Take My Money!!

I have no idea where in the countdown to Christmas we are in terms of days left but, and feel free to thank me now, I have found the gift you can give to that complete tosser of a human being for whom no words have yet been found that adequately capture their degree of uselessness. 

Of course, and this is the downside of your grand gesture, the gift that will not only keep on giving but will also live on in infamy for at least a half-hour or so is kinda pricey. Wanted to tell you that before telling you what it is, but decided instead of telling you, to let the folks hawking it make their appeal directly to you and your wallet. 

And there's so much more where that comes from you'll wish it could be Christmas every day, but your bank balance will be grateful that it's not.
-bill kenny

So I Will Light a Candle for You

In twenty-six days, 2021 ends. 

I'm not sure I'm fully grasping that realization even as I type that line. This has been another year I've been forced to concede the face in the mirror has aged and that the man behind the face hasn't nearly as many springs left as he thought he had and more on point, has squandered, rather than saved, those moments of meaning he thought would come along again as easily as they did the first time. 

I've felt a little more keenly the dullness of the ache in the pit of my stomach and shocked realization of regret that the next time can be the last time always brings with it as a constant companion. Like so many over these past twelve months, I've blinked at critical moments and lost sight of the important ones in the rush of the real as the latter became surreal and unreal before disappearing by the dawn's early light. 

This was another year I made a lot of changes and vowed to sort myself out. And here it is, having nearly run its course and my still-to-do list looks a lot like what it was when I started on it as the year was beginning. 

I find no solace or consolation in the realization that the next year will be over even faster than this one, with, I fear, even less to show for it as the distance already traveled never equals the distance yet to go. I'm exhausted, physically and emotionally, and feel like I'm running through soup and sand, my feet never quite lifting from and clearing the ground, as each stride is a broken parody of what it once was with my arms pushing through chilling air I can taste rather than feel. 

Sic transit humanitas.

This was to be the year we were to do, we were to talk, we were to live large, and to just be. And what happened? We allowed so many others, maybe too many others (who've already given up on their dreams) to creep in as poor players and poison what wells of hope we'd held for ourselves.

Our sense of adventure and excited curiosity has been replaced by dread as the days draw down and the year nears its end. The toast we'll make for much success in the new year assumes both will exist but accepts the implication that neither is promised. But it's what's next that will keep me awake.

-bill kenny

Thinking 'bout Joanie's Kid Sister

My mom came from a big family. There was an older sister, Ann, and then there was my mom, and then John, and Jim and much later Paul and finally Clare.  

Ann was an artist, a painter, and a good one. John was a Korean War hero. Jim was my hero growing up. Paul was far away in California and Clare was bold, brassy, and larger than life and, before she met her husband, John, our family's equivalent of a celebrity when she was a Radio City Music Hall Rockette. 

This made me think of her and smile, and I think she would've liked that. A lot.
-bill kenny

Supertramp Were So Close, Yet So Far

 "Could we have kippers for breakfast

Mummy dear, Mummy dear.

They got to have 'em in Texas

'Cos everyone's a millionaire."

Adds a whole new meaning to Grand Slam, now doesn't it, Brad?
-bill kenny

Walt Was Not Amused

When you wander around online unsupervised for the amount of time every day that I do, you stumble across things that make you go 'I did not know that.' 

This does a little more than just that. 

I should've suggested that you might want to cover your eyes. Sorry.
-bill kenny 

A Different Theory of Relativity

Today is my oldest younger sister's birthday. 

I sometimes find it hard to keep track of all of my siblings' birthdays but it happens most especially with hers because I, myself, was so young when she was born. Of course, I concede she, too, was young at that time, and has probably remembered it just fine, thank you.

When we were very small (heads at about the height that whacked dining room tables when you cut corners too closely as you ran around the house) I used to call her "Boss in charge of the Dog." I don't think I ever actually did that in front of the dog, or better phrased, dogs, as from the earliest age, she was an animal lover while I only liked them at mealtime usually with mustard and pickle relish.

It's been a long time since we were that small (though emotionally I've reminded one of the tinier people you'll ever meet) and changes, both good and bad have happened as they do along the way and sometimes even in the way in the journey from there to right here and now. 

Evan has a lot on her plate these days (indeed, who doesn't, right?) and enough wishes and worries, hopefully in equal number to allow her to sail through the holiday season all the way into the next and New Year. 

Where (and when), fingers crossed, even better days await. Happy Birthday, Evan!
-bill kenny

A Chance to Light Up More than City Hall

As of midnight, this is the last month of 2021. Considering how hopeful so many were at its start, perhaps most will neither mourn nor miss it when it’s over. Sometimes we're in such a rush to get to what's next and new, we overlook or undervalue moments we could and should savor. 

We had just such a moment this past holiday weekend which I hope you had a chance to enjoy. Hopefully, no one was so busy with all the details of the Thanksgiving Day meal, the football games, and the frenzied shopping rush afterward to not appreciate the efforts of friends and neighbors from across the city for Sunday's Winterfest Parade. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: best parade ever (because it was).

But as the late-night TV commercials insist, ‘Wait! There’s more!’ As indeed there is, the return of another holiday tradition suspended last year because of COVID-19 and precautions, this Friday’s Light Up City Hall, beginning at five. 

We may not agree on any aspect of government in Norwich, and that's our good right, but I'm sure we would agree that our City Hall is a gem, and when it's dressed up for the winter holidays, surrounded by throngs of happy faces and singers of seasonal songs, it's absolute magic and that's what we should have this Friday. If you’ve stopped by City Hall after dark during holidays past, you know there are no words to capture how lovely it looks this time of year. So get ready to enjoy.  

As seen last year

The great thing about our holiday celebrations is they are very much community events in every sense of the word. People just like the ones who live on your street or on my block band together months and more in advance to work on the hundreds and thousands of individual threads that, when woven together, create the colorful and memorable tapestries we'll tell our children and grandchildren about  

Memories are moments such as these and we are fortunate to have so many selfless and kindhearted friends and neighbors willing to share of themselves for all of us to enjoy. Whether you marched in Sunday's parade or were part of the sidewalk cheerleading crew; are planning to help countdown the light-up of City Hall (or vice versa) or helped to make any of it possible, thank you! You’re why Norwich is a great place to live.

There's so much holiday happiness right now that I feel kinda-Grinchy pointing out both happiness and hunger start with "h" and one in eight people living in our state struggle with hunger every day. Here in Norwich, a little more than 15% of us live at or below the poverty level, which means for those of us who aren't, we probably have family or friends who are.

And for those struggling, and often failing, to get by, hunger doesn't take a holiday, but we can each help those whom it affects. There are agencies and outreaches we all know who will welcome any donation of time, talent, or treasure we make. 

You could visit www.ctfoodbank.org and not only make a difference but be the difference between another December and a real holiday season for someone in need.
-bill kenny