Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene came through the area this weekend. It didn't do nearly as much damage as we were expecting (although Connecticut and Vermont seem to have suffered some pretty serious casualties). Aside from a lot of leaves and branches on the ground, it turned out to be little more than a windy, rainy day. A good day to stay in, bake cookies, eat (organic) junk food, and catch Jess up on the first season of Torchwood and the second season of the new Doctor Who. She's still dealing with the departure of Christopher Eccleston, but between her roommate and I, we'll make a Whovian out of her yet.
In all, the weekend was pretty great. We started out by catching Great Big Sea outdoors at Boarding House Park in Lowell on Friday. Great night for a show, and a terrific performance by those guys, as always. Alan Doyle is one of the best front men I've ever seen, and the whole band always seems to be having a great time. Saturday was spent stocking up and getting a haircut (not to mention taking note of my 90 days without a drink), then trekking down to Cranston to visit my friend Kevin Borowski at his tattoo shop, Iron Hand Tattoo. I haven't seen Kevin in about 18 years, and since then he's developed a very good reputation as an artist, specializing in traditional style ink. I definitely need to go down there and get something from him, if I can get an appointment (The guy he was working on told us he had to wait three months for an appointment. Hopefully there's a separate list for former band mates...).
So riding out the storm was the order of the day Sunday, and we did it fairly well in my humble opinion. It's usually easy when it's right there in front of you, and you can see the wind and the rain. Other types of storms are not so easy to ride out. I'm talking, of course, about the ones in your mind, whether they be because of depression, finances, addiction, or whatever other non-meteorological cause. Navigating the various gales and high tides of a psychological storm requires a team effort most of the time. I'm not talking about professional health care providers, although those definitely do help. I mean the people around you. The ones you see and spend time with and confide in and love every day.
This weekend, the Gobshites head back up to the Catskills to play at the Blackthorne, as we do every Labor Day weekend. You may remember that, last time we were there, I hit my jackpot with alcohol. This time around, I'll be 96 days sober, and playing better than I have in a long time. There will be plenty of temptation around me, so I guess that's a storm that I'll have to sail through. But it'll be much much easier this time around, thanks to the crew of folks I have around me. Let the hooley begin...
1 comment:
congrats on 90 days cuz! Catch a meeting while you are up in the Catskills if you can. I love going to meetings all over when I travel. It's great to introduce yourself as a visitor and listen to the locals. It is a great way to sneak away for an hour and get some medicine! Love ya, Diane
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