Adagio apparently is an Italian word for “slow” or “at ease.” If marked on a sheet of music it tells a musician to play at a slow, leisurely, and controlled pace.
Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber is one of my favorite pieces of music. I remember exactly when I first heard it. I was sixteen at home in Lynchburg, Virginia. There weren’t all these streaming services back then. Maybe we were paying for just HBO in addition to the regular cable stations. Think TBS and CBN. It was a Saturday evening. I know that because my dad was home and not working an evening job. This acclaimed theatrical movie was finally making its debut on HBO. The movie was Oliver Stone’s Platoon.
Everybody else, my parents, my brothers, were already in the living room. The lights were low, you know, creating our movie theatre experience. The movie had already started and I was stopped in my tracks, literally, during that opening sequence when the young naive enlistee played by Charlie Sheen is walking past the soldiers who are leaving, those soldiers, probably as young as he, who had survived their tour in Vietnam, with their weathered faces. The music swept me away, and goodness know, that finale with the music sweeping once more. No spoilers if you haven’t seen it.
But today I think back and I wonder what my father was thinking as he watched the movie. He had served in the Korean War, the first war where black and white troops served in the same regiments. It wasn’t pretty. He didn’t tell me details but he told my brothers and they later in life, after he’d passed away, shared some of his stories. And I wonder what Steve was thinking as he watched … I never asked him though I think I had him watch it with me because of that soundtrack … I think at the time I did not know how close he’d come to having his number called to serve in Vietnam.
I now know a young man who served in the Army overseas in recent years and returned whole in body but damaged in impactful ways, but not in ways that keep him from loving and living a meaningful life, with a growing family. I wish him and that family well. And I thank him and all of the others for their service.
Willie Brown Staples serving in the Korean War in the 1950s.
For those of you who have followed my little porch/patio over the seasons … it has begun, as I told one friend. Though there’s a wierd (though lovely) warm spell taking place this week, in from the porch have come the majority of herbs, including rosemary, sage, thyme, that bewildering chocolate mint and the strawberry plant that grew but did not fruit. A few small flowering perennials. Outside now is mostly some fall hardy plants like mums and those remnants that I think shall beautify the porch until the first real snowfall.
Getting far too much exercise with carting plants up to the third floor south facing window. There are some empty spaces yet to be filled. We’ll see where the autumn takes us.
… I have been reminded and I have learned on my own that this beautiful autumn light can make it hard for drivers to see as the sun nears setting. But, oh, what a glorious sight for us pedestrians Friday along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall and adjacent streets in Boston.
Given the direction I was walking this past Friday I was having a hard time seeing as well. Though what I did see what well worth the stroll. A return visit is a must.
… I looked up and out the window and this is what I saw.
Thank goodness I wasn’t trying to multitask, look up out the window, slice veggies with a sharp knife, etc.
Years ago, probably around the early 2000s, I was walking home instead of taking the Green Line public transportation. As I walked I happened to look up. The sky was on fire. I just stood there. I was walking through a neighborhood where people, at least at that time, didn’t often look like me. A man came out of his house. At first he looked at me and then he too looked up. We just stood in wonder. I don’t remember that we exchanged words, just acknowledged each other with a smile before I moved on and he went back inside.
Later that strange science fellow I’d met explained about the sun lighting the clouds from below. With my then-new interest in photography, I raced around the city trying to capture this phenomena. He even tried to help by driving me to places where the sun would be setting. And once, after leaving his church, he stopped by a flea market and surprised me with a fine art photograph of clouds by a local photographer. Years later, he couldn’t remember the origin of the print, that hangs in our bedroom, but I could remind him. And then he did remember.
Thanks to a friend, this morning I saw the current exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Maverick Kings: Three Visionary Pharaohs of Egypt’s Golden Age.
Given that she is an Egyptologist it was like having a private tour as she pointed out details and history beyond the scope of the exhibit.
I’ve always been an omnivore but of late I have been eating more vegetables and as I look at the veggies I’ve been eating I wonder if it is because they are so darn colorful and I can “paint a plate” with them. And, yes, I know, I know, they do taste good. 🙂
I found this picture on my laptop this morning. I must have downloaded it to share as part of the slide deck that was shown during his memorial service. This fishing trip must have been ten years ago. I know I have pictures of an older Steve with shovel in hand working in the garden, planting his basil and staking tomatoes. I have pictures of him in his woodworking shop making our dining table. There are pictures of him in the kitchen with his walker coaching whomever in how to do things like cooking salmon, making pesto or aioli. And I have pictures of him in his wheelchair as sous chef slicing vegetables and seasoning meat. And I have pictures of him in the bed resting or sometimes patiently waiting for someone to help us (he was fully a partner) to transfer safely from bed to chair and back again. Those pictures, those images, capture a long leg of a long journey that I am honored to have traveled for awhile at his side. It has been just over three months since he shuttled off the mortal coil, so to speak. Today is his birthday and of all the pictures I can access this is the one that surfaced out of the blue. And it the one that has become my favorite (of the moment anyway) because it captures the heart of him.
It is a beautiful autumn day. The sun shines bright. The leaves in shades of red, orange and yellow make that wonderful rustling noise as the wind blows. Hot in the sun and cool in the shade. Layering time in terms of clothes. Establishments near my work are all hawking pumpkin this and that. I love the brown-orange of the various drinks but I find them too sweet these days. This morning I looked in a new cookbook, by Jose Andres, and picked a dish I might try to cook tonight, garlic chicken … even though the fridge has much food inside some of which should be prepared soon. I’ve been tossing stuff into the freezer but it is a little packed now. I’ll be all set when winter comes and get socked in by snow. No need to go to the store that’s for sure. No, shopping is more a creative endeavor that I’ve described before. The book is very good, Spain My Way. Makes me want to travel there one day. With a proper guide of course. I’ve made some things. I like the tapas approach to meals right now. I’ve tried a few dishes and they’ve turned out alright. This is Gambas Al Ajillo (garlic shrimp).
