Birthday Reflections at Age 69!
I was so into The Red Sox and World Series I forgot I turned 69 at the Midnight Hour— lol! Just got reminded by a couple of friends I’d grown a year older. So it goes …!
A ball player my whole life, and a former member of The Cambridge Tread Sox …
… The Red Sox winning the World Series is the best birthday gift for me in recent memory. Well, I did get a cherry pie a couple of times — lol! But special for me is I got to watch the entire series on television with Joe Castiglione (no Joe Buck — lol!) simultaneously as the radio announcer — this, in itself, was a gift since I never watch tv and haven’t seen a game all year.
Below, is the good luck photo of Ted Williams I posted online before the first pitch was thrown, and also posted again after Red Sox pitching struck out the last six Dodgers to win The Series!
Ted Williams, “The Splendid Splinter” has often been credited as the “purest” hitter in major league baseball. He played his entire 19-year career with The Sox. Sadly, he got to play in only one World Series — 1946 — and he had to play injured. Still, he got five hits and was walked five times in a losing bid as The Sox went down to The St. Louis Cardinals in Game Seven.
Anyway, back to my birthday. Please don’t feel like you’ve gotta send me Happy Birthday wishes. I’m psychic enough to know most folks wish me well and HB wishes not only take up your time, but they also gobble up lots of Facebook real estate — lol!
Through my first six years on Facebook I was diligent sending out HB wishes to all of my FB friends. But once I got over the 3,000 FB friend mark, I’ve become less able. Some of this has to do with me getting old, perhaps feeling a bit overwhelmed, but much of it also has to do with the way politics has evolved.
Indeed, the political scene has gone deep into the pits since before and after the 2016 election and I’ve gotten dragged into the pits as well. I mean it’s as bad or worse than it was during Nixon and the Vietnam War … and those years were horrific. Always a prolific political analyst and writer, the political climate has absorbed perhaps way too much of my time. It’s like I’m doomed ‘cause I know too much — lol!
But as all things are as they are in my life, music continues to rule! It has ruled my life since in 1969 I was one of about 700 people to first see Led Zeppelin at the ole’ Boston Tea Party on Berkeley Street, Boston. At mid-age, I finally taught myself how to play guitar and stayed on the scene pretty much as a back bench folksinger, doing only original songs. Finally, at age 62, like Dylan (lol), I went electric and put my first rock n’ roll band together.
So the best way to celebrate me getting old is to come to my November 2nd gig at The C-Note on Nantasket Beach (Hull, Mass.) …
… or check out my current band Climate Change, my former band The Rolling Beatles, or some solo tunes I’ve got placed on Facebook or YouTube. Getting old has enabled me to write lots of original songs over the years, probably the thing I do best.
https://www.youtube.com/user/RollingTheBeatle/videos
In closing, I offer my love and appreciation — my very best — to each of you … and I’ll end with a very rare cover tune in the spirit of letting everybody know that they’ve got to …
