Living in coronavirusworld 198: Halloween 2020

10/30

Two days to go

A cold and wet day.  The coldest yet. Under 40 degrees. A day when walking  outside just won’t happen. A day that makes it clear that winter will inevitably come and our bucolic outdoor life that has lasted through the first month of fall can’t go on. Tents are appearing, but everything  seems empty.  

a good day for the farmers' market

I get the word that a good friend from Pittsburgh, one who encouraged my music there, who heads my Pittsburgh band, who was just in my show on the 22nd, is in the hospital with Covid and pneumonia. No corner has been turned.

10/31 

Farmers' market art

farmers' market art

Halloween

Halloween. The sun is out. And warmer. A good day for the farmers’ market.  And a sit on the bench with coffee and fresh baked cookies. 

I also dropped off three shirts I ordered online as part of my random online covid shopping.  They took three months to arrive and were at least two sizes larger than I ordered.  The thought of trying to return and exchange them is laughable.  Part of a bitter lesson I learned about items that pop up on my Facebook page. I'll never trust them without double checking again.

Hanging out on Halloween

Take a long walk into the Upper West Side to get some prescriptions. It’s Halloween, but in a minimalist kind of way. Only a few houses with decorations. A few individuals on their stoops with candy for the intermittent small family units of scattered trick or treaters. Usually this child friendly neighborhood is awash with a steady stream of roving bands from 4 until 9 or so. Blocks vie to outdo each other with intricate and clever spooky decorations and environments.  Some arrange with the police to block off streets for free range roaming from building to building.  Several of our church members love decorating the entry stairs and narthex of the church and dressing up themselves for hours of candy giveaways, just another way of connecting with the neighborhood. But not this year.  I kind of respect the few parents doing their best to keep some semblage of one of those moments that mark our year at least present in some vestigial sense.

community garden

My neighbors do their best to decorate our community garden and set something out for the kids, but they are few and far between. 

This  Americanized commercialized tamed throwback to something deep in our pagan past, touching on some collective memory. I feel sadness at the missing buoyancy I always experience on this night. 

masked friends

live gig 

My friend Steve has a live gig at  my neighborhood club. I’m shocked they are open. I plan on going early because with the occupancy limits, I’m sure tables will be at a premium. It’s Halloween after all, we’re all anxious to get out. There’s Steve, his bass player Kevin, another 3 to 4 musicians waiting for their set and a couple of other people. That’s it. Steve announces this is the first live mic he’s faced in seven months. He keeps his mask on the whole performance, and so do we all. I jokingly ask if he used a mc condom and he says, I brought my own mic. No way I’m using someone else’s. 

Ready to roll

Avoiding the subway he has traveled by his new electric scooter. In his helmet and jacket ready to roll he looks like spaceman or alien.  

So the story continues …except for the carefree ..and careless…young adults still floating free in Astoria, the Village, Lower Eastside and select Brooklyn neighborhoods; the rest of us are staying close to home. Risk averse. Each with our own unique set of commonly accepted public health precautions, superstitions and rituals. 

Go Vote

It’s two more days until the election. which brings thoughts and anxieties so much deeper than Halloween’s ghosts and goblins.

The Heart of the Matter

11/5

Back to Beverly 

What a week it’s been….

There was Halloween Day…the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and his 95 theses and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation that changed the world…(although I spent time in Argentina and Uruguay  with our Waldensian  brothers and sisters ,our official Presbyterian partners in Argentina and Uruguay, who started a reformation 343 years before Luther…hunted, persecuted, oppressed, they hid in the mountains and valleys...when they saw Luther they decided that they could join in)…

The annual Halloween/All Saints/All Souls day cycle…Some of our church friends  are celebrating All Saints today…the church recognized how powerful riutalswere this time of year and tried to baptize these holidays and make Christians out of them.I think I can safely say the fact is the pagans won…but this Halloween was different…at 4 PM while handing our candy, I saw the crawl on the bottom of the TV screen…8 dead…Stuyvestant High Schoo locked down…and soon learned of the terrorist attack… what’s really sad to me is how quickly I turned to wonderiing how it would affect the subways…from terror to inconvenience...

The Astros won the World Series, giving Houston, a city that’s  been through so much, something to feel good about…

About earthshaking things, last night was  the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution….another event that changed the world…and how the Soviet Union that scared us so much didn’t even last 100 years…

And of course, today is Marathon Sunday….

Take a breath….

Where’s Jesus today?

