So much going on....

Life continues to be busy. The new job - I'm just shy of my 3 monthiversary - is going well. They are keeping me really busy. That is a good thing, but it also requires an adjustment.

For the last year or so of my last job I did reference work as it came to me and very little else - so I got really adept at facebook and caught up on several shows thanks to Hulu. We had a news feed from CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, CSPAN etc. so I could have the news running. I remember one exciting day there was a high-speed chase in Texas or Florida.

For a while we had the feed from BBC - to get the BBC news. Only that was just in the morning - so I became addicted to several shows - Cash in the Attic, and the Queens of Clean who would go in an clean up disgusting apartments and homes.

So now I'm actually having to work - that is a good thing!

Band has been a delight. We performed one of my favorite pieces - Rhapsody in Blue. And I dedicated one tune to the memory of my wonderful friend Diana Smith.

Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering. - Prof. Harold Hill from The Music Man.

Dedicated to my dear friend and a librarian who strove to make every day worth remembering.

The piano soloist for Rhapsody in Blue, Annamaria Mottolo did an outstanding job! I learned that she is good friends with someone from my past. Peter Wilson was one of the two boys who played Oliver Twist in my college production of Oliver! that I stage managed during my senior year.

Now, out of the blue, I was asked to play in the pit band for a local production of Oliver!. So that will make for a really busy May - but it will be fun.

And tomorrow I join my friends in Marching Band to go to Rehoboth Beach for Band Camp!

My one-time mentor, Rev. Patrick J. Gillooly, used to say we have all eternity to rest. I'll need it I think!

Observations on the commute home

Greetings friends!

Lot's has been going on and I feel the urge to write some of this down. So, after a couple of months of nothing much to say I think I'll be posting for a bit.

Yesterday I got on the Metro at Farragut North for my daily commute home. At Metro Center a man got on who drew my attention. The man was probably about my age, bearded, wore glasses but had that loopy thing around his neck like your Aunt Martha used to wear.

The reason I noticed him was that he was coughing. My guess it was probably bronchitis and allergis. He just seemed really fussy - coughing, and pulling out paper napkins to wipe his mouth and hands and blow his nose. Then stuff the napkin in his pocket. Then he fidgeted and coughed again, etc. Finally after two stops he seemed to settle down and pulled out a book and a small cardboard fan.

So now he was reading. Only a dad and his young son sat down in the seat next to him and the son said he wanted to read. So the dad pulled out a booklet that the boy had made in school that day and started reading. Aloud.

The coughing man started to look toward the dad and soon and seemed a bit annoyed now. The boy's reading aloud was bothering him.

And somewhere on the train a baby started to cry. Now I was mildly amused that this man who was very fussy and had distracted me (did I mention that?) was himself now distracted.

In resignation he put his book into his over-sized tote bag. I noticed something on the side of the bag. It was a promo for a company that provides services to libraries. So I was thinking this man is a librarian and he was getting annoyed by a child who was reading.

Sigh! But I was pleased to note that as the fussy man settled down to listen to the father and son, he was amused by the innocence of the boy's questions and comments.

There is hope for world yet.