Late Night Drinks With Pete Seeger

I woke up this morning to the news Pete Seeger had died and flashed back about forty years or so. 1971 to be exact.

I was a sophomore at a small private university in northern New Jersey majoring in political science and self-appointed chair of the school's environment committee. My roommate, Bart, was majoring in theater (and later went on to get his masters and create and lead the puppetry department at the University of Connecticut).

There was an official student entertainment committee that booked popular-but-safe concerts (I remember Santana being one) but Bart wasn't satisfied with their selections and essentially started his own freelance booking agency on campus specializing in unknown, under appreciated, controversial acts mostly of the acoustic or folk variety. Among others, I remember he brought in the Boys of the Lough featuring Aly Bain and Mike Whellans.

And he booked Pete Seeger.

I don't remember the actual venue for that concert. The official committee usually booked into the gymnasium. Bart's concerts were much smaller and usually played in the common room of the Great Hall ( a copy of Christ Church Hall at Oxford University).

The important thing is not where the concert was held, or that it was a roaring success. The important thing is that, after the show, as Pete and his accompanists were packing up, someone asked him if he would care for refreshments before taking off and he allowed that, "singin' is thirsty work," whereupon we decided, what with the hour and all the commercial establishments being close to or already past closing time, to invite him back to our dorm room for a beer or three.

To our delight, he accepted. And so Pete Seeger (and troupe) spent the next two hours or so up in our room in deep conversation about music and politics and the environment. We talked about the war. We talked about pollution. He told of us building the sloop, Clearwater, a sailing ship on the Hudson River as a kind of moving billboard for cleaning up the water. He took out his guitar and and strummed a bit. He told us never to get discouraged or give up, the fight was its own reward and you never knew what kind of effect you could have down the line.

Rest in peace, Pete Seeger. What an effect you had, down the line.

Slow News Day

Literally. Not just a slow news day, the very definition of Slow News Day.

OMG!! Ducks in the water! Including interviews with witnesses who actually saw ducks in the water! The poor sap assigned to this "story" stayed on scene and was reporting updates right until they went off the air.

My apologies for not being able to embed the video directly.

(And, yes, those are the Nina and Pinta in the background, docked here on their way up the coast.)

Cocktails on the Poop Deck* with the Admiral of the Ocean Seas

(Nina on the left, Pinta on the right)

Two of Columbus' ships, the Nina and the Pinta, are on their way here. Actually, they're already up north in the panhandle and will be coming south, first to Naples, which is south of us, and then slowly working their way back up the coast to Fort Myers across the river, and then around the peninsula to Punta Gorda and Palmetto to the north before heading off to Mississippi. This is not their first visit.

Our local public radio station, WGCU, is offering a special meet-and-greet the captain and crew drinks-and-dinner fundraising program aboard next week. Sure beats their recent one day/one hundred thousand dollar not quite successful "let-us-fundraise-today-so-we-can-shorten-the-fundraiser-week-later" event.

Nina was built using traditional methods and claims to be the most authentic Columbian ship replica ever. Not sure if Columbus ever enjoyed Texas barbecue, though.

*(I don't know where the cocktails will be served. I just like saying "poop deck.")

Miscellanea

Well, both eagle eggs have hatched and the chicks seem to be doing fine. The parents have brought in a load of fish for the entire family (and all the flies in the neighborhood). People are coming around to visit, too, (you can see them in the background of the web cam) but they're generally pretty good about respecting the eagles' "personal space."

 Meanwhile the privateer Lynx has arrived in town (actually across the river) and is open to visitors. The original Lynx was a raked schooner used as a blockade runner during the War of 1812 and was captured and renamed by the British. The current Lynx, the owners are careful to point out, is not officially a replica, despite an amazing attention to detail in the reconstruction, since they have added some modern amenities . . . including an engine.














Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the Christmas tree is half down, the former koi pond is completely filled in although not landscaped and my brother has given a first coat of paint to the wood he bought to repair the lanai room.

And Bartleby has had a relapse on her perching binge from last year. We're continually chasing her off various tables: coffee, TV, dining and "memorial" (an antique oval marble-top that holds a bunch of family portraits and gives a nice cat-view out the front window), which is kind of hypocritical since we encourage her to snuggle in our laps in the easy chair or couch. It's a distinction her little kitty brain just can't process.