Talking with his disciples about the scribes and pharisees..and he says something very strange….do what they say, not what they do…what’s up with that?

1. He is affirming that their teaching is STILL valid…their interpretations still appropriate…remember …remember…as he said in Matthew 5: 17-20

   17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

   19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
   20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
   
   
   
   So he’s talking with his disciples about the scribes and pharisees..and he says something very strange….do what they say, not what they do…what’s up with that?
   
   

   1. He is affirming that their teaching is STILL valid…their interpretations still appropriate…remember …remember...
   2. What they do drives him  crazy….
   1. Tying up people by judgment …..how many years did we do that?
   2. They love the fanciest clothes, fanciest vestments, stoles, etc…(in the cathedral at Lima, I saw the incredible wealth and beauty of the church reflected in its vestments….perhaps paid for with Inca ransom gold
   3. They want seats of honor at banquets…charity fund raisers, getting to do the invocation, sitting with the top business leaders, politicians, celebrities, etc…
   4. They like to be greeted in the marketplace…like the first  pastor I worked for ….with church paid for membership in the best  clubs, downtown and country..

   
   
   Now here’s something for us…call no one father? How do Roman Catholics? Anglicans? Feel about that?
   But we’re not off the hook either…we are officially called teaching elders? And Jesus says call no man teacher…
   
   
   What????  
   Remember these words:
   5 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
   

   We are to heart of the matter..
   11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
   
   
   it’s like when the scribes and pharisees came and tried to trip Jesus up about divorce...(see Matthew 19:3-12/Mark 10:2-12)…here’s the thing, and he’s always consistent…he wants us to go to the heart of the matter…
   
   
   Stop all the quibbling about strict interpretations of things..go to the heart of the matter…when I was a soccer coach, and teaching kids, when it came to rules it was always like , “well what if I…” and I was no, forrget it …go to the heart of the rules, play there, not on the edge..
   Remember when Bill  Clinton said it al depends on what “is”means? Here's what Bill Clinton said to the grand jury about why he wasn't lying when he said to his top aides that with respect to Monica Lewinsky, "there's nothing going on between us." ... "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is’ is,…
   
   
   All well and good and maybe important in a court of law, but not in day to day living…Christian living is not about how close you can get to the out of bounds line…the question is what is at the heart of the matter…
   
   
   And that heart is serving one another, with humility…knowing that we all fall  short….and as we accept ourselves as we are, and act accordingly,God loves us for that…those who do the most menial jobs  here are the most important…so let us not be confused…go to the heart of the matter...
   
   
   
   
   
   

Halloween 2014

10/31

Halloween.

 Pat O comes back from a meeting with the Department of Buildings triumphant. They had not actually denied our application for a Letter of No Objection, only not approved it. (Bureaucracy.) They needed a better understanding of what activities take place in this church.  And halfway through the meeting, our Borough President Gale Brewer showed up, waited, then weighed in, with helpful precedents from our neighbors, like SPSA.  And at the conclusion of it all, our code consultant (new name for expeditor) said, wow, you guys must be really well connected…They will let us know soon, perhaps even Monday, of their decision. Point is, Gale came through. A political victory, if nothing else.

Then we meet with one of our theatre people, Lee, who wants to know our wish list, our dream list. She may have a line on some significant funding source, if job creation is part of the project. We try not to get too many hopes up. But then, you just never know. Just never know.

Halloween.

Pat K has brought in skulls and other decorations. Our neighbor Jen  has brought candy.Leila has created a spooky environment in the front of the church.

Trick or treaters

Nanna 

Our artist friend from Denmark, Nanna, has come to help give treats to the tricksters…and to learn about  holiday with which she is unfamiliar.  And Leila has brought masks.

Leila did the decorations. And brought the masks

First to arrive are a family from France. With two little girls. Heading back to France tonight. They do a cute recitation ending with …and if you haven’t got a hay-penny, then God bless you…with a heavy French accent. And we give them their treats.

That starts a steady stream of costumed kids and parents. All goes well until one little girl, who has apparently had too much candy, let’s fly seemingly twice her volume in  regurgitation. Her mom tries to help. I wind up with the mop. Late in  the day, Jen drops by with her kids. When we close up, Nanna is ready to head to the Village. I’m not sure she knows what she is in  for.

A steady stream

And soon enough, it’s time for a special Halloween edition  of Open Mic. There are, of course, costumes. David L as a cowboy. 

David Lyons

RL with his duster, his all black western gear and his long barreled pistol.

