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The best thing about being on vacation these days is NOT knowing what is going on in the world. While in the quiet southwest corner of France, the U.S. election and even the world financial crisis seemed far away and looking at ancient Roman ruins gives one a philosophical attitude about the frantic tone of the media. Despite the French reputation for being anti-American, we had no difficulties of that kind. An internet cafe gave us the bad news about the stock market one day, but the feeling among the French, German and fellow American tourists was one of camaraderie – the globalization of the disaster has put us all in the same boat. A brighter note occurred, when we were able to share the good news about the Red Sox win with some people from the Worcester area. A discussion with a French college student who was hoping for an Obama win and the end of the war was the only political note that was struck, and we were d’accord. While standing on a bt of the Via Domitia, the ancient Roman road through Gaul, linking Italy to Spain, one felt the age of the world, the transitory nature of our lives and our troubles, and a kind of deep silence and peace. Now that I’ve read the blogs and listened to CNN, this mood will likely be short-lived, but c’est la vie.

When I posted about the Favorite Poem Project earlier in the month, I learned about the videos, or “mini-documentaries” that were made along with the third book of the series Invitation to Poetry. Then I discovered that you can watch many of the videos online. They are amazing and addictive and bring home the fact that poetry should be read aloud, memorized, listened to, that it needs to be heard. These videos are especially powerful because each chosen poem is given context by the meaning it has to the person reading it. A brilliant synergy results: the poem gives us insight into the speaker’s life, even as his or her interpretation of it reveals more about the poem to us. For instance, John Ashberry’s poem The Improvement gained immensely for me by the speaker’s understanding of it. I’ve never been able to ‘crack’ Ashberry; I just don’t get him. But then a stranger with his intense appreciation of Ashberry shed a light for me to see more into the poet’s work that I ever had before. In the future, I know I will read Ashberry’s poems in a different way.

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The Poetry Festival is coming up on Friday, October 10th through Sunday, the 12th, and it looks great! I am excited that former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will be in town. One might wonder what a Poet Laureate actually does, but in the case of Pinsky, who served from 1997 – 2000, the work is ongoing. He came up with the brilliant Favorite Poem Project by simply asking people what their favorite poem was and why. The response was amazing, with 18,000 Americans of all ages and backgrounds writing in, and the result became an anthology of poems with the comments of the responders included, and then a second and a third book were compiled. The books are a refreshing mixture of poems and show the quiet importance of poetry in people’s lives. For awhile, I would give the first book, Americans’ Favorite Poems, as graduation and birthday gifts. The second book, Poems to Read, was given to me as a gift, and I hear that the third, Invitation to Poetry might be the best of all, because it includes a DVD of people reading their favorite poems aloud. So, while I don’t know Pinsky as a poet, I admire him immensely as a laureate. You can buy tickets for the Saturday night reading featuring Pinsky here (they’re a good deal at $11.50/$15 at the door). Note: most of the events are free and there are many family and kid-centered workshops and events - “Poetry detectives” sounds fun!

Have you been up to Parlee Farms this year? Today, you can pick your own apples, flowers and raspberries, or at the Farmstand, they still have fresh peaches as well as apples, blueberries, strawberries and corn. The rarity of a fresh, local peach is something that I have come to cherish, and I’ll go a ways out of my way to get one. I always get a sense of peace and serenity just turning down Farwell Road, lined with stone walls and overhung with trees, it’s like going back in time 30 or so years, then rounding the corner to the welcoming sight of the farm and fields – so much ordered prosperity delights the eye. (It’s a great place to bring the kids, too – they have hayrides, homemade ice cream, fresh donuts and animals!)

Lately, it seems as though we’re living in a tropical rain forest, with the only (literally) bright spot being that the potted plants didn’t die while I was on vacation – if anything they are too wet – and the lawn isn’t brown. I have to say this is unusual for August! I just read a New York Times op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman who has been observing the effects of climate change on the Greenland ice sheet. Greenlanders report that they can no longer dogsled in winter to a certain island off the coast, that it rained in December (unprecedented in a town above the Arctic Circle), that the reindeer did not show up as usual in August. According to Friedman, we will all soon be learning to “speak climate,” using phrases such as “I’ve never seen that before” or “Just a few years ago.”

In the middle of our vacation week, we drove over to visit my sister at her cottage on a small lake. There had been some sun that afternoon, and we were sitting on the deck chatting, when the darkening sky and rumbles of thunder sent us indoors. It then proceeded to rain heavily for several hours. Boats filled with water and docks began to float. Soon there was a brown river cascading down the mountain and boiling past the cottage and into the lake, carrying sand, rocks and branches into the water. One of our group ventured out in the rain and came back to report that the road was gone. “What do you mean, ‘the road is gone?’ we asked, not quite able to take it in. But, yes, the road was gone, in its place was a waterfall pummeling through a 20-foot gap exposing the useless culvert. So, now our car is stranded at the end of a dirt road. I’ve never seen that before!

No more complaining about the weather – not after the absolutely perfect temperatures and lack of humidity that we had Friday night and Saturday. Sure it was a bit hot in the midday sun, but nothing like scorchers of previous years. All in all, it was great for dancing, walking around or just sitting and listening to your favorite act. So far we like Henry Gray and the Cats whose rockin’ blues and boogie-woogie piano had the crowd moving (catch them at 5:00 today at Boarding House Park). One complaint: the website for the festival is cumbersome and hard to use. It would be better if you could look at the schedule and click on the performers to get a description rather than having to open the separate Performers page (which doesn’t work that well). That’s a minor quibble; otherwise the festival just seems to get better every year. The Dutton Street