The past two days of shutdown, I have been trying to make the most of some much needed quiet time with songwriting, swimming, musical performance, and a visit with my sweetie.
I continue to be heartened by the love and support I find in social media and among friends in the music and arts community of Lowell.
I performed worker songs I have written from the oral histories conducted in the 1980s with the last generation of men and women to work in the factories of Lowell. I chose the songs I played in relation to the recent shutdown:
Paul’s Hervieux’s song “You Have A Job”
Jen Burn’s song “City to Remember”
Celia’s songs “I’ll Never Forget”
Antonio, Valentine, Sydney, Narcissa, and Regis’ song “I Was A Mill Worker”
Add to the mix a Magnetic Fields cover of “Washington D.C.” in honor of the dedicated political leaders of our time and a couple other covers just for fun, and there went three nights of my life well spent.
Until my sweetie came to visit, I stayed glued to my computer screen, looking for updates on facebook and via email.
I still look out my apartment windows to the empty parking lot for Lowell National Historical Park. I still feel betrayed and disappointed.
Through it all, I believe very strongly in finding creative means of moving through negative energy and embracing the beauty within and without.
This afternoon, our plans were thwarted by the shutdown. No trip to Great Meados Wildlife Refuge in Concord. So we went to a well-hidden Audubon site and walked through a beautiful yellow wood, looked out over water that mirrored leaves of red, yellow, green, purple, and brown, and found creatures great and small to admire.
The month of October began with a government shutdown. I may not yet know how it will end, but I know that I have a choice in how I bid adieu to one month and welcome the next.
life of m 