Celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, by Louis Brown

I know it is difficult to think about Celebrating when there is a storm cloud hanging over the United States. But remember the candidate who gets fewer votes wins the White House, that is the new normal. So Washington will continue to be Alice in Wonderland, where up is down, left is right, backward is forward, ignorance is cherished, love America means hate America, etc. Still we survived the hostile presidency of George W. Bush. And we shouldn’t stop celebrating our holidays.

(1) On Oct. 28, 2016, 7 p.m. at Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral, located at 14 Street and Washington Street, there was a Halloween organ recital, that is, there was a showing of a German silent horror movie, “Nosferatu,” Angela Papadakos was the organist. She started by playing Bach’s Toccata and Fugue. (hum a few bars), spooky in itself. Then she continued playing matching the mood of the scenes and her musical accompaniment. Some people in attendance were wearing Halloween costumes, so I put on my diminutive black top hat, and my neighbor, a young woman, in the audience told me my hat was “awesome.” That made my evening.

(2) Read flyer for Holiday Luncheon. Also I am thankful for Prime Timers, and I met Joseph Bump at the luncheon who evaluated my home situation about 7 or 8 years ago when Prime Timers was meeting in a restaurant on West Colfax Avenue, which is in my neighborhood. Prime Timers members keep track of each other (without being busy bodies). So if one ember is having difficulty, if possible, Prime Timers helps him out. I wonder why I do not recall any elderly women participating. It wasn’t a male-only club.

(3) Read copy of E-Mail from Danny Dromm re Gay History.

(4) In New York City, gay libbers celebrate Christmas by attending the Christmas chorale as performed by the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus at Carnegie Hall. Does Denver Colorado have something analogous? I hope so.

© 19 Nov 2016  

About the Author 

I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City, Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA's. I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.

Setting Up House, by Nicholas

I’ve set up house a number of times. Sometimes alone and sometimes with others. Either way, it’s a lot of work bringing order out of the sheer chaos of boxes strewn about the new empty place. I remember when Jamie and I packed up our things in San Francisco, hired a mover, saw all our stuff go off down the street and hoped we’d see it again in Denver. We did. That was in 1990. We moved into a house on East Third Avenue in which the first thing we did—before we unpacked anything—was go buy candy to give away since it was Halloween and we wanted to be part of our new neighborhood.

We got a bedroom set up and the bed made so we could at least go to sleep in our new house. Next day we set about sorting and arranging our things in the place we were to live in. For me, the kitchen is the most important. My kitchen must have a logic to it. Pots and pans close to where they will be used. Spices and herbs within reach of cooking. Wine and wine glasses always handy. Less used supplies in more distant cabinets.

We stayed there three years and then moved to where we live now. We have lived longer at our present address than either of us ever had lived anywhere else in our lives. We do not intend to move again for some time unless we are forced to. Forget moving and setting up a new house.

Actually, we are heading in the opposite direction. Not setting up a house, but sort of tearing one down. Our house is big with lots of places to stash things. We have watched the detritus pile up. Fortunately, we have a two car garage that is just about big enough for two cars and not much else. And we insist on using the garage as a garage, not for extra storage. So, there are limitations. But stuff still accumulates.

We are trying to slow that accumulation. For birthdays and anniversaries, we ask for no gifts, please. We even try to get rid of stuff. We like to call it de-accessioning. I cleared out a shelf of flower vases, for example, by unloading them on a nearby florist who was glad to take them and will likely re-use them. Packing material, like those annoying popcorn things and bubble wrap, if reasonably clean, is welcomed by packing and shipping places. I have recycled bags full of the stuff. Jamie recently took a trunk load of old computer bits and accessories to a recycling center. Better they get broken down into usable parts than sit in our attic.

It takes a little work but it’s easy getting rid of stuff you don’t like. Now we want to start getting rid of stuff we do like. I plan to cull through books which I hate to part with but, after a time, they do only collect dust on a shelf. Clothes too. I have too much now so, I’ve decided that if I want to buy new clothes, I have to get rid of some of the old.

Largely as an accident, I ended up being the keeper of old family photo albums. One day, I parceled out some of the ten albums my mother had put together and sent some to my sisters. After all, their pictures were in there too.

Some folks become hoarders as they age. They can’t give up anything. Maybe, they think that’ll be the mark they leave on the world. Maybe that’s how they establish that they have lived—show a bunch of stuff for it. Maybe that’s how they remember all they’ve seen and done. If I leave a mark on this world, I hope it won’t be just a pile of junk for someone else to pitch.

I’m not a hoarder. I take great delight in getting rid of things. I love downsizing. It’s like losing weight (which is something else I ought to look into). But while stuff is easy to pass up, ice cream is not.

If I ever set up another house, it will be with less stuff. Of course, it will probably be smaller so I will be forced to de-accessionize even more. Some of that may be difficult with tough choices. But really it will be a joy. Taking apart a house is as much fun as setting one up.

© 12 Sep 2016 

About the Author 

Nicholas grew up in Cleveland, then grew up in San Francisco, and is now growing up in Denver. He retired from work with non-profits in 2009 and now bicycles, gardens, cooks, does yoga, writes stories, and loves to go out for coffee.