Part of the weekend was spent with the dead. On Friday evening I attended the wake of a woman whose husband and son were in my fire company, and both had served as chiefs of the Islip Fire Department. Since she had used the services of the local hospice, and was active in her church (Saint Mark’s Episcopal in Islip) Ellen and I will make donations to either one of these organizations (maybe both) in her memory. After the wake I went to the firehouse for band practice, but only the glockenspiel players were actually practicing. The drummers and cymbalists (like me) just had to sit and listen (and watch the Yankees lose to the Indians). We had pizza afterwards.
On Saturday morning Ellen, Eileen and I went to Saint John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens. The good friend of my cousin-in-law, who passed away in late 2006, was finally being inurned at the Cloister there. We all met in the office, and then drove to the Cloister in the middle of the cemetery. After a brief service, the wall of the columbarium was opened up and the urn was placed in its niche. Across the hall were rooms where caskets were buried, or actually placed into above ground spaces, similar to what is done at California cemeteries like Forest Lawn.
On Sunday, we spent time with living people. First there was Eileen’s soccer scrimmage in West Islip, and Ellen and I relaxed on the sidelines and spoke to another parent, whose 7 year old son was playing. He was quite tiny for his age, as he was born quite prematurely, after only 6 months gestation. Still, while he has learning disorders, he is healthy otherwise. After the session, we all went to visit my mom & dad in Flushing. As is the usual order of business, Eileen stayed with them while Ellen and I went out. We opted to visit Manhattan again, and Chelsea and the West Village are among our favorite neighborhoods. After we got out of the subway at 7
th & 23
rd, we headed towards 10
th Avenue past the London Terrace apartments at 9
th Avenue, and then to the Empire Diner. It’s still Art Deco, but is no longer working class, but rather an upscale eatery. In the late 1970’s I had patronized it on occasion, for coffee and some exotic soup like borscht or spinach – definitely something I would not make at home. Ellen and I then walked past the General Theological Seminary on West 21
st Street (famous alumnus – Clement Clark Moore, check their website at
http://www.gts.edu/ ) and down 9
th Avenue past a row of stores that remain (for now) from the days when Chelsea was a family and working class neighborhood. These stores will soon be replaced by over priced boutiques and restaurants in a few months.
At #76 9
th Avenue is an office building that I recognized as the headquarters of several website makers, especially those related to baseball, as well as Google’s headquarters, and those of Barnes&Noble.com. Then came 14
th Street and we were officially in Greenwich Village, the western part with the town houses. At 401 Bleecker Street is the Magnolia Bakery (corner of 11
th Street) with its class A cupcakes, and a line outside to get in. We passed on those goodies, but did return to John’s Pizzeria at #278 for dinner.
On the baseball front, the Mets managed to win 2 out of 3 from the Braves; the Yankees only 1 out of 3 from the Indians.
