November 20, In Retrospect

Charing Cross 375
Lynedoch Crescent D 225
Finnieston 126
Sign - Never Leave Safe

Ahh, 2009. By this date we’d encountered our first Bonfire Night, and the charred circle in the grass – which was a permanent scar and was only camouflaged by the snow a while later – was the aftermath. Bonfire night can be such a fun, neighborhood night; despite frigid temps, cold, and fog, tons of people are out and about, chatting around a bonfire, watching the fireworks, catching up with the neighbors. It’s not always that PG, but we’ll just discard the memories which include herds of thugs, emptied bottles and noisome puddles the morning after…

By 2009, we had been living in the flat on Lynedoch Crescent for about 7 months, and still loved the area. We hadn’t yet had more than a dusting of snow that winter, although the darkness was certainly moving in on us by then. D. was still slaving through his schoolwork and working at Skypark, and encountering many things T. on his walk to/from work that T. wished he wouldn’t photograph (he had an “abandoned mattress” sighting thing going until T. finally convinced him to stop). A strange concept, to American minds, was the concept of delivery people leaving things safe. Apparently to “leave safe” means it’s OK to drop off a delivery next to the door or somewhere out of the way, and some people object to this (as evinced by the sign). We thought many times of putting up just such a sign, since often delivery drivers wouldn’t bother to ring the bell, and instead would just leave boxes outside of the flat…in the rain. Yes. Color us cranky.

(We’re grateful for our covered porch on this date in 2012, because the postman here does the same thing… as we don’t use the front door much, we often miss seeing his little leavings. T. periodically opens the door just to check, and this morning, found a pile of packages on the stairs. Since we have both a cow bell AND a doorbell, T. is wondering how she could have missed him heralding this latest delivery!! :sigh: People are doorbell averse, the world over, it seems. And, apparently also averse to taking just one more step to ensure that the packages are out of the wet. :grump:)

Paisley Abbey 07 Paisley Abbey 12 HDR
Paisley Abbey 14 Paisley Abbey 18 HDR
Paisley Abbey 23 Paisley Abbey 24

On this date in 2010 we were just getting ready for our first concert in Paisley Abbey. What a phenomenal space! If you have a chance to visit the Abbey grounds someday, do. We recall this concert differently; we sang the Fauré, and T. remembers mainly fretting about the treble pitches (it’s so glorious a sound, in a cathedral with an orchestra, but so easy to hear echoes and go flat). D. recalls it all as wonderful, even though the organist’s wee harmonium kept slipping from him as he pumped the bellows, so he arrived at a space several feet away from where he started by the time the concert was done (that was amusing to watch). We were also, T. recalls, late to the dress rehearsal because we got lost, and both of us were freezing and slightly soppy, on account of the wind and the icy rain (there was sand underfoot, we recall, for the ice). Ah, precious memories. ☺

The past steps into the present — we sang with our church chorus this past weekend – twenty singers vs. the ninety-eight we had at Paisley – and yet, the feeling of being part of something bigger than oneself remains. It’s comforting, that wherever we are, music is the same. In this way, we continue to piece together bits of who we were in the past with who we are now. And the wheel goes ’round again.

-D & T

4 Replies to “November 20, In Retrospect”

  1. One of my neighbors who gets regular UPS deliveries on her porch failed to bring in some boxes. That was enough of a sign for the robbers to know she was gone to collect all her boxes and enter her house to help themselves to a few more things. Now I feel like I have OCD the way I constantly check my porch.

  2. I love this post. The ending made me smile and think of similar experiences I have had dancing. The connection to those we dance, sing and create art with is powerful. The way you describe how your experiences singing bring your past selves to meet the present is lovely. Thanks for sharing!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.