Christmas for Kate

Click image for YouTube Playlist ...

Every year since at least 2006 I've made a CD playlist for Kate. Lately I've made these playlists available on iTunes and YouTube. Often times the playlist is packed with memories of places we've been, bands and artists we've seen or simply little love songs that move me and help me express how I feel about Kate. 

These days I still make a CD even though it's a struggle (my new laptop and our new car doesn't even have a CD player!) and we play music more often than not through streaming services. I never thought CD's would become "old school" but there we are. 

This year the playlist has a lot of old songs and only a few released this year by new favorites. Here's a track list with a bit of an explanation for each tune.

1. "One Good Year" by Slaid Cleaves (2000). We really like him and have been fortunate to see him play at the Saxon Pub in Austin. This song has quite a melancholic feel but, like him, having suffered through these awful pandemic times we can only hope for one good year.
2. "Another Like You" by Hayes Carll (2011). Another Texas artist who we have seen in Austin. This ribald duet reminds me of Kate, but I am "Wilder Than Her."
3. "Trudy" by Tyler Childers (2022). We watched a streaming benefit for the Hill Country Youth Orchestra (Kerrville, TX) with Robert Earl Keene and Tyler Childers. Apparently Childers has been using this rollicking rocker by Charlie Daniels as his set closer. We saw him play at the Cactus Café at UTX Austin a few years ago.
4. "I Remember Everything" by Brandi Carlile (2021). It's a John Prine song, his last, from the recent tribute album. Enough said.
5. "Listen to the Radio" by Nanci Griffith (1997). Another Texan sadly gone. This references Loretta Lynn who died this year. Nanci sings: "Where would I be in time like these without the songs Loretta wrote". Indeed, in times like these.
6. "Love's Gonna Live Here" by Buddy Miller featuring Kacey Musgraves (2016). It's classic country by Buck Owens. Musgraves (another Texan) has a sweet voice. She plays big arenas these days, we've never got to see her.
7. "Just Someone I Used to Know" by Buddy Miller featuring Nikki Lane (2016). Another classic country, this one by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. We saw Nikki Lane on a Country Cruise out of New Orleans a few years ago.
8. "I'll Be Here for You" by Robert Earl Keene (1998). A love song by a favorite Texan who we've been lucky enough to see a few times. He's retired from the road this year.
9. "Are You Sure" a duet of Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson (2015). It's a Willie tune done nicely as a duet about hanging around drinking in bars. We like Texas bars and miss visiting Austin because of the pandemic.
   
10. "You Get it All" by Hayes Carll (2021). Another love song by another Texan who we've seen. His "sweet Baboo" is Allison Moorer who used to be married to and tour with Steve Earle.
11. "Mockingbird" by Ruston Kelly (2018). I've heard this song many times this year. I don't know the artist or I why I keep hearing this song but I like it. He compares his love to a pretty little mocking bird
12. "Death to My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen (2012). A protest song with a strong beat and an Irish swagger. I like it .... Some will rob you with a fountain pen.
13. "Help Me Remember" by Hayes Carll (2021). It's about dementia and Hayes explains the song thus: “I was fourteen-years-old and sitting in the passenger seat of my grandfather’s truck in Waco, TX, the town he had lived in for most of his life, when he turned to me at a stoplight and asked where we were. He looked scared. I know I was. I’ve thought a lot since then about what it must feel like to lose the thread of your own story.”
14. "Brother Taxman Preacher" by Margo Cilker (2021). Margo is a rising talent in the Americana world. I like the beat of this song
15. "Tehachapi" by Margo Cilker (2021). Again, I like the beat and will be watching this artist.
16. "One Love Song" by Michaela Anne with Sam Outlaw (2019). It's a love song. We've seen Michaela at the Cactus Café, UTX Austin.
17. "I Couldn't be Me Without You" by Eddie Brickell (2022). This is from the recently released Billy Joe Shaver tribute album. It's a simple love song. The title says it all.
18. "Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You" by Tyler Childers (2021). Another John Prine song from the tribute album.
19. "Dead Horses" by The Local Honeys (2022). I bumped into this song on Youtube. It's county with a blue grass tinge.
20. "Feathered Indians" by Tyler Childers (2017). Another love song, again with that Kentucky bluegrass tinge. We were at the local market one day and a singer was playing this. I was surprised but see now that Tyler Childers has made a big impression on many others.

Clearly our influences are Country and Americana with a few artists like Tyler Childers and Hayes Carll repeated several times.

Xmas Letter

PO Box 3063, St Marys
N4X 1A7, ON, Canada
Dec 10, 2022

It’s December and we’ll put pen to paper for the annual “Christmas Letter”. Although this year, like others during the pandemic, has been quite subdued. Our Google Maps timeline is very boring – a typical month involves shopping in town, perhaps a trip to Stratford for more shopping or theatre, and an occasional jaunt into London.

For Reg’s birthday this year (he’s now a 70-year-old geezer) we had a weekend in the Niagara Wine region and special tasting event in a private geodesic dome at Featherstone estate. Actually, we had to delay it a week as a really nasty snow storm prevented our travel in February. We are not keen on having another long winter here in St Marys.

We were in Toronto in September to meet up with Gord (Kate’s brother), Leslie (his wife) and Paula (his daughter who is a postie in New Brunswick) – I can’t remember the last time we’d been to the “big smoke” and gosh has it changed. Likewise for the Highway 401 which seems to have collectors all the way to Milton, and the same around Kitchener/Waterloo.

