By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, the mum blossoms on the plants on front porch will have grown from pea-sized to almost quarter-sized, maroon and yellow, and still have a ways to go before reaching their full potential. It might be that they are not in the direct sunlight most of the day. It might the cooler weather, but they are on their way.
And Sunday morning, Mary will have noticed that I have broken out my flannel winter robe, retiring the blue cotton one. It was bound to happen. I have been slipping a plaid flannel shirt on nights and mornings for that little extra bit of warmth already. The chill in the air, morning and evening, is refreshing. It still holds some magic for me, despite noticing that the tires on the car need air—at least that it what the indicator on the dashboard tells me.
It’s been a busy week with two evenings of candidacy forums—one I have yet to view because I haven’t clicked on the link—that forum was for council races, and sponsored by the Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce—and the second at St. Paul Catholic High School for mayoral candidates, which I attended. The latter started with a hitch, when the fire alarm went off. At first, I hadn’t realized that it was the fire alarm. I thought it was the buzzer which informed the speaker that they had gone beyond their two minutes. “Geez,” I thought, “the moderator is really taking things seriously with that buzzer.”
After a brief interlude, we all evacuated the building and waited for the firefighters to arrive and go through the building to ensure nothing was amiss, the debate went on as scheduled, with no more interruptions.
On Friday, at the invite of the oldest, I made my way to the New England Brewing Company in Woodbridge for a beer and some bbq, as part of an early dinner with one baby grandchild, parents and in-laws. We were hoping for a pizza truck so we could all eat dinner together. When the bbq truck showed up, they ordered pizza for later. Either way, I had myself a pulled pork sandwich and some mac and cheese, and I enjoyed the company—outside on another beautiful, sunny day.
Of note, Sunday morning while listening to the NPR Sunday Morning Puzzle my ears perked up when I heard that next week’s puzzle was submitted by Bristol native Mike Reiss, a puzzle aficionado, who has on several occasions shared puzzles. For his contribution, check out this link.
For this week’s reading/listening, here is a particularly challenging podcast from the Ezra Klein Show. Note: Klein is on paternity leave, so fellow New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie hosts. The podcast is titled, “Why does it have to be the slaveholders we unite around?” featuring Woody Holton, a historian at the University of South Carolina and leading scholar of America’s founding and the author of books on the period, including, most recently, “Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution.”
And last but not least, Bob’s Sports Chalet, right here in town, received two Reader’s Choice awards in the Shopping category of Connecticut magazine “Best Of” issue: Bob’s received Runner’s Up in 1) Sporting Goods and 2) Winter Sports Shop. Congrats!
Until next week!
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.