By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have celebrated the oldest’s 38th birthday along with family and friends, a party which will be interrupted by rain, but even that wouldn’t really put a damper on the festivities. A feature of the party is that the oldest will manage the grill, a charcoal grill, no propane; one started with newsprint and that requires a bit of knowledge about grilling.
It is amazing to me that occasions like this are possible with all the madness of the world swirling around us—at least on one level. On another, why wouldn’t they be possible? Isn’t it for family and friends that we do what we do?
As the oldest’s father-in-law said, the party was at father- and mother-in-law’s place, “We do it for the kids, don’t we.” And of course, we do it for the grandkids, too.
So it was a pleasant afternoon, one in which we were reacquainted with friends who attended the famous Fortier summer backyard parties years ago, with piles of food and drink—and endless games involving ping pong balls—with college friends who traveled hours to get here. It was also a party, this time around in which I, perhaps, showed my age, since I called friends by the wrong names. (I was gently corrected by the oldest upon taking my leave, thank goodness. But, heck, what’s an honest mistake from time to time.)
One final note, we brought a couple dozen cupcakes from Bakery on Maple to the party, with some homemade macaroni salad and potato salad. According to the youngest, the cupcakes were the moistest and creamiest ever. Several guests took time to compliment the salads—which I was happy to hear since they were my contributions to the festivities.
(Note: the salad recipes are from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook that Mary and I received for a wedding gift. It’s seen better days—the binding is busted and pages loose—but it is still the cookbook of record around here.)
During the week, we did break out the air conditioners. A couple of them, anyhow. It appears the cold weather may have broken, and we are on the cusp of summer temperatures—even though it will not appear officially for a month. The temperature did instigate a long discussion about whether temperatures have gotten warmer, but more importantly, what did people in the early 20th century do when temps hit 100 degrees.
This week my reading was mostly from The Atlantic, The New York Times and The New Yorker. Podcasts were rarer. (Seems I am getting behind, but I will give myself a pass.) I turned to an old favorite, Robert Harrison’s Entitled Opinions, with the title, “Letter writing: A Media Revolution with Chloe Summers Edmonson.”
No, letter writing is not coming back, at least not in the way some of us might remember, but this podcast covers letter writing in 17th century France and the start of a modern revolution in communication with advances to the postal system in France. It’s a bit of a nerdy discussion. At the same time, it is revelatory when it comes to discussing our own communication revolution with social media et al.
Interesting note! Back then, people paid money, not to send letters but to receive them. The author/philosopher Rousseau, who had just published a best-selling book, took out an advertisement asking people to stop sending him letters because the costs were piling up.
Have a good 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
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