Susan Spiegel (Pastin)

Got your latest post of the two videos, enjoyed them, and posted in Covid stream.  Thanks Fred!

I just got Spotify on my phone & listened to Beatles, Simon and Garfunkle, Don McLean and others late into last night.  Music is a wonderful way to cope!

Robert Lindner

I have been follwing the COVID-19

Daily, morning, afternoon and nightly news

Since I was in public health I had seen

Many disease outbreaks and learned their clues

So I was asked by Wilmette and became

The village consultant on the virus

That we hope we will be able to tame

Before it personally affects us.

So daily I'm reading the CDC

Briefing. But I'm still writing poetry.

I tried to write a poem that would be

A path to spring and love for you and me.

Robert Lindner

Murmurs Of The Season

“Arise My Love, My Fair One

And Come Away”

The Song of Solomon The Song of Songs

“Hark, hark! The lark at heaven's gate sings,

And Phoebus 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs

On chaliced flowers that lies;

And winking Mary-buds begin

To ope their golden eyes:

With everything that pretty is,

My lady sweet, arise:  Arise, arise.”

Song from Cymbaline (W. Shakespeare)

The spring begins again, a crocus show.

And daffodils open their golden eyes.

And it is time to wander, time to go.

And beckon love to come away, arise.

Arise, and listen, for love’s song is there.

In sounds of waves on the sea, listen for
Those good vibrations, as waves into air

Arise, when winds are blowing them to shore.
 

Those waves that arise, as ripples and grow

And lift the ships of love upon the sea

And take us to Venice in our dreams, though

This spring it’s not where we can safely be.

But it’s still spring and we can walk around

And hear the music and the harmony

Of love’s vibrations, in the waves of sound

That rise and fill the air with poetry,

Like Solomon or Shakespeare’s songs of love,

With poetry that turns the nothingness
Of seasons’ murmurs that I’m thinking of

Into love, which makes our fears meaningless.

And then with verse of Omar Kayyam too,

“A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and You”

As spring awaits with life that shall renew.

Where love is greater than the greatest view.

Since life’s just a drop in an ocean wide,

It’s not season’s murmurs, I’m thinking of.
Above life’s dust that is with earth allied

Are sounds of your soul. SO: Arise my love.

Arise my love, my fair one, come and sing

The Song of Songs with me to welcome spring.

Happy Spring!

SANG THE ROBIN

Ruth Gross

Thanks so much, Robert.  Here in North Carolina we are in full out spring mode--it's unbelievably colorful and promising with mild zephyrs of sweet fragrances.  The incongruity with the world situation is more than unsettling, but thinking of nature's rebirth and the fact that natural life is continuing despite what humans are facing is also somewhat consoling. To all my classmates--please hang in there.

Fred Brostoff

Whether you're celebrating Passover or Easter or any other holiday, this year's celebration will be different.  Whether you're participating via Zoom or by FaceTime or by using some other electronic marvel, treasure your socially-distanced family and friends...and pray that you'll be gathered together at this time next year.  Stay healthy!

Renee Sherer (Schleicher)

Thank you, Fred, Robert, and others for your good wishes for this difficult holiday season and your messages of hope going forward.

Last, night, during a Zoom Seder, I felt  the relevance of the Passover story.  We've added our own generation's plague to the ten of the Bible, and, in Evanston at least, we've had hail as well.  But the story really deals with persecution of minorities.  In the Old Testament, it was, of course, of Jews.  But today we are also seeing prejudice against Chinese, Mexicans and others.  The virus is impacting African Americans and Native Americans harder than any other groups.  After the second World War, Jews said "never again".  Let us be sure we expand that perspective to include all vulnerable groups.

Susan Spiegel (Pastin)

Amen Renee!

Jeffrey M Liebman

Thank you for these reminders.  Even at this difficult time, we must continue to look outside of ourselves and keep the broader perspective in mind.

Paula Massey

We lost a singer song writer guitarist with Chicago roots to the virus this past week. . I'm thinking of John Prine. He went to another Chicago area high school and delivered mail in Chicago before his musical career. The Chicago area was so rich with folk musicians and others. What a treat to be able to go hear them live or  on the radio.

Lee Saberson

Jack Hayes

Some spectaular music for Easter/Passover:   Our chorus just released this yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvJG3k2Lxxc&feature=youtu.be

Robert Lindner

O.K. Boomers !

I am now a Zoomer Boomer

Or is that a Boomer Zoomer?

So Zooming Boomers, let's all sing

Like the Fifth Element. It's Spring

And there's a Bada Boom.