Don't draw on RL

Young Jeremy

Jeremy

as a pimp with gold chain, hat and cigar. And later, Victoire as Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Vic

and Henri as a pirate. Mandola Joe, well he comes as the green man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man) although with his homemade hat from his grandmother’s pillow, he could pass for a leafy byzantine pope.

Mandola Joe as the Green Man

The music picks up scary themes as well. But tonight’s real surprise is my friend Beppe with his gong. He uses it in a multifaceted way, creating a sonic journey akin to what the contemporary electronic musicians do. But with an acoustic instrument with a variety of mallets, brushes, other devices, and wind chimes. And we are all entranced. Joe is especially moved.

Beppe and gong

Joel and Srteve

 There's another Joel and Steve collaboration and Steve does hi sown set with his ukelele.

Steve solo

Pat O

Pat O has an extended solo with his new electronic pedal board.

I start by explaining that my friend said that I should be a Pirate for Halloween, so that is why I am wearing my Pirate jersey. (Number 21, Roberto Clemente, the great one…) I do three scary songs.  My own Johnny Walker Red, Dylan’s …Hard Rain…(I’m finally getting it  down enough to really push it…) and bring Pat O and Mandola up for Long black veil, the first song we ever did together.

Bob

Little Red Riding Vic’s Halloween miracle is convincing RL ( I said I don’t play top back up other people…) to join her and Mandola Joe on stage for House of the Rising Sun. (I love how she rhymes sew…with new so that it sounds like sued my new blue jeans..)

Vic's dream comes true

And Henri performs for the first time, a traditional  song and then La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

La Marsellaise

Neighborhood friend David York closes out the night.

David York

And then, as always,  Stay Awhile as a closer. Yet again another good night.

Halloween.

 

Two pirates

I ain't afraid a no ghosts

10/31

My jack'o'lantern

Halloween. Been seeing people in costumes for about a week now. But today it gets serious. 

Three people come in looking to start a day care center. The preaching man in the pork pie hat is out talking to the building again and Marty is back to not talking to anyone at all.

RL

RL comes in with his costume, but is it really a costume? All in black, wearing  a duster like a long rider and his reservation police badge and a gun in a holster at his side. He demonstrates his quick draw spins his pistol and back into the holster. Relieved to find out it was a prop gun from a western movie he was once in.  What follows is a good yarn about a relationship with Mel Torme went south when RL revealed his preference for Remingtons and Torme replied, I’m a Colt man. 

Our neighbor Jen arrives with six large bags of candy. Soon neighbors Susan and Lisa (from Friends of West-Park) arrive. Together we will stand outside the church and pass out treats to passing trick ors.  I love the passing parade of people, children from the neighborhood. Parents. I take the smaller pumpkin and carve the most simple of jack’o’lantern faces. Just had to. Wouldn’t feel like Halloween unless I did. 

Jen and a very scary Green Monster  and a Raggedy Ann

My helpers are also passing out treats to adults passing by and people getting off the bus. The smiles we get back are well worth it. In a couple of hours, the candy is  mostly all gone. I take what’s left over and leave it for the flamenco students.

I’m pondering how the church attempted to take over the Celtic holiday of samhain and tame it, turn it into part of a religious event honoring saints and souls, making the night before All Hallows’ Evening, ergo Halloween. But somehow those like Christmas and Easter and every other attempt to colonize and eradicate the true old time religion, those pagan roots are strong and always show through. The merriment we see around us is the fun in putting on, taking the freedom to be something /someone else while simultaneously poking fun at what we fear. Laughing in it’s face. I ain’t afraid a no ghosts….

Trick or treaters

Lisa and Susan

Churches who try to make it an evil event or turn it into something else unwittingly only honor the darkness and grant it power.  Our ancestors knew…facing it and laughing is the only way to take away its power.

Time to walk with my longrider friend to the Gate and see what kind of collection of spirits are there.

Dead eye

Trick or treat

10/31

I ask Teddy about the man wrapped in plastic outside on the steps. His name is Sean. Recently had a foot amputated. Says he’s got a check coming Thursday and will get a hotel room. I offered to help him to the emergency shelter, he didn’t want to go. He didn”t want to come in either. He did eat a big container of hot soup...

As we’re getting back to normal, I’m not comfortable with him being there all day. We agree that it’s best for him to move on for now. Teddy goes to talk with him.

A couple comes in looking for groceries, I direct them down to SPSA. 

