Thursday, April 23, 2009

“cloudy with a chance of meatballs”

Of the two weeks I will have been in the United States on Spring Break, four of them have been glorious spring days (and how nice and symmetrical that two were in Cincinnati, and two in New York!) with soaring temperatures and invigoratingly warm, sun-dappled landscapes. But the rest of the time the weather in both of my “homes” has been more of a gray oatmeal-y kind of day.

Not that I have minded at all about the weather! It has been a chance to visit, and do what I do best: talk and eat.

Last Thursday, when I spent the evening with Jack and Emma the night before my departure from Cincinnati to New York, the visit to Cincinnati ended much as it had begun—with a whirlwind trip through my sister and brother-in-law’s house trying to do a month’s worth of activities in an hour or two. How many games of hide-n-seek can we get in before ‘King’ has to leave???

Just as I was about to leave to go over to see dear Sylvia (by the way, I was criticized by my labeling Sylvia as “loyal” in last week’s blog—I guess that adjective is usually reserved for steadfast pets and not marvelous friends—Sylvia is loyal, but not in a canine kind-of-way, rather she is the kind of friend who is supportive and refreshing, so let me be more clear in the adjectives I choose!) for a final dash to Cincinnati’s Graeter’s ice cream, Jack whisked into the kitchen announcing, “King, look at the book I got today!!”

Jack was so excited that the Scholastic book orders had come in before I left town so he could show me his book choices he had made. His proudest pick was Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. I had never heard of this book, but my sister remarked that Jack had been so excited to get this book. I loved the title! We had a quick look at the book—I loved the conceit of a place, a delicious town called Chewandswallow, that one day started having food drop out of the sky like rain. “Look at the hamburgers, King! And the pancakes!”

Ah, that boy is a chip off the old-uncle’s block. He loves food. (Albeit, I have to say, he is a pickier eater than a true gastronomophile—he tends to love white foods—but the foods he champions, he really loves!) His uncle loves food. This book may be a match made in heaven!

So as Jack was showing me—in between fits of giggles at this imaginative Chewandswallow—the blizzards of mashed potatoes, and the torrent of pork chops, I thought this really was similar to my visits to the United States! Each meal is like their weather report, and the meals and the conversations with friends and family the happy centerpieces of my days in the United States! Ahhh, Jack showed me the way to hope for the latest weather report of Cincinnati Chili, or pulled pork, or Cobb salads!

So in my New York version of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs it has been a veritable week of pleasure with A-listers like Kate and the Ungers. These are friends who somewhere along the way ceased being “merely” former students or nice families, but the kind of friends that are so interesting and energizing to talk with, with whom you want to declare, “Stop, Time,” and revel in the laughter and shared fellowship.

But of course time is marching on, and the Break is like most of my time on break—sad to bid farewell to one friend, but so happy to see another coming. As I left Cincinnati last Friday there was that wistful look back at my dad in the airport, but the thrill of heading to New York to see the Hackley family and other friends in the New York area.

I have a few more people in the NYC area to see now due to the “miracle of Facebook” (remember my sister warned me I should not use the word ‘miracle’ so wantonly—my word, not hers).

I left Westchester county on Tuesday morning, after several days in the company of the omni-wonderful Anne. It rained steak and veal and blood oranges and soprasatta and apple tarts with Anne! We saw a play, we saw a foreign film. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I came, I saw, I conquered, in other words.

On Tuesday as I arrived in Manhattan I had plans to meet up with a guy who holds a unique position in my history, in my pantheon of former students. Through the “miracle of Facebook”—no, I will just call it the incredibly serendipitous social networking arena—a student who was in my first class I taught, and the first musical I directed, had found me, was in New York on business from Charlotte, and we had scheduled a meeting time before the theater.

Somehow we had lost touch over the years, even though his mother had been a colleague in my first school, and one of my dearest friends in the rich network of friends in Gastonia. But he had gone off to college, I had left Gastonia, and since there was no e-mail in those days, one had to actually post letters and keep in touch the old-fashioned way.

Now this former student is a successful businessman, darkening the doorstep of 40 (am I really that old? Remember—I was only a four year post-secondary education older than those first students of mine!) and while it was rainy and foggy outside, inside our meeting place it was sunny and delightful catching up. So what have you been doing the last 20 years??!!

