Oh...we had been out together often in those 13 days....but nothing that qualified as an official date. So, the minute TH arrived home from work Thursday afternoon, I announced it was date nite.
Now I fully expected TH to complain or beg off. This poor guy is out the door by 4am every day. He spends much of his day outside in the elements down at the fish pier where it can be brutally cold. So unless we are going to play with grandson CB, he wants nothing more after work than to land on the couch under his heated electric throw (the best present he EVER received) with remote in hand.
TH didn't even complain when I explained we would be taking the bus to the Copley Library to hear Keith Lockhart as part of the Lowell Lecture Series. However, he thought I meant the #11 bus that runs right by our house. But that would involve a connection...completely unnecessary, when just five short blocks from our home we could catch the #9 bus that would deliver us to the library's front door.
Did I mention that the first three blocks of those short five blocks are completely UPHILL? That's when TH finally started to complain. But at least he didn't complain about the cold, despite the 11 chilly degrees. As neither of us is in very good shape, by the time we reached the bus stop we had worked up quite a sweat.
The bus was rather crowded at 5pm, so we sat in the front two seats....those reserved for the elderly or disabled. TH felt we met one of the requirements LOL (but we would have been prepared to give up our seats if needed). Directly across from us, occupying the middle of three seats, was a gentleman who was sound asleep - sitting upright (or as upright as you can be when you are inebriated and riding on a city bus navigating narrow streets on the day following a blizzard). He was fairly clean and didn't look to be homeless or a vagrant.
We didn't recognize him, but he appeared to be a construction worker, mid 40s (wearing a green do-rag with shamrocks and a union pin on his jacket), who maybe stopped off and had one-too-many on his way home. But hell, it was only 5pm. And given the weather, maybe he hadn't worked at all that day.
Nonetheless, he nodded and swayed with every turn the bus made and rarely opened his eyes. He provided some lively entertainment for the tired commuters, but nobody bothered him. We watched in amazement as he listed pretty far in either direction, but never fell over. And no matter how crowded the bus continued to get, nobody took the open seats on either side of him.
Nearing the end of the line, we assumed this dude had missed his stop at some point, as he didn't seem the type who lived in Copley Square. Although he was sitting directly behind the bus driver, he was hidden from view by a large partition, so we wondered exactly how long he had been riding the #9 that evening.
When we were a block from Copley, I stood up and attempted to wake the guy. TH tried to stop me, but I thought I was being a good samaritan. He opened his eyes long enough for me to ask if he'd missed his stop, but promptly shut them again as he shook his head. So me...being the busybody I can't help but be, pointed him out to the bus driver who quickly responded, "Doesn't matter if he missed his stop, I'm kicking him out here."
And sure enough, the bus driver let us off and followed us down the steps where he asked all the frigid commuters waiting on the sidewalk to please wait a moment longer while he removed a passenger. I was aghast. We didn't stay to watch him do it, because it was just minutes before 6pm when the lecture was scheduled to begin and we were afraid there might not be seats left for the free event. But I can assure you, I felt absolutely horrible. I couldn't believe that I was suddenly responsible for putting another human being out in the bitter cold. I had only tried to help. I couldn't get him out of my mind the rest of the nite, and I still haven't forgotten him. Why didn't I listen to TH?
Nonetheless, we ran into the library and entered the Rabb Lecture Hall only to stop and look around in utter amazement. In an auditorium that seats around 350 people, there were (maybe) 50 people in the hall.
.......To listen to Keith Lockhart speak.
......For free.
We took our seats down near the front but I kept turning around and thinking, 'surely there is a private cocktail reception going on somewhere and any moment throngs of people will enter the auditorium'. But I was wrong. And as the honored guest appeared on stage, to surely the quietest smattering of applause he has ever received, I was actually embarrassed for him.This is the Lowell Lecture Series, people. The Lowell Institute of Boston has been sponsoring this and other great lecture series throughout the city, free of charge, since 1836. Their specific mission is "making great ideas accessible to all people." Charles Dickens was one of their early speakers. My understanding is that they pay the lecturers hefty fees for their appearances.
This was the first nite of the 2011 series at the Boston Public Library that will be featuring 'Boston's Best' with Keith Lockhart as the headline speaker. We are so fortunate to live in such a culturally rich city where we have the opportunity to witness great masters as they ply their trades in the arts, academia, and athletics. Unfortunately, I think all too often we take for granted our bounty of riches....I know that I'm guilty....and don't partake of all our great city has to offer.
This nite was a perfect example. Sure we've all seen Keith Lockhart perform at the Christmas Pops or the 4th of July on the Esplanade. And if we haven't seen him in person, we've seen him on TV and heard him on the radio. Well, so have people in Japan, Italy, Australia, and Ecuador. But they don't take him for granted, and they can't hang out with him at the local library. It will be a pity if events like this cease to exist due to lack of interest.
