dailyprompt

The music of Prince Edward Island (Canada)

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What was the last live performance you saw?
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There’s nothing quite like live music and theater performances.

The most recent concert I attended was Emma’s Revolution last weekend. I wrote about it on Sunday for a different prompt: A unique brand

A couple weeks before that, we saw an amazing fiddler from Prince Edward Island—Cynthia Macleod. She performed with Gordon Belsher— a PEI-based guitar player. They were fantastic together. So fun and SO good. It was impossible to sit still while they played.

Between songs, they told stories of PEI, especially the “kitchen parties.” On PEI, in the cold months (which is most of them), people gather in the warmest room of the house (the kitchen) and sing, play, stomp and clap til all hours.

One of the best parts of the night was seeing the joy on the faces of the two musicians. They were working really hard, but you could tell that they absolutely loved what they were doing. The audience could feel their joy and reflected it back to them. The energy created by the interplay was undeniable. That’s the magic of live performance.

Cynthia Macleod and Gordon Belsher
Believe it or not, they can play even faster than this, but you get the idea.

Taxes

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

What do you do to be involved in the community?

I’m part of a few different communities, but as for the town itself, I mainly vote and pay taxes—lots of taxes.

In fact, I just voted to increase my own taxes to help fund the schools and other municipal services. In Massachusetts, we call that “a Proposition Two and a Half Override.” I have no idea why.

We’ll find out tonight if the override passed.

My feeling is that even though my kids are done with the schools, I want current students to have what they need. But these tax increases are very tough on elderly people with fixed incomes. I see both sides.

A unique brand

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

What are your favorite brands and why?

I got to see Emma’s Revolution perform live last night. They’re a duo (Pat Humphries and Sandy O) with a long history of combining performance and activism for various causes particularly anti-war movements, climate and environment, and women’s and LGBTQ rights. Last night they were performing with two other women (about ten years older than them) who are also folk music icons: Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers. They all sounded great. It was a powerful quartet. Their songs are poignant, yet hopeful. We (the audience) learned that a documentary is currently in production about Emma’s Revolution. I can’t wait to see it. Pat Humphries is a tremendous songwriter and last night she played the song that “changed everything” for them—Swimming to the Other Side.

They sell their own merchandise at intermission and have no obvious corporate sponsorships or affiliations of any kind. They perform mostly in Unitarian churches, coffeehouses, and small nonprofit venues.

So, what’s their “brand”?

I don’t really know (just trying to bring it back to the prompt).

Clearly, they’re on the left politically.

They’re white and so is their audience (mostly), but they frequently reference icons of the civil rights movement like John Lewis and nonwhite immigration/refugee activists.

They’re acoustic (although they come with a lot of amps and sound equipment).

They’re good. Like really good. They’re total pros. They sing and play beautifully. They make it look easy, but it’s not. In addition to playing songs, folk musicians build a true rapport with their live audiences. They tell personal stories and anecdotes while they tune their instruments between songs. Again, not easy.

That’s all I got. Go see them on their next tour, if you can. Actually, you can see them tonight (from Schenectady) if you buy a ticket to the livestream.

My Advisors

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments
Daily writing prompt
List the people you admire and look to for advice…
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#1) ME! I pay attention to my instincts and tend to value my own wisdom. I’ve got 58 years worth of life experience. Sometimes great revelations hit me late at night, frequently after smoking marijuana. Weed and writing both help me gain clarity.

I was recently honored to be nominated for my church’s Standing Committee. It’s the 6-member executive team that is responsible for all of the organization’s business affairs, including the annual budget and managing the staff. It’s validating, because it shows that other people respect my wisdom and judgment too.

#2) MY HUSBAND. He’s smart and he doesn’t panic. He’s very good at giving advice on medical concerns (i.e. it’s fine; you’ll be fine; I’ve had that; it’s nothing, etc) and occasionally gives good input on fashion (i.e. I like the red one better). It took him awhile to learn this, but he usually knows when the best advice is just to listen and not give any advice. IF I wanted advice on how to get physically stronger, I would ask him, because he knows a lot about it, but I’m way too lazy for lifting weights. He’s also a reader. In my opinion, people who read books tend to give good advice.