Marc comes in to talk about the sermon we missed last Sunday. He’s found a reverb sound, ambient and unique to West-Park and recorded it. If I want to record the sermon, he can add the ambient sound so it sounds like it was made in  the church sanctuary. 

I hear the sounds of the Theme from Love Story and other pop classics coming from the sanctuary. I go to check with a sense of curiosity, maybe a little hope. Turns out to be a man named Ramon. He wants to meet Martin. Tells me he’s a dancer.Wants to bring ballet performances as a gift to the church. And then I discover he’s talking about Sanctuary NYC. He’s joining the choir and..... Well, all right then. This all brings me down a little. 

Go across the street to buy candy for trick or treaters. On the way back, my friend Mark Koenig from the Presbyterian UN Mission is crossing the street. (See Mark's blog at http://graybeardtrail.wordpress.com/)  On his way back from his office. Took him over two hours by livery car to get there from his Morningside Heights home. They lost a window. With transportation down and no window repair soon, he’s keeping his office closed through the weekend. The island has become one mass parking lot as traffic has ground to a stand still so Mark has decided to walk home. He’s still got about two miles to go. La Guardia is still shut down.  We don’t need any more people coming into the city right now, he says as he begins to make his way north again. 

Glen’s already here when I get back. We’re trying to find ways to help but the presbytery website is still about preparation. Glen has heard about bus and van loads of volunteers on their way to the city to help.  Not sure that’s a good idea.  We also spend time on the Christmas child program he’s been working  onto bring shoe boxes packed with needed items to children. We need a night to collect the boxes.

I step outside with my candy to pass out to the trick or treaters. Seeing them gives a sense of normalcy in a difficult time and parents seem to have seized on Halloween with a passion. (The annual Greenwich Village parade has been cancelled for the first time in memory.) Princesses, ninjas, ninja turtles, superheros.... And Rachelle appears.... Oh pastor, all the lovely trick or treaters...I give her a candy bar, and she gives me a Starburst.

Teddy tells me that Hugo has just dropped off some pasta and meatballs. I give Teddy some Halloween candy. I’m off to Councilmember Brewer’s event. I’m passing out candy along the way. Trick or treat.

Trick or treat

10/28

A quick stop at the office between coming back from the Interfaith Assembly retreat and going back north to the Presbytery Council reteat in Garrison, New York. I don't want to go. A moment to catch up with Danielle and to prepare the Sunday service, then off again. The first of three days of people in costumes. In New York City, on Halloween, how do you tell who’s in a costume?

10/29

Arrive back in the city after a horrendous five and a half hour drive through a blizzard. A usual hour fifteen max. The Palisades Parkway was other worldly. Tree branches, still filled with leaves, unable to bear the weight of snow. Cracking and breaking, falling across the highway. I see a car with a tree through its back window. Stopped under a tree, a load of snow falls and stops my wipers. I have to get out and clear it off. Luckily, traffic had ground to a halt. At Exit 7, highway completely closed, traffic rerouted north woth no directions to get back south. I wander off into a small town, eventually find my way to the New York State throughway and then the Sawmill. Further south, it’s pouring rain, not snow. Parts of the Sawmill flooded. I’ve been amazingly calm through all this.

At the church, I’m amazed at what Samantha and Lilly and her family have done to the basement for Halloween. They’re surprized to see me, send me back out so that they can properly greet me. I go in through the cemetery, a ghoul jumps out at me and I give them a proper scream. Each room, so recently Tenant space, done up in its own unique  scary character. Cobwebs, body parts, severed fingers, skeletons. And Stephen playing DJ with reggaeton.

The snow kept the afternoon crowd down, though still there were arts and crafts for children and a screening of  Casper the Ghost. Even a family from Brooklyn saw the sign and came in. 

At the bar, I’m drinking sangria. Leila tells me that this cold snowy morning, the NYPD and FDNY had entered Zucotti and removed  all the generators. They’ve been using them for months, she says, why did they choose today? With the snowstorm? Yes, why indeed. Their source of heat, of power for cooking, cell phone charging and internet sending and receiving gone. Trick or treat. 

There’s arroz con pollo, with sausage and olives. Cupcakes and Marsha’s rich cornbread muffins.  I wonder how Halloween came to be such a big tradition for  the Martinez/Santiago/Ayala clan. Lilly tells me it was always just been  her favorite holiday. They’ve produced more than one great Halloween party here. 

Outside, it’s bitter cold. Somone, I can’t tell who, is asleep in the center doorway.