Long Black Veil

A musician friend, James Houlahan, posted this song on the Book of Faces:   The Band, "Long Black Veil" (youtube.com)   It immediately reminded me of the late, and in many ways, great Yana Sherman, who passed away so suddenly earlier this year. Yana, a long-time friend of mine from Storytelling, loved to tell "Long Black Veil" as a story. And she told it really well. The thing is, she was a teenager when the song first came out in 1959, and she was absolutely, totally, convinced that it was based on a traditional tale.

So I was amazed when I recently heard an interview on WUMB (91.9 FM) with Danny Dill, one of the song's writers. He described in detail how they came up with it. Apparently, they had three different sources of inspiration: an old Red Foley song, a newspaper account about an unsolved murder, and the mysterious veiled woman who used to visit Valentino's grave. (For more about this, see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Black_Veil .)

 

Since Popular Culture has been relentlessly strip mining the Traditional Canon, I feel that it is our sworn duty as Storytellers to reclaim as much as we can from Movies, TV, and Pop Music. I do it every chance I can, as did Yana. In this case, ironically, it turns out that the Songwriters were also good Storytellers. Although Yana was wrong about where the song came from, I wish she was still here with us, to tell her version, again and again.

 

Still Swimming Outdoors

Biked out to Walden Pond and swam again. Water very chilly at first, but got used to it. Hope this isn't the end of the outdoor swimming season, would like to make it into October.

 

Sunset Swim

Got in a late swim at Walden Pond. Only had a minute to dry off before the Rangers firmly but politely kicked me out. You can see the Moon, and its reflection, along the left-hand edge of the picture:

 

Throwback Thursday

Early post for "Throw-Back Thursday", since tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah. "Wayback Wednesday", anyone?

 

 

This is my 'Space Age' Zenith Clock Radio that I bought in the BX at Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, TX. It was either while I was in Basic Training in 1977, or at the Officer Training School in 1978. Have used it continuously ever since. Had it repaired once, by the really nice old guy who ran Huntington TV on RT 9 in Newton.

Penguin Pear

Annie posted this unusual-looking Pear on the Book of faces:

 

 

And then this appeared:

 

 

 "OMG, it's evolving right before our eyes!"
I wonder who could have done such a thing?

 

Wild Cucumber...

...Spotted in Woburn!

Back in January, 2013, I saw what looked like "Tree Sponges" while walking in the Conservation Land behind Horn Pond. Clearly, they were the dried, woody remains of some kind of plant growth. But what kind?

 

 

 

It wasn't until a few days ago, while walking on the same trail, that I finally saw them in the flesh, as it were. Spiky, green pods, hanging off of a climbing vine. "Tree Pickles," I thought, and I was pretty close. It turns out that this is 'Wild Cucumber', formally known as 'Echinocystis Lobata'. It's a member of the Squash family, and was reportedly prized by Native Americans for it's medicinal qualities.

It turns out that this is 'Wild Cucumber', formally known as 'Echinocystis Lobata'. It's a member of the Squash family, and was reportedly prized by Native Americans for it's medicinal qualities. A friend asked me if they were edible. The answer is, "No, not even if you're on an ultra-high-fiber diet." They are seed pods, and are actually quite light and fibrous, with 4 large, flat brown seeds inside:
 

 

Although this one does looks like some kind of a monocular deep-sea creature:

 

 

 

 

 

Trees

 

Yoga Pants for Lovecraft Fans

 

(Cthulhu courtesy of Alexander Liptak)

 

 

I Went Down, Down, Down

Just got back from a nice weekend at Rowe. Had a really nice bike ride for part of the way home. Annie dropped me off on RT 100 in Southern Vermont, and I rode down into Jacksonville, and then South on RT 112 (which runs through a very narrow river valley) all the way down into Colrain, MA. From there, I turned left onto the Greenfield Road and on up the very BIG hill. The road continues through some beautiful Orchard Country and ends at RT 2. I went East on RT 2 until just before the very steep downhill into Greenfield. Then it was time to put the bike on the rack, and head home. Still quite a treat!

 

 

It was only 21 miles, but it made having to leave and go home much more bearable. The big hill was actually Colrain Mountain. The road elevation rises about 600 feet in a mile and a half, which is just as steep as some Mountain Passes I've gone over out West.