A Big Bada Boom. SO

Zoom Zoom Bada Boom Doom Doom

Let’s sing

Zoom Zoom Bada Zoom Zoom Zoom

This virus may be the doom

That will put me in my tomb

Boom Boom Ba Ba Boom Boom Boom

Because our class is on something called zoom

It’s an escape from the news’ daily gloom

Where Corona virus looks like the doom

That may put all us boomers in our tomb

So Boomers let’s Zoom Bada Zoom Zoom Zoom

Though Corona virus looks like the doom

That may put all us Boomers in a tomb

And we‘ll sing Boom Ba Ba Boom Boom Boom

And remember the post-war Boomers’ Boom

That time that created our Boomer bloom

While we are zooming up in our bedroom

And escaping from the news’ daily gloom

Singing

Zoom Zoom Bada Zoom Zoom Zoom

This virus may be the doom

That will put me in my tomb

Boom Boom Ba Ba Boom Boom Boom

I’m a boomer worried about my doom

Since there’s this Corona virus in bloom

This spring so we’re is on something called zoom

It’s an escape from the news’ daily gloom

The Fifty Thousand more cases today

Means this virus is not going away

In spite of some ridiculous rumor

From those with no sense or sense of humor

The total in the good old USA

Reached five hundred thousand cases today

And now more than twenty thousand have died

That’s why I am staying here safe inside

Singing

Zoom Zoom Ba Ba Zoom Zoom Zoom

This virus looks like the doom

That may put me in my tomb

Boom Boom Bada Boom Boom Boom

There’s new counts of cases and of the dead

Swirling in the chicken soup that’s in my head

But who cares about this old boomer’s gloom

This old boomer stuck at home in his room

But this Boomer is a zoomer Boomer

A Boomer zoomer, whose sense of humor

Tells him Arnold says “It’s not a tumor.”

In spite of some ridiculous rumor

That says someone was cured yesterday

Or that a vaccine is just months away

So this Boomer will just keep on zooming

And keeping distance, while enjoying spring

And singing,

Zoom Zoom Bada Zoom Zoom Zoom

This virus may be the doom

That will put me in my tomb

Boom Boom Ba Ba Boom Boom Boom

Thomas Starck

Lee, I was on the USS Conserver, ARS39. It was a small rescue, salvage ship. We were kept very busy in NAM making off shore repairs, recovering downed aircraft with their flight crews, removing stranded landing craft from beaches, etc.  Even had us shadowing a Russian trawler to keep it away from the rest of the rest of the fleet. Interesting times.

Susan Spiegel (Pastin)

Good poem, Robert. 

And Paula, I just discovered (and fell in love with the music of) John Prine, though I never forgot the song "Paradise" after hearing it just once on WFMT years ago - he asked his Daddy to take him to his parents' hometown:  "I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in askin', Mr. Peabody's coal trains have hauled it away."

Michael Silverman

Hey Lee

I was on the USS Brinkley Bass DD 887, based in Long Beach.  Viet Nam tour of duty 1971.  Shore bombardment and plane guarding--although I think our primary purpose was that, if someone shot a torpedo at the aircraft carrier, it would hit us first.

Paula Massey

Susan

I listened to the Midnight Special too and also all the programs on WBEZ like The Flea Market. I also remember going to several clubs and other venues plus the Folk Music Festival at the Band Shell. Chicago was a special place for folk music back then.

Susan Spiegel (Pastin)

I remember!  And when I was under 21, I DIDN'T have a fake ID, and so couldn't get in to hear some of it!

I didn't discover WFMT and the midnight special until after I was married, I think.  But now it's one of my favorite radio programs!

Lee Saberson

Thomas Starck

We were anchored in Danang once and got a radio call asking if we could provide fire support.  My captain eagerly radioed back that he would be glad to.  Then they asked what we had and the captain told them it was a 40mm anti aircraft weapon.  Needless to say that was the end to that request.

Lee Saberson

Stephen Bruhn

Like many of my fellow graduates I served in the military from Nov. 1968, to Oct. 1970.  However, I served in the Army, was a MP and spent 18 months in Germany.  To say I was lucky would be an understatement of monumental proportions.  I was able to come home, get married and spend the last 12 months of duty with my new wife in Germany.  We lived in an apartment owned by a German family who we still stay in contact with.  Overall a wonderful exerience, and as I said very lucky.

Vernon Neece (Neece)

Tomorrow marks my 49th wedding anniversary.  Thanks to Uncle Sam, Beth & I had an extended engagement (almost 2 yrs).  We got married 19 days after I got home from Vietnam & discharged from the Army.  Beth was in the middle of mid-term exams of her senior year.

Kathy Dalgety (Miehls)

Congratulations, Vernon! I'm sure your celebration will be happy...whether it's indoors or not.

Ruth Gross

Hey, Vernon, congratulations to you and Beth!  Hope you are doing well. I miss seeing the North Carolina lunch bunch and hope all are keeping healthy and sane.

Michael Silverman

Fellow Vets

Our destroyer had two 5 inch guns and we had several stints on the gun line.  A spotter plane would fly over the area; the pilot was invariably stoned; and he would radio our CO and say that there was nothing to shoot at.  But our Captain would insist on finding a target and we would sound General Quarters and all hell would break loose.  Every time we fired a round, my soap dish would fall of the counter--that was pretty much the extent of the damage we inflicted.

The ironic thing for me, as I look back on it, is that although I acquired a dark sense of humor (Catch 22, Mash), I'm not sorry that I did it.  Maybe I'm rationalizing, but I think I'm better for it.

Alison Van Swearingen (Brown)

Hey Vernon!   Congrats to you and Beth and may you have many more to celebrate.  Miss not seeing you and the others up in NC.  Sure was fun!