Okay....I'm climbing down off my soapbox.
I do think Keith Lockhart was also taken aback by the size of the audience, but of course the weather served as the perfect defense. He thanked everyone profusely for braving the cold, and he invited everyone to move down into the front seats since it was such an intimate crowd. He waited patiently while most attendees changed their seats. He then spoke for about 30 minutes and what he had to say was fascinating. He was also pretty easy on the eyes!
But midway through, I stopped staring at the hottie on the stage long enough to glance over at TH who was by then doing a pretty good imitation of the dude on the bus. Are you kidding me!?
As if Keith Lockhart wasn't humbled enough... now he finds himself speaking to this old guy sitting right in front of him WITH HIS EYES CLOSED! Seriously, if I was the speaker I would have pitched my water bottle at him. Instead TH got my foot planted firmly on his, which elicited the same response my sons and I have witnessed for years during mass (or whenever someone tried to remove the remote from his sleeping hands)....the eyes flew open wide and he muttered, "I'm awake."
Keith Lockhart continued on...we learned a bit about his predecessors, Arthur Fiedler, and John Willliams, and the good fortune that brought him to such an esteemed position at the young age of 35. He did touch on one topic that always strikes a nerve...the near extinction of arts education in our schools. (But that's another soapbox you don't want me to climb on)! Then he proclaimed that he was a much better talker than he was a public speaker, so he opened the last 30 minutes to questions.
And he fielded some tough ones with great diplomacy. There were some savvy symphony devotees in the crowd and they knew their stuff. But there were also some fun questions; about Shaq's stint as a guest conductor (he complained afterwards that his arms were sore); and one person actually had the nerve to ask exactly what the conductor did, other than wave his baton.
Unfortunately, he was limited to just one hour...and we hated to see it end. The hostess then announced that Keith Lockhart would join us in the lobby shortly afterward to autograph Boston Pops CDs that Barnes and Nobles staff were selling. We decided not to stick around because, although I would have loved to chat with Keith Lockhart, we had no intention of buying any CDs that evening. It would have been like attending a friend's Tupperware party and leaving empty-handed.
Now it was only 7:00, and we were hungry. We'd scarfed down a quick meatloaf dinner before leaving the house, but that had been at 4:30 (talk about an early bird special) so we decided to grab dessert, or at least a drink. I wanted more than anything to go to Pinkberry's, but that would have meant a walk of several blocks on a frigid nite, so we opted for the Prudential Center next door. After walking around the mall and surveying our options, we decided on the Cheesecake Factory. Although we have been to this restaurant chain many times, we never went JUST for dessert, so we didn't technically break our rule....just severely bent it.
However, choosing our cheesecake was a whole other matter...it was just so hard to decide. They really should offer a tasting sampler where you can purchase a tiny sliver of 3-5 different flavors. And when we voiced that opinion to our server, she assured us we weren't the first to suggest this.
Hello, Cheesecake Factory corporate heads...give the consumer what they want, please.
We each selected something decadent and decided to forego the drinks. I had gained seven lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years, and had managed to lose three of them quickly by avoiding the carbs. So on this night, I chose what I thought was the lesser of the two evils (cheese doesn't have any carbs, right?) LOL.Needless to say, we should have split one portion, but instead we each ordered our own and licked the platters clean! Bad decision! We rolled ourselves out the door and down the street to the bus stop, feeling like tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. (I knew we should have gone to Pinkberry)!
The ride home was uneventful, except that we sat with two young girls we knew. They were on their way home from the gym....and were making plans to attend a spin class together the next morning before work. All we could think of was how much we'd just ingested. That, and getting home into bed and trying to stay awake for Jersey Shore!
Once off the bus, it was another five cold downhill blocks to our home, and the temperature was still dropping. On the way, we discussed our date and how we really needed to pump up the excitement for future dates. TH announced that he always wanted to see a wrestling match. Whaaat? Wrestling?...really?
I reminded him that he had surely taken the boys to wrestling matches at the Garden, but he couldn't remember. So I phoned each of our sons and they assured me that YES they went to wrestling matches with their dad when they were younger. But, then they each surprised me by saying they thought it was a great idea and that I should let TH take me to a wrestling event for one of our dates.
Really?
It wasn't enough that I let him pick The Fighter for our last date and I had to watch humans get pummeled on the screen? Now I have to watch fat guys in tights slam each other around in a fake fight? and pay big bucks for the pleasure? I think I'd rather have my gums scaled without novocaine.
But after all, TH is entitled to pick one date a month. Let's just hope the wrestling matches are like the circus that only comes once a year....and that I'm out of town on that day.
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