The Other Don Kelly

It’s the day after the Superbowl of Chili, and I’m feeling a little bit ratty, which is a bit strange considering our behavior. It was just Eric R and myself who went this year, and we were pretty restrained. We had a couple of beers while eating chili, but there was no afterparty, no bar-hopping; we grabbed some coffee at the Easton Market afterward, and then just grabbed a Lyft home. (I actually saw the second half of the game later. Boooorring!!!)

So I’m not sure what’s going on, but I was headachey last night and I’m tired today. Sinuses or congestion? Chili and indigestion? Low tolerance, a slow-acting hangover? No idea, but today has the feel of a wasted day.

The chili contest itself was actually pretty cool. There were fewer restaurants competing, and fewer people attending (which may be a good thing from my point of view, since the place can get crowded), but the chili recipes, especially the ones from the newer contestants, were a quantum leap up from those in years past. There was a great deal of skillful and appropriate spice/ingredient mixing, as opposed to the tired, old, “this one goes to eleven” Scoville units pissing contest. I guess others saw things the same way because my favorite, from Braveheart Highlands Pub, won both Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice awards.

Saturday was a visit down to my parents, where my cousin JoAnn was also visiting from Long Island. She’s a few years older then I am, and she and Ed both just retired, and it was really fun to catch up, trade family gossip and talk genealogy for a bit. Chris and Tara also came over, and Mom made a lasagna dinner. I didn’t get home until pretty late, but it was a nice day.

I don’t know what the groundhog had to say Friday, but I’m guessing we have another six weeks of winter coming: it’s been sunny the past few days, and the weather has moderated from the deep freeze we’ve been having. It’s unseasonably warm right now, like 56 degrees out, but I think the cold is supposed to be back soon.

I just got back from the Canal Museum’s Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, and am now waiting for our snow/non-snow weather event to come down.

Things have been pretty quiet around here otherwise, though we did host the CAT holiday party last weekend, and saw If Beal Street Could Talk, followed by a stop at Bonn Place, with John and Donna last night. (Tonight we’re seeing the new RBG movie with Shari and Rick –two movies in a row!)

What have I been up to? I’ve been practicing and playing my cello, doing some reading and historical research — I’ve been on a “history of Bethlehem” kick lately, and have been obsessed with the old settlement at Christian’s Spring — and have also been working on an updated map of the trails at Walking Purchase Park.

This map has been long overdue, but I’ve been waiting on the trail guys to finish their reconfiguration/re-blazing/renaming project. They’re pretty close to done now, trail blazes all over the place with the new names posted, so I went up and photo-documented the trails and then re-did the trail maps. I’m not too happy with some of the choices they made, but hey — it’s not my circus anymore.

I also downloaded some old aerial photos of the Valley, taken about 1938. I took one that showed our neighborhood and part of Sals, georeferenced it, and put it on my map as a partly transparent overlay. For some reason the photo looked almost like hieroglyphics when I zoomed in, at other times like a blowup of some still from German Expressionist cinema, and in the end seemed just plain creepy. The overlay was almost like a ghost.

Hi! I’m back! Welcome to 2019!

I’m sitting in the living room right now, listening to the radio on a rainy day — WXPN has a program going in right now, “50/50,” where every Saturday afternoon (for 50 weeks) they play the songs from a different year. Today’s year is 1979, a weird and transitional one musically, and we’ve heard everything from punk and New Wave, to disco, to what eventually became good old classic rock. An interesting mix.

Some Lists:

Places We’ve Been This Year

• Montreal with John & Donna
• Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg, VA
• Durham, NC to visit Emmi & Kyle
• The Adirondacks with the Felker clan
• Montpelier VT, for Ben’s graduation
• Michigan (Ann Arbor and the Upper Peninsula)
• Sudbury, ON, and Niagara Falls
• Nashville, TN for Brian & Heather’s wedding
• Columbus, OH

Rides

• Wissahickon (VMB )
• Merli-Sarnoski Park (VMB)
• Philadelphia via the Schuylkill River Trail
• Road Scholars Rides
• Road and MTB in the Adirondacks
• Wildcat Ridge, NJ
• Tahquamenon Falls & Indian Lake Road Rides, MI
• Marquette and Calumette, MI
• Wissahickon (with Hope & Renee)

We went in to Philly yesterday to celebrate Ben’s birthday. We met Ben & Candace at Penn Books (where we did a big chunk of our Christmas shopping), visited the Institute of Contemporary Art (where we saw awesome exhibits by Ree Morton and Cauleen Smith), and finally had dinner at Mercato, a little Italian place on Spruce Street. I was exhausted when we got home, but what a fun day!

UPDATE: This is what I wrote ten years ago.

This morning, after years of procrastination, I got my chipped front tooth fixed. The dentist decided not to use any novocaine, or any anesthetic at all, and it was the most painless bit of dentistry I ever experienced. And now I have my smile back…

When I got home, the town leaf collector truck was just in the process of cleaning up our leaf pile, which had been sitting there, mocking me, since late October. My day was complete.

Actually, it was just noon, but the rest of the day was gravy: I rode down to the Museum for a few hours and got home just before dark, then I hung out, played my cello and did a little reading.

I went to my old boss’s retirement luncheon yesterday, and saw many old friends and co-workers there, which was strangely bittersweet (many were looking much older and less hale, and there was much talk of a vanishing past), and for the rest of the day I was kind of — not somber exactly, but maybe a little bit, maybe a bit nostalgic, a bit reflective, a bit “Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan?”

Today I was back on my game.

Kind of a mellow day: I got up and continued learning GNUCash while sampling some experimental croissants Anne made, got some easy chores done, dishes and laundry and so on, then rode over to volunteer at the Museum for a few hours — I got home just at dark. Finished some more chores, played my cello for a bit, and now I am back at the computer, listening to Polish Prog Rock over the internet. A nice day, a mellow day. It’s the simple things…