wednesday and underwear was in short supply) we piled into the car and headed for Brooklyn.  The weather was iffy but the flyer for the festival said that everything was going on, rain or shine.

Well, the festival was a little less festive than the promises in the paper but the chili was hot and good and the gardens were lovely in their early Autumnal splendor. 

Pete wasn't due to come on until 4:30 so we wandered around the gardens for a while and found that many of the roses were still showing off some blooms.





Once it got close to 4:30, we wandered back over to the stage area and got positioned to see the music.  Pete came out with his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Guy Davis.  They were wonderful.  This is the music of my childhood and it was incredible to see Pete again after so long.  His voice is mostly shot, but the heart still glows as bright as ever.  The man is a national treasure and should be designated as such.  There is only kindness and good in him.  His delight singing for the children in the audience was palpable and was matched by their enjoyment of his songs.

I am so glad we were there.

Yesterday was fun

David happened to pick up a copy of AM New York on Friday morning and happened to see that Pete Seeger was going to perform at the Chili Pepper Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  This was very exciting to me, since I haven't seen him in a very long time.  I've written before about my connection to Uncle Pete; I won't bore y'all with it here. 

So, after going to the gym and dropping off a 5 huge bags of clothes at the laundry mat (our dryer died on Friday, repair service can't come until Wednesday and underwear was in short supply) we piled into the car and headed for Brooklyn.  The weather was iffy but the flyer for the festival said that everything was going on, rain or shine.

Well, the festival was a little less festive than the promises in the paper but the chili was hot and good and the gardens were lovely in their early Autumnal splendor. 

Pete wasn't due to come on until 4:30 so we wandered around the gardens for a while and found that many of the roses were still showing off some blooms.





Once it got close to 4:30, we wandered back over to the stage area and got positioned to see the music.  Pete came out with his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Guy Davis.  They were wonderful.  This is the music of my childhood and it was incredible to see Pete again after so long.  His voice is mostly shot, but the heart still glows as bright as ever.  The man is a national treasure and should be designated as such.  There is only kindness and good in him.  His delight singing for the children in the audience was palpable and was matched by their enjoyment of his songs.

I am so glad we were there.

Ya gotta believe

And I believed.  I believe every year, always.  And every year they break my heart.  And this year was just like the others.  Down to the wire, getting my hopes up once again for a brief, shining moment that we might just be touched by some of that Mets Magic one more time.

But no... not this year.  And never again at Shea.  The stadium that opened on my 6th birthday in 1964 gave itself a baseball star-studded sendoff and now it is time to turn off the lights and close the doors for the final time.

I'll lick my wounds, my heart will heal.  Just in time for April 14, 2009.  But I'll never call it Citifield.  It will forever be Shea Stadium.

Ya gotta believe

And I believed.  I believe every year, always.  And every year they break my heart.  And this year was just like the others.  Down to the wire, getting my hopes up once again for a brief, shining moment that we might just be touched by some of that Mets Magic one more time.

But no... not this year.  And never again at Shea.  The stadium that opened on my 6th birthday in 1964 gave itself a baseball star-studded sendoff and now it is time to turn off the lights and close the doors for the final time.

I'll lick my wounds, my heart will heal.  Just in time for April 14, 2009.  But I'll never call it Citifield.  It will forever be Shea Stadium.