Some years ago, I would’ve put my parents on this list, but I don’t typically seek their advice these days.

My kids are getting better at advice-giving as they get older, especially my daughter who is basically a professional advice-giver through her astrology business.

My son is good for one-off tech tips like “try turning it off and on.”

The Standing Committee is also responsible for managing our beautiful, historic church building, erected in 1841.

Inside is an absolutely stunning, classic New England sanctuary in the Greek Revival architectural style. Services are online every Sunday at 10am (EST) here. Check us out, especially if you’re not “religious” and think traditional church is not for you. Atheists welcomed. We are a member congregation of the UUA. 🌈 ☮️ 💓 🌎 🎶

I vote so we can keep it

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Do you vote in political elections?
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National, statewide and local elections are all important. I always vote. I have a couple of friends who are very involved in town affairs. Sometimes I reach out to them before local elections. They advise me on who to vote for, when I’m unfamiliar with the candidates. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you have friends who share your values, you can ask them how to vote.

On the federal level in the United States, it’s all on the line in November. For those who missed the exceedingly well-researched TIME magazine cover story on how far Trump would go in a second term, here it is.

I hope voter turnout in November is huge and that people don’t waste their votes on third party candidates (or that creepy Kennedy who hates vaccines). Yes, Joe Biden is very old, but he’s the only candidate with a realistic chance of preventing an “imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.”

King Donald: This is not what the founders had in mind.

On September 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was 81 years old and in terrible pain from gout and kidney stones. After hashing it out for more than two weeks (seven hours per day), he finally convinced thirty-nine convention delegates to sign the Constitution of the United States, with just three delegates refusing. (It would still need to be ratified by the states.)

At the end of the day, they all went out to dinner at the City Tavern in Philly. Delegate McHenry (Maryland) wrote a diary entry describing a conversation between Franklin and Elizabeth Willing Powel who said, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Benjamin Franklin responded:

“A republic, if you can keep it.”

Source

The Room Where It Happened:
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, where both the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1787) were signed

Related post:

Nervous about November

A useful quote that does not involve God

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
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As a former Catholic, I’m not into biblical quotes. I prefer my inspirational quotes from sources other than scripture.

I happen to like “This Too Shall Pass.” Apparently, it is of Persian origin (the Sufi poets) and Abraham Lincoln once used it in a speech.

It’s especially useful when you’re lying in the dentist’s chair or having any type of medical procedure. I think all dentists should have it painted on their ceilings.

Rain Camping

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?
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Yes, I have been camping. And not just regular camping, but hike-up-a-mountain-with-everything-on-your back-and-sleep-in-a-tent-in-the-rain camping.

In addition, I have taken young children camping—also in the rain.

Anyone can camp in good weather. The misery of hiking, cooking and sleeping outside in the rain requires fortitude.

WordPress, I demand an A+ on this assignment!

White Mountains, New Hampshire, 1991
Kids do not care if it rains while you’re camping. They think it’s fun to eat dinner in their sleeping bags.

Related post:

Beach v Mountains

Nonfiction

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
When do you feel most productive?
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I feel productive when I finish a nonfiction book. Not a memoir mind you, but a real nonfiction book about history or ideas. I’m a fan of novels, so reading nonfiction feels a bit like school—a completed assignment.

Recently, I finished The Persuaders—a NYT bestseller by the American journalist Anand Giridharadas. It’s been on my list for a long time due to recommendations from friends who are more serious activists than me. I wouldn’t say I loved it, but it gave me some things to think about.

In 2022, I read a nonfiction book by the American journalist Mark Leibovich, who now writes for The Atlantic. Leibo is actually an old friend of mine from my post-college party years so I tend to read his stuff. I think he’s hysterical. I enjoyed every single word of his bestseller Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump’s Washington and the Price of Submission. Highly recommend. It was an amazing poolside read. Even better with wine.

Related post:

Novel Lessons