"August is a wicked month."--Edna O'Brien
Is August a wicked month? In my experience, all months have the potential for both elation and misery. I had my heart broken in an August many decades ago. August is also the month of my Mom's birthday, the birthdays of some close friends, and the month of fondly-recalled vacations in Missouri, California, Florida, England, and Spain.
Other months offer similar dichotomies. July of 2021 was my 37th wedding anniversary, and the 42nd anniversary of when one of my best friends killed himself. I got my ass kicked by something or someone in random June moments over the last 61 years, including the death of my mother-in-law, but it was also the month when my daughter was born. I'm sure there's something good to be said of April, even though my Dad passed in April of 2012. October holds Dad's birthday, my Goddaughter's birthday, the date when I first met my future wife, and it holds the memories of two consecutive Octobers, with my emergency back surgery and then the single most awful stretch of days I've ever experienced, followed by a third October when Dana suffered loss.
I can't blame the calendar. Life is what happens, and it happens until it doesn't happen anymore.
In this period of continued uncertainty, we can lose track of days, become weighted down by what was and what will be, and forget to appreciate the now. Granted, the now can be as bad as anything else ever. But, when it's possible, we try to hold on to the fleeting moments that are better, stronger, warmer, brighter. Last week, my wife and I had members of our family--siblings, cousins, our daughter and our soon-to-be son-in-law--over to our house, the sort of gathering we haven't had since well before the all-of-this of, y'know, all of this. It was a flash of joy, fixed in time, with laughter and love, congratulations and condolences. And pizza. Really good pizza. The world still awaited us when the day passed, but we had the day. The day is eternal.
I wish you all that day, however it can manifest in your world. Our world. For the day and the night and all the calendar's pages as they fly, we retain the wish and the hope, the bond, and the memory. And we spin a few records as life happens. Dance. Sing. Play. Or just listen. The calendar's not going anywhere. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on a Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
IN THREE WEEKS: On August 22nd, The Tenth Annual DANA'S FUNKY SOUL PIT! Mark that on your calendar.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
http://sparksyracuse.org/support/
https://carlcafarelli.blogspot.com/
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