Things to celebrate

Last night was the big concert in Erie. Tim needed to go to the Home Depot. As long as I was there, I wanted to stop in at the Salvation Army store. I was looking for a plant stand really, but did not find it. However I did find a Farberware Slow Cooker to replace the slow cooker I am now afraid to use due to cord damage. 

And a nice shirt. 

Anyways. we had supper out at a place with a terrific salad bar. Tim enjoyed his barbecue. I enjoyed my salad. 

We drove to Warner Theater, and as we guessed, it wasn't jam packed. 'Asia' started off with 'Only Time Will Tell'. Asia has been through many incarnations, with many different musicians. Their new lead singer is John Payne who replaced John Wetton who died 8 years ago. So while they played a bit of the hits, they also, understandably, wanted to showcase their recent stuff too. It wasn't horrible, but I wasn't familiar with it. 

One thing though: I don't get the whole 'rock star persona' thing. It's very strange watching a 60+ year old man leaping around the stage, leaning forward, bug eyed and waggling his tongue for the crowd. What is it with the tongue thing? I guess I'm too old for that too, right AC?

Everyone was waiting for Lou Gramm to take the stage though, and when he did, he was surely worth the wait. A pudgy 74 year old walked out dressed in jeans and a denim shirt looking perfectly ordinary, like anyone you would pass on the street and not give a second look. He proceeded to bring that house down. 

The crowd went nuts as one hit after another thundered off the stage. All familiar. All songs that everyone knew the words to. Sure, Lou's voice was not so high as it had been (he had a brain tumor that involved damage to his pituitary gland years back, and this changed his voice). There was a microphone that they were having some difficulty with. But you know what? No one cared. The band was top notch, the man is legend AND. EVERYONE. KNEW. ALL. THE. WORDS.

 There was no mugging.  There was no leaping about, unless you counted the saxophonist who came off stage during "Urgent," and marched up the aisle playing the solo while everyone roared. It was a solid hour and a half of pure entertainment, without the nonsense. Everyone's tongues stayed right in their mouths where they belonged. It was a great night. 

We walked out of there with all the rest of the old folks and drove the hour home remembering what it was when we heard that music for the first time. 

We were dragging tail this morning though. Ugh.

We had an appointment at the bank. You know, I just gotta say it. There was a very elderly woman and her (I'm guessing) grandson. He helped her into the bank. We followed them through the parking lot. They smelled horrible. I mean, like extreme. She was obviously very frail, and filthy. I mean, dirty socks that I think had once been white. The elastic was gone and they drooped around her thin ankles. The backs of her legs were smeared with something. I hated to guess. The grandson was dirty with shaggy black dyed hair. He smelled too, although he was not so obviously dirty. 

We had to wait for our appointment, and so we took two seats outside the office of the man we needed to see. 

The tellers knew these people by name. They went up to a window, and they were asked to wait back by a sign until they were called. The smell filled the lobby. This is not hyperbole. The young man grabbed a chair for the woman, and shoved it over to her. He came back and grabbed a second chair for himself, and they parked themselves in the middle of the lobby. 

The customers at one of the windows left. The teller asked if the woman had the withdrawal slip she needed. She didn't. The teller pushed one across and the young man went to get it and returned to the elderly lady. I saw the teller surreptitiously spray something on her hands and then fan them at her face. 

We got called in by then so I did not see how the rest of that played out. Our appointment was a half hour, and when we walked back out into the lobby, the smell was still very noticeable, although the people were gone. 

Tim and I talked on the way to the car. I hope someone is watching out for that woman. It really made me concerned about elder abuse. 

After we finished there, we drove straight to the protest. We were surprised to see about 150 people there. Even more amazing was that there were a lot of honking horns and thumbs up from passing vehicles. There were raised fists in support. There were a few people flipping us off or gunning their engines in disgust. We do after all live in a red county, but most people waved using all their fingers. That is quite a shift. A big rally in my town in 40 people. We generally get a lot of insults. It was different. Today was different. It is hard not to be encouraged by that. 

We had a birthday party to go to, which involved buying two cards. Tim just grabbed himself some chicken wings. I drove so that he could eat. As I was going towards the exit, a truck backed out of a parking spot, evidently forgetting that there was two lane traffic. I hit the brakes sharply. Tim said mildly. "Well...I got one of them." The container was on the floor upside down. 

It is raining, and it will turn to snow. I can't really complain. There are people in this country right now who have a lot more worrisome weather. Still, I just can't help longing for spring.