Of all the seasons, summer is the best,
Vacation time, when one should play and rest,
Enjoying to the fullest, nature’s charms
Amid the lakes, the woods, the hills, and farms.”å“Summer” by Ernest Jack Sharpe
The heat from the weekend had Hubby outside on Sunday with his
garden hose trying to replenish the moisture being taken from the plants. Our coral-colored rose bush now has five blossoms. There is a lipstick-red rose blooming near our side stairs. One of the small rose bushes at the front of the house has a few blossoms on it. Hubby, cleaning parts of the cellar, found a box of rose food. He brought it outside and will give each of the bigger bushes a handful of rose food on or about the first of each month. That is a good date, so he doesn’t over feed or under feed the bushes.
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As it came closer to July15, we became excited about the Dorothy Curran (Wednesday Evening) Concerts on City Hall Plaza. The first of this year’s four concerts was to be the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra, conducted by Paul McBride. Pal Eileen Collins had assured us that the city would provide a bus to take us to the concert.
Wednesday’s weather was not the best. It was raining on and off all day. But it was not raining about 5 p.m. so the city decided to chance having the outdoor performance. It was just sprinkling a little as we stood or sat waiting in front of St. Brendan’s church for the bus. Just about 5:30 p.m., the bus came down Gallivan Blvd. Our pals from Lower Mills were seated in the first rows and greeted us as we came aboard. By the time we stopped at the Keystone Senior Apartments, the bus was probably 80 percent full.
We arrived in town fairly quickly, even though there was a U2 concert at the TD Bank Garden. There were far fewer seats set up for us seniors because of the weather. Most of the little ladies on our bus took seats near the stage. We taller people took our usual seats near the back of the plaza. We spotted Mayor Marty Walsh sitting with a family up on one of the steps surrounding the plaza. He was called up to the stage to open the concert.
Elderly Commissioner Emily Shea spoke a few words after greeting all the seniors sitting near the stage. Then it was time for the musicians in the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra to come on stage. The young people kept coming out and out, carrying their instruments. I think there were about 75 musicians, the most I have ever seen on a stage. I don’t believe the Boston Pops Orchestra has that many musicians. They finally finished sitting down. I am sure they wished that the stage were larger.
Then the conductor, Paul McBride, came to the podium. We could follow along with the evening’s program because we had all been given a beautiful program. The first selection the orchestra played was America’s national anthem. Of course, we all stood. The men took off their baseball caps. The next selection was “Symphony No. 5 in D Minor,” by Shostakovich. They also played “Danny Boy (some of us even sang along with the words). The next was “Festival Overture,” also by Shostakovich. The next, “Overture to William Tell,” by Rossini. That was followed by “Danzon No. 2,” by Marquez.
Then the rain started, with sprinkles, at first, then heavier. Up went the umbrellas and on went the ponchos. Then, we saw the buses that had brought us in town, which were parked on the other side of the plaza, begin to move. We knew it was to pick us up and take us home. We were sorry to leave City Hall because it was nice being outside, even for a short time. Only the rain spoiled the evening. On the bus, daughter Sue reminded us that “tonight is the first new episode of the season of ‘The Wahlbergers.’” By the way, the Belfast Youth Orchestra was to play a free concert at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton the following Friday evening, July 17.
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On Thurs., July 16, Hubby, pal Eileen Burke, and I drove to Canton to attend the monthly Mass at the Irish Pastoral Centre. It must have been vacation week because traffic moved beautifully along Route 128. When we came in, our friend Tess came over to write our nametags. Pals Lucy and Ann joined us soon after. We were delighted to see Fr. John McCarthy, our Irish chaplain, putting on his vestments to say Mass. When he spoke during the Mass, he told us that he had been home for a few weeks with his brother who had to do work on his house. His brother’s saw broke and then his car wouldn’t start. When they returned to his brother’s home, they first went outside for a walk. They came to a certain tree and his brother stopped. He touched the tips of several branches. “This is my Trouble Tree. I leave one trouble on each branch. Troubles don’t belong in the house. I pick up my troubles the next morning but there never seems to be as many as I put there the night before.” We all loved the story. Father John told us to cast off our worries because they just weigh down our minds. He urged us to cast off our troubles on the “Tree of the Cross,” in other words, “cast off your troubles on ‘Him.’” Fr. John also asked that we pray for the Irish students who were killed in the balcony collapse in Berkeley, CA. There will be no August Mass when the staff of the Centre will be on their vacations. The next Mass and luncheon will be Thurs., Sept. 17, with Mossie Coughlin providing the music. We ended this luncheon with a loud round of applause for our pal Angela Durkin, who gathers up the items for the three gift bags, which are given as prizes for the raffle each month.
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This thought is very appropriate for the summer season: “Why did our money run out before our vacation was over?”