We talked about current joys—his young son, my position in Jordan; current fears—will there be any pension money left when we retire? And we talked about the proliferation of technology—things that just didn’t exist when I taught Trip U.S. History or directed him in Hello, Dolly! twenty-one years ago.

“Have you seen the Susan Boyle clip?” I asked. That was one of the things we did at my sister’s house as well on the whirlwind final visit last Thursday night. Someone in the house had heard of the Scottish woman’s story and the Youtube clip that played like the end of the one of the most satisfying, feel-good movies imaginable. Of course Trip had seen the clip! In the last week when my family first showed me the clip, not a day has gone by where someone has not asked me about the clip, or vice versa. I joined the Susan Boyle Fanclub on Facebook. Anne and I watched the clip a couple times together.

When I visited Hackley on Monday one of my former students asked me why I thought the clip was being watched by so many millions of people. The student asked me if it was a “sign of the times.” Maybe—and as that young gorgeous judge Amanda says to Susan in the clip, her performance and triumph is a wake-up call. I don’t know if it is a wake-up call or not, but her stunning singing of “I Dreamed a Dream,” one of my favorite songs ever, a song I first heard in my first visit to Les Miserables (a show I would eventually see 18 times!) when I accompanied Trip to New York in 1988 as my first time to chaperone students, is a triumph of imagination over reality. This rather homely spinster Susan Boyle imagined herself as a winner on this show, and went on, looks and age aside, and performed with such grace, such conviction. Wow—I guess Meryl Streep will play her in the movie.

Trip and I then discussed this phenomenon ‘Twitter.’ Granted—I have not gone to this site, but talk about it—like the clip of Susan Boyle—is ubiquitous this week. Indeed, yesterday I counted three articles yesterday gushing about Twitter in the New York Times. It was on the evening news, and the ladies on The View tittered about Twitter. I learned that an entry is called a Tweet. It seems to be like your life in a Haiku. Oh no—for the verbose of us, this is scary.

On one hand it makes me scared—it is such a short amount of space in which to write! They say you get only 140 characters for an entry! Jumpin’ Jehosephat! I mean I take three pages to tell you I went to the Dead Sea, or three pages to say I have been talking and eating during Spring Break and liked the title of Jack’s book! This Twitter has the pressure of a post card it seems—I would much prefer to write a long letter rather than try and sum up everything on an insidious little 3X5 card.

I said to Trip, “Of what possible use to me is Twitter?” I became a little self-deprecating as I said, “To convey the capsulized brilliance of my life at any moment of my life at any moment, 140 characters are too many!” Oh well—I think the same goes for you as well, and I would add, unless you are hemorrhaging, I think I can wait to know the Tweet of what you’re doing until the next time we talk.

So anyway, my week has been raining conversation and good meals. An afternoon with Aunt Dot, brilliant! A luncheon with the Celantanos, captivating! Catching up with Diana, and Claudia, and many others at Hackley, heartwarming! Thai food with Jane and Christy, newfound peace!

Jack’s giggles are appropriate. Imagine a place with food and conversation raining down around you…delicious…

Next courses: a reunion with Denison Singer friends and then a wedding of a former student from Charlotte. The weather report looks stunning.

3 comments:

Me and My Son said...

The weather report looks stunning...and apparently delicious! Have a good time. Sorry I couldn't swing a trip to join you.

Mary said...

Johnny,
I'm sorry I missed your call. I don't have the right cell number for you so I can't call you back. Call again!!!
Love the updates on food and conversations--my favorite things!!
Great that you got to see Trip! I have seen Marsha a time or two. We keep saying we need to get together again.
Remember fitting that girl's bodacious tatas into her dress!! Who was she?? I can't remember.
whose wedding are you going to and where?? When do you have to go back? When are you coming again!? I love and miss you and love reading about all of your wanderings and get togethers with friends and family.
Hugs, Mary

Neal Hitch said...

John, I too was in the States over this Easter break. This blog was very interesting to me. This was exactly my experience. In the three weeks I was out of the Caribbean I gained 10 pounds. I am starting to think that all we do in the states is eat. I have been back two weeks now and have dropped four pounds already. So at least thats a plus.

Neal Hitch