We had winter plans to go to the Algarve in Portugal in February but with Covid surging at the time we were able to cancel. Good thing too as both of us have had mobility problems. Reg got a partial knee replacement in May (he’s pretty good, still not dancing but he never did) and Kate’s been suffering with knee and ankle problems. It looks like both will have to be replaced, but until then we hobble along. We won’t ever get to hike the Bruce Trail, climb into the Grand Canyon or return to Angel’s Landing in Zion. We hope to return to Texas for the warm winter weather and “honky tonk” music some time but are not quite comfortable with the idea of hanging around in crowded bars with folks who aren’t vaccinated. We’re fully vaccinated and willing take anything they offer (e.g., on top of covid boosters we have the flu shot, pneumonia and shingles of course).

Chris Fry, who we lovingly call our No.1 son, stopped in on a trip to Florida. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen Chris and his family. They’ve been in Germany for several years now, the last time we saw Chris and Amy (his wife) was in Nottingham back in 2017! They’re now the proud parents of three little ones (Charlotte, Sebastian and Emily). We very much enjoyed his visit. We first met him when he was little when we visited his dad, Martin, and family in Germany. But it was 17 years ago when we really got to know him when he came and stayed with us for a couple of weeks. The picture has him tucking into some fresh Lake Erie Perch.

Our 42^nd wedding anniversary was this year. We had a local photographer take some photos of us to honor the occasion. We’re not as fab as we were back in 1980. The picture at the top of the page is one from the photo sessions.

We did have a summer holiday on Prince Edward County (that’s across from Belleville) with Gord and Leslie. The idea was to drive around checking out the vineyards and we did a few. But it was awfully hot for the few days we were there. We stayed in an historic old stone mill at the Glenora Ferry at the foot of the Mountain Lake, Gord and Leslie camped across the way on the mainland. They have one of those pop-up trailers and make good use of it. Gord got us tickets to see Whitehorse (the band, the couple), a really exciting show, at the Hayloft Dancehall (essentially an old barn) near the Sandbanks and Outlet Beach. Kate used to camp and hangout around there in her high school years and we did go for a swim. It's a nice beach and an Ontario Park.

We are just back from our first trip out of the country since returning from Texas in 2020 when the pandemic began. Gord and Leslie were/are in Argentina for a 5 weeks holiday and we met up with them for a week in Buenos Aires. We were somewhat reluctant to go expecting Buenos Aires to be a “hard scrabble” town like those in Mexico, Brazil or some of the Caribbean islands. We were pleasantly surprised. It’s often described as the Paris of South America and it really is (Manaus in Brazil, where we did an Amazon cruise several years ago, is described as the Paris of the Amazon but it’s hard scrabble and an insult on Paris). In Buenos Aires there’s a lot of Beaux Artes buildings dating from the turn of the previous century, wide tree lined avenues (the jacaranda were in bloom), lots of well tended green space with many monuments. It really does look like Paris. The weather was warm and we really enjoyed ourselves. The terrible thing though is their economy – it's basically screwed with an annual inflation rate at over 80%. Every thing is cash only, credit card exchange rates are prohibitive, and there’s a black market in foreign exchange.

Mind you, food and drink are inexpensive in BA (for us) and portions tended to be quite large. Reg got to pig out a couple of times on grilled beef – beef is one of the country’s major exports, that and wine. Gord and Leslie were great hosts and, having been there in the spring, knew how to manage the city. Leslie, who had lived in Columbia for 20+years, is fluent in Spanish (she’s actually a certified translator) and was a great help. It isn’t as English-friendly as some places. Although we did meet this English lady at a Tango dance club who was on her own and spoke very little Spanish and seemed to be managing.

Reg’s brother Paul and his wife El came home from Thailand for about 5 weeks in September and October. They have sold their restaurant and are moving into retirement mode. They stayed with us for a week or so, with David in Hamilton for some time, travelled to visit various friends back in Grey County, and visited with family in B.C. before returning to Thailand. Paul and El live in Songkhla where the weather is always hot and humid. El found our Canadian fall weather a little chilly, but we tried to keep her warm with sweaters, scarfs and “long-johns”, and she even came prepared with a puffy insulated jacket. The picture below is of Paul and Reg at the Stratford Festival Theatre where they saw Colm Feore in “The Miser”.

We plan to have Christmas dinner with David’s family (David is Reg’s next older brother) in Hamilton. We’re having our London family (Angela, Tandye and CJ – that’s Dale & Sherie’s gang) for an Xmas dinner the week before. And there’s a good possibility that Gord and Leslie will be having a New Years’ Levee again in Ottawa (fingers crossed).

However, we are uncertain as to what we’ll do this winter. We’re not looking forward to another cold snowy winter shut in our home. There has to be some escape to warmer climes -- perhaps we’ll just run off to some Caribbean resort for some sun. Although neither of us are up to much when it comes to “running”.

On other fronts – Piscine, Radar and Little Moe (our cats) have been well and are almost starting to get along with each other. Volunteer work has picked up a bit in the past year, with Reg kept especially busy with 2 book sales and assuming the chair for the Friends of the Library (he has wisely stepped down from the Library Board), while Kate has her volunteer work for the Board of Optimism Place (a local women’s shelter) and also continues to work on research (as long as they’ll let her).

Kate and her girlfriends continue to meet a couple of times a week – they do this all year long (outside on our deck in winter, at other places during warm weather). Reg calls them the “SnowBack Turtles”. It started as a way to get together safely and avoid covid. Lately it's become a challenge – how much cold can they stand? Reg and the boys are not so tough, they meet inside by the fireplace.

 Until next we meet, much love. Kate and Reg.