“Down flies the snow!”
by Christina Rosett
The forecast for this week is intermittent snow showers. When there is little snow, that amount often seems to ice-up the walkways. Hubby already has had to buy some more Ice-Melt. We don’t like to use much of that because it can hurt the paws of our neighborhood pets. It can also damage our bulbs.
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I was so surprised to read in last Wednesday’s Patriot Ledger that our favorite summertime restaurant, Sullivan’s at Castle Island, or “Sully’s” as we call it, is proposing to open a second restaurant at Hingham Bathing Beach. The trustees of the Bathing Beach are entering into negotiations. (Sully’s was the only one to submit a proposal.) It has been located at Castle Island since 1951.
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I don’t know if you enjoy “Wahlburgers,” which is shown on Ch. 29 (the A &E Network). I get a kick out of it because the Wahlbergs had lived in Dorchester and sound so much like us. When Donnie Wahlberg was telling his Mom Alma about his upcoming wedding to Jenny McCarthy, he drove her to a bench at Tenean Beach. Both daughter Sue and I could tell where they were from the background. Also, when “Johnny Drama” was training their friend “Nacho” in a weight-loss contest with “Johnny A,” Mark Whalberg was trying to get “Nacho” to lose weight under Johnny’s guidance. Mark promised that if “Nacho” won the weight-loss contest, he would put “Nacho’s” name up on a billboard on Gallivan Blvd. Mark said, initially, that it should be on a billboard in New York City but then he toned it down to Gallivan Blvd. It is a riot to watch the Wahlbergs’ Show. I haven’t watched the show that follows as yet, which is about Donnie Wahlberg and his bride, Jenny McCarthy. It is on too late for us. We will have to watch it on On Demand on another day.
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I must mention that on the Saturday evening following Christmas, Hubby, daughter Sue, and I drove to Attleboro to attend the Christmas Party of Hubby’s nephew Steve and his wife Judi. As usual, we went an hour early so that we could attend the 4 p.m. Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church. We have attended that Mass for quite a few years. It is a homey little church; we enjoy the priest and it is only a few minutes to Steve and Judi’s home. Some day we would like to be a little late for the party so that we could see the Christmas lights go on at 5 p.m., at La Salette Shrine. There were quite a few cars as we came down the well-decorated street toward the house. Nephew Steve welcomed us as we came toward the front door. He showed us the icicle lights that his wife Judi bought on QVC and had used to decorate his doorway. They look like they are dripping water. What a pretty effect!
When we walked into the nice, warm house, we immediately went out in the kitchen to see Judi. She was moving among some pots and pans, making sure that all the food was cooking well. We had quite a menu: kielbasa, hash-brown casserole, calzones, broccoli and ziti alfredo, scrumptious meatballs, baked ham, cake, Rice-Krispie treats, brownies, and pumpkin pie.
Of course, we had to have some chip and dip in the living room, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Hubby’s sister Peg was sitting in there so we chatted with her. So were Hubby’s nephew David, his wife Mary, and their daughter Renee. Mary was still recovering from back surgery. She was walking a bit better than I had seen her previously. She was out of work for quite a while following the operation. The star of the day came in and sat with me. We are all excited because Steve and Judi’s daughter Ashley is going to be married to her fiancé Kurt in the fall. We haven’t had a local family wedding in a few years so we are so very happy about the upcoming nuptials. I enjoyed hearing about all the preparations
The evening went very quickly and soon we were headed for home. It was just three years ago that on our way home from Steve and Judi’s we drove over a small metal trycicle on Route 95. The police told us that a charitable group must have dropped a load of donated toys on the road. Unfortunately, we picked the most destructive toy to drive over, causing $3,500 worth of damage to the underside of our two-week-old car. It was a terrible end to a nice evening.
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Last Tuesday, thanks to info from pal Eileen Collins, we learned that there would be a bus from the Keystone Apartments (courtesy of the Elderly Affairs Commission) into Mayor Marty Walsh’s State of the City address. This year, the address was to be given in Symphony Hall rather than Faneuil Hall, where it had been delivered for years. We drove to Keystone and greeted our friends. A big, beautiful, yellow Yankee Bus arrived at the front door and we all boarded it, filling more than half of the bus. We didn’t know that we would be picking up more people along the route to Symphony Hall. As we drove through Dorchester and Roxbury, we went near Hubby’s former school in Jamaica Plain. The bus driver did a great job getting that huge bus in and out of the small streets. When we finally arrived behind Symphony Hall, we were given passes that allowed us to enter, so we went directly inside.
I was no sooner in the Hall when I met my friends Mary and Nam Truong. I was delighted to see them in that huge crowd. (Mary works at the Dot House.) Hubby, daughter Sue, pal Gwen, and I then went into the main hall. I was fortunate to see my friend Jim Cassetta, from Work, Inc. He invited the four of us to sit in his row. In front of us sat Carol Murphy and Sarah Doherty. Directly in front of me sat a handsome young man. Our friends began chatting with him. He was delighted that he was now a citizen and was thrilled to be at the address. He even showed our friends photos of his kids. He was very pleasant and was great company for them. We also were delighted to see pal Charlie Tevnan sitting behind us.
Then the formal proceedings began. We were so proud that Dorchester’s Kenny School’s marching band played their way onto the stage. We then heard from Andris Nelsons, the relatively new music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He told us how honored he was to be the head of the BSO and he welcomed us to Symphony Hall. I must agree that it was so nice to be there once again. We hadn’t been back since we last attended a performance of the Boston Pops. I remember reading that Symphony Hall is one of the few acoustically perfect halls in the entire world. There is no bad seat in the house.
The next person to speak was Sister Patricia Andrews, CSJ, who gave the invocation. She was followed by the Boston Police Honor Guard, whose members stood at attention as we “pledged our allegiance to the Flag.” Then a wonderful singer named Elijah Rock sang the national anthem beautifully. Did you know that the City of Boston’s poet laureate is named Danielle Legros Georges? She read the poem that she had written in honor of the occasion. Following her reading, four (string) members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed a short musical selection. Then it was time for Mayor Walsh to take the microphone. He arrived on stage to a standing ovation. We were so proud of him. He told us at the outset that he had just 30 minutes to give his speech because of TV limitations. The mayor was interrupted many times by applause during the half hour while he described his plans for Boston. When he finished – on time – he received a long duration of applause.
On the way out of Symphony Hall, we began to walk toward the back of the building where we had been let off the bus. A police officer, with a smile on his face, came toward us. I almost didn’t recognize our pal Mike McDonagh in his uniform. He chatted with us for a few minutes. Then, as we continued to proceed along the sidewalk, Daughter Sue said, “Look who’s here!” It was our long-time friend Paul White. We gave him a big hug because it had been so long since we had seen him. The Yankee Bus was waiting for us and we were home in record time. What a lovely evening!
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I loved this saying that I read over Christmas: “When you throw out the Christmas tree, don’t throw out the Christmas Spirit.”
