12 /17
We returned from Portsmouth NH last night. We spent two and a half days there. It is a charming and very lively old seaport established in the first half of the 1600s. The old center of town has many colonial and early federal buildings and a sort of museum district called Strawberry Banke.
We had a fine time seeing a dramatization of Dicken's Christmas Carol and listening to Carolers ( not anywhere as talented as the A Cappella or other choral ensembles at Ridge) and an excellent folk singing group called "Great Bay Sailor" singing some Celtic and seafaring at Strawberry Banke.
Lot's of craft and other shops and an extraordinary number of place to eat and drink. Portsmouth is now well known for microbrews including Smuttynose ales and lagers.
Coming home was slow going with icy roads and some overly cautious drivers ( and one not very cautious driver who went off the road and caused a minor traffic delay as he got hauled out of the woods). A stop at a friend's house for dinner was a very enjoyable break in the drive.
all below from 12/ 13
1) Went to see Lincoln yesterday. It was a powerful movie with great performances, but the most powerful part of it to me was the conflict between the two seemingly irresistible choices , one ending a bloody war nearly immediately, the other: prolonging the war but ending the practice of slavery.
I hope none of us have to face choosing between two such compelling and conflicting alternatives.
Hope you all have great and joyous holidays. Spend time doing the important things with the people to whom you really matter.
2) We have been following our grand daughter's choral career. Last night was the seventh grade orchestra and choral concert. The Amherst Middle School auditorium can only accommodate one class at a time. They were not bad for seventh graders. I do miss the Ridge concerts and the wealth of talent they displayed.
3) Almost another two weeks gone by, wow. We are in the middle of Hannukah and nearly into winter. My wife gave me a set of Vivaldi choral music CDs music that I first heard at a Ridge choral concert and sometimes sounds more angelic than human.
The weather has been mild by western Massachusetts hills standards. I don't think we've dipped into the teens yet and there have been fair number of bright
sunny days along with some really dismal foggy ones.
I've been working on furniture, starting to build a mahogany china cabinet to replace the handy man style built-in in our dining room. I decided that the doors should have a bead molding around the panels. Then I decided the doors should have quarter circle internal corners. That meant figuring out how to make a bead on a quarter circle. It took me two days to figure how to do it and it still takes me nearly an hour to make one. I need eight. I'll post some photos as I progress.
I've been working on furniture, starting to build a mahogany china cabinet to replace the handy man style built-in in our dining room. I decided that the doors should have a bead molding around the panels. Then I decided the doors should have quarter circle internal corners. That meant figuring out how to make a bead on a quarter circle. It took me two days to figure how to do it and it still takes me nearly an hour to make one. I need eight. I'll post some photos as I progress.
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