"Clams aren't all that's baking.
Temperature records are breaking."
-Old Farmers Almanac

Boston did have a heat wave this week, three days of temps 90 degrees or over. We have an air conditioner in our bedroom. As long as we can sleep, we will make it though the hot days. Hubby did have trouble sleeping on Sunday evening. He thought the air conditioner was too loud. I think there is a setting that makes the noise more quiet. I must read the booklet that came with the machine.

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On Wed., Aug. 5, Hubby and I were at St. Brendan Church waiting for the bus sent by the city of Boston to take our group of seniors in to City Hall Plaza for the Dorothy Curran Wednesday Evening concert. Daughter Sue joined us this evening. This was a special one because the singer was Michael Dutra. If you closed your eyes, you would believe you were listening to Frank Sinatra. The bus came down Gallivan Blvd. and stopped in front of the church. The door opened and we saw James, our favorite school bus driver. It was he who had to put up with the disabled bus the previous week on an extremely hot evening that none of us will ever forget. This evening, there wasn’t too much traffic and we were in town very quickly.

We found our usual seats up near the back of the plaza. Hubby is tall and our little ladies have trouble seeing around him so we sit up back. Hubby went over to Faneuil Hall as he usually does. As I sat listening to the music coming from the stage, I saw someone I knew come in way up front. It was Mel Simons. (Thank goodness he is six feet, one inch tall, hard to miss!) Mel was holding the arm of the man who was with him. I found out it was his pal Kenny Meyer. (Kenny is blind.) I have heard Kenny on WBZ-Radio often enough to recognize his name. As soon as they were seated, I went down to greet them. Mel showed me his arm. He had fallen on the way to the concert. He thought he had just hurt his leg but Eileen Collins, who organizes our concert trips, told him that he had a very long cut on his arm. Eileen, who had been a health care worker, knew that he needed the dirt washed out of the cut. The gash could easily become infected. One of the workers from the Elderly Commission found some alcohol wipes and Band-aids. Sad to say, there were no EMTs on the plaza that evening as there had been the previous week. In the meantime, daughter Sue had gone to see Mel when she heard he had been hurt. (Mel and she are great Beatles fans.) She ended up putting Band-aids on his long cut. We had heard that Mel was going to appear on Morgan White Jr.’s radio show on WBZ the following Saturday evening. At 10 p.m., we were out in the kitchen, listening to WBZ. We heard Mel mention that he had fallen and hurt his leg while going to a concert. On the air, he thanked those who had helped him.

Then it was time for the concert to begin. “The Strictly Sinatra Band” began to play. They started with Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood,” which got us in a terrific mood for great music. Then I thought I was listening to Ron Della Chiesa’s Sunday evening All-Sinatra show on Radio Station EASY 99.1 FM. Michael came out, looking very much like “Old Blue Eyes,” complete with a rakish hat. His first songs made us think Sinatra: “Fly Me to the Moon,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “Nice and Easy Does It,” and “Summer Wind.” The next song reminded me of the movie version of “Guys and Dolls,” when Sinatra, playing Nathan Detroit, sang “Luck, Be a Lady Tonight.” Then Michael sang one of my favorite songs, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” (I love the rhythm of that song.) Then Michael sang “In the Still of the Night,” and “In the Wee Small Hours.” He also sang Sinatra’s theme song, “That’s Life.”
Michael was only a little more than half finished with his Sinatra repertoire. He then sang “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Where or When,” “One For My Baby,” “Mack, the Knife,” “My Way,” (of course) and “I’m Gonna Live ‘Til I Die.” Michael must have sung for almost an hour and a half. He was just wonderful. We were all so pleased when we got back on the bus. We agreed that this was a great night of music!
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Last Saturday afternoon, Daughter Sue and I drove out to the Elks Hall in North Attleborough for the wedding shower of Hubby’s grandniece Ashley. On the way, we detoured to Brockton to pick up Hubby’s sister Peg, Ashley’s Nana. It was bright day, although a little too warm. As we walked into the hall, we were greeted by Hubby’s nephew Steve’s wife Judi, the mother of the bride-to–be. She looked beautiful in her orange-colored long dress, topped by an orange-colored crocheted shrug. We wanted Peg to see well so we sat at one of the front tables. On the tables, there was a small, navy-colored mesh bag, with silver Hershey kisses and silver “Christmas-tree” icicles inside at each seat. The table centerpiece was a navy Mason jar, with a handle. Inside the jar were two gorgeous red roses and some asters, I think, with a bow on the outside.

We weren’t there too long when my daughter Jeanne and granddaughter Erin came in and sat with us. Jeanne, Erin, and Sue had collaborated on a gift: a large bag filled with all types of household goods. (These gifts can also be put in a cardboard box.) Inside was an item for each letter of the alphabet. Ashley pulled the ribbon and out popped the item for letter A, an apron; then there was J, for a juicer; then S, for straws, F for facecloths, and R, for a small rug. Ashley was floored by all the items she received. If she needs something around her new apartment, it most likely will be in the Alphabet Bag. (By the way, a kite was the item for the letter K. Who doesn’t need a kite in the kitchen!) The letter X was for X-tra absorbent sponges and the letter Z was Ziploc Bags. It was a wonderful gift. The rest of the gifts she received were positively wonderful.

The food was terrific. The buffet was arranged on tables on the left side of the room. There were chicken and eggplant parms, lasagna, meatballs, and a lovely salad. Judi had magnificent cupcakes with at least an inch of frosting on top for one of the desserts. There were also assorted small pastries. Judi kindly chose our table (the one with the elderly guests) to go first to the buffet.

Judi had made at least five prizes for the guests. One was a wire basket, with excelsior lining the bottom, that was filled with Bath & Body Works products. (How I would have loved that one!) Daughter Jeanne won a basket with all kinds of coffee products, and even a small electric coffee pot included! She was thrilled. Another person won a basket because she knew questions about Ashley and her fiancé, Kurt, like: “How many years did they go together? It was eight years! This personal questions’ basket was won by Ashley’s aunt, who knew most of those answers. I didn’t even get a chance with the gift baskets; I only knew a couple of the answers. Finally, before we left, Mom Judi announced that the pretty floral centerpieces would go to the person at each table with the closest birthday to the wedding. I was thrilled. My birthday is the day before the wedding on Sept. 19. I was thrilled to receive the flowers; they lasted more than a week. We took “Nana Peg” home to Brockton and were home by almost 6 p.m. What a pleasant afternoon!

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Eileen Collins called to say that her nephew, Christopher Sullivan, became engaged to Susan Pimentel last week. They will be married in the fall of 2016. There will be more about their wedding plans next week.
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Here is a very wise hint from gardening expert Paul Parent, who broadcast on the radio for many years: With Boston at least five inches below in rainfall this year, he recommends that a gardener turn on the hose to a trickle. Let the water seep into the soil for about a half hour to keep the trees and shrubs healthy.