Wardsboro Road Cemetery

For the last 20 years or so I have spend much of my free time driving old forgotten roads in the mountains of NY , NH , Vermont and Maine. roads that don't show up on most maps. While it never crossed my mind early on, one of the more interesting finds are cemeteries left long forgotten. I actively seek them out now.


Many are small , run down and abandoned with headstones dating back to the 1600’s.amazingly I have come across a few out in the middle of nowhere that are still maintained and cared for. It would be nice to come across some of the people that visit these cemeteries and listen to their family stories.

But most of all there is a sadness about these final resting places. It doesn’t take long to realize that life was especially cruel to the woman and children. The mother’s ages in the low to mid 20’s with the children here just months or a few years. I can’t help but wonder at the pain, struggles and sacrifices the families must have suffered.

Today I came across two cemeteries in the Adirondacks . One I knew about and the other was by total surprise. Padanarum Rd Cemetery and Wardsboro Rd Cemetery. Walking and reading the headstones at Wardsboro was truly heartbreaking. Founded in 1842 most of the stones were of young women and children. The newest headstone I seen was dated 1862.

Sitting there I could not help but wonder what happened to everyone? Did the men take up new wife’s and have more children, did they move on looking for a new life or march off to war never to return ,did they perish with no one left to bury them? Where is the rest of the story? Are there relatives out there with this final resting place lost from them forever? It makes one wonder where one’s own family resting grounds are.

Raised in the projects, immigrating to the streets and enlisting in the Navy at 17 I always had the confidence that I could pretty much stand face up to anything. But over the years after visiting these places would I have the same courage to face the unbearable existence that these people faced day in and day out. Would I had even reached 17.

In a day when many people believe that life owes them something I think of these words from the Declaration of Independence,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

While these people may never of though of themselves in this manner , they are the faceless heroes and trailblazers I admire and respect for the courage to live by these words long before Thomas Jefferson ever penned them.

                                              

Troy Music Hall

Today is a recovery day for me. they don’t come by often so I take advantage of them when they do present themselves. relaxing I popped in the movie , “ The Reader “ and there is a scene where they sit and listen to the local choir which brings back memories of Saint Mary’s School and the years spent singing in their choir.

one weekend of every year we would compete with all the other schools in the Capitol District at the Troy Music Hall. For those who have not ever heard of the hall it is considered one of the finest acoustically sound music halls in the world. last place was pretty much reserved for us every year but it is always one of the first happy moments of my young life that come's to mind.

should one ever get a chance to visit the hall, jump at it, it is a wonderful place to rest your ears. well unless I'm singing there.



http://www.troymusichall.org/acous.asp

=O)

Personal Favorites

I had a dream last night that I died and traveled to meet my maker. When I got to the gates Peter was standing there with a little funny smile , shaking his head. well needless to say I didn't feel overly confident about my chances of bouncing from cloud to cloud anytime soon.

Hey Pete , What's up? I said , figuring what the hell , I'll be there soon enought. in one hand he had a lone sheet of paper with his other arm leaning on what looked like the , " The Books of History Chronicles." Ya know Mick , looking at the lone sheet , you done some good and interesting things in your life. looking to his left he said. , " and then there's this!"  I'm thinking , there isn't anything interesting in that big pile?

smiling , he put his arm on my shoulders , walking me away from the gates and tells me, " I like you kid , you were good for a few laughs but I just can't let you in right now . you're going to have to spend a little time in the sweat box."

 the good news is that I would be allowed to take one CD with me to listen to while I burn off the fat of sin. so off I go with my copy of ...

Note : With the exception of the song " Dimples "  , all the songs were produced by Van Morrison and Mike Kappus.


other personal favorites are:

Albert King     ~~ Born under a bad sign ~~  when you listen to Clapton , Hendrix , the Allman brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughn and countless other pretenders you are really listening to Albert King.

BB King            ~~ Live in Cook County Jail ~~ No I wasn't there .

Billie Holiday   ~~ Love Songs ~~

Van Morrison  ~~ The Healing Game ~~


So I'm now sweating and dancing away the sins of my fat , waiting on my star in the heaven's. 

Viewfinder

Every time I look through a viewfinder I learn a little bit more about myself. One of these days I'll be looking in the mirror and be able to say , " Hey I know that guy! "

Albums you can listen to for a week.

A few days ago Matt Hill tweeted the following , " Discussing best "whole album" experiences. Like: something you can listen to for a week straight. What are yours?" Which got me thinking and realized we could go a step further and discuss single songs alone that one could listen to for that long. But I choosed to keep it to just albums. I can hear the kids out there saying , " What the Flock is an album? "

A couple of things came to mind puting together this list , I decided I would keep artist like Chet baker and Serge Gainsbourg off the list for two reasons.

1. Some people may not know who they are.
2. Many of the albums that came to mind are not even available anymore in any form.

So basically I kept to main street and mostly the superstars and believe it or not some of these are not available. Go figure. They are also listed in alphabetical order. Some albums may not be considered the best work by the artist or they are remembered for just a certain song , Such as Angie on  " Goats Head Soup " by the Stones.In this case I will make note at the album to explain my feelings.

With the exception of the Beatles , the Stones and a few others most of the great music in the 60's was still produced in singles. Just check out Motown. Even the Beatles as great as they were couldn't keep up with Motown.

One final note. There are albums such as " Dark Side of the Moon  " by Pink Floyd that forced the world to stand up and take notice , but I left off the list. Why ? well as much as I love the album and can still remember the first time I listened to it I know I could not spend a whole week letting it run. Remember this is a personal list kept within the boundaries that most people have listened to those on the list before , but don't feel like you have to limit yourself to the same rules I saddled myself with.

Every one is welcomed to join in and speak your ears.

1.   Allman Brothers   ~~~ Brothers and Sisters.
2.   Allman Brothers   ~~~ Fillmore East.
3.   Beatles ~~~~~~~~~~~ The White Album
4.   Beatles ~~~~~~~~~~~ Rubber Soul
5.   Beatles ~~~~~~~~~~~ Revolver
6.   David Bowie ~~~~~~~ The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
( When I heard this for the first time all I could think about was the Jackson Pollock of Rock and Roll . )

7.   Joe Cocker ~~~~~~ With a little help from my Friends.
8.   CSN + Y ~~~~~~~~ 4 Way Street
9.   Dylan ~~~~~~~~~~ Highway 61 Revisited
10. Marvin Gaye ~~~~~ Whats going on
11. It's a Beautiful Day ~ It's a Beautiful Day
12. Janis Joplin        ~~~ I Got them ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
13. Annie Lennox    ~~~ Diva
14. Annie Lennox    ~~~ Medusa
15. John Mellencamp ~ John Mellencamp
16. Van Morrison    ~~~ Back on Top
17. Van Morrison    ~~~ Days Like This
18. Van Morrison    ~~~ No Guru , No Method , No Teacher
19. Bob Marley       ~~~~ Legend
20. The Pretenders  ~~~ Get Close
21. The Rolling Stones ~ Goats Head Soup.
( I know many will be surprised by this selection of the Stones but I pick it because of the true gem, the song , " Winter " that I believe is the best song the Stones ever produced and I could easly listen to this song alone for a week. )

22. Santana            ~~~~ Abraxas
23. Supertramp       ~~~ Even in the Quietest Moment
24. Stringsteen      ~~~~ The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
( " New York City Serenade" ,  is my favorite song of all time. )

25. Traffic               ~~~~ On the Road
26.  Jethro Tull        ~~~ Living in the Past
( Some thinking , just like my list =O) )

27. U2                     ~~~~~ The Josha Tree
( I was in Dublin when I heard this for the first time. There are times that music forms the cornerstones of our lifes . )

28. Stevie Wonder's  ~~~ Original Musiquarium 1
29. Neil Young         ~~~~ Decade

I do like a lot of the music released today but can't think of much I can listen to from beginning to end. Besides with todays downloads of just about anything that you want there really isnt much reason to buy music in Albums or CDs form anymore.   unless some one buys me equipment with all the my favorite songs downloaded already , much like my buddy Jethro I'll be living and listening in the past.

                                             

Another sleepless Night !

So I played with photos from the Bannerman sleep over. Well I guess I may as well hit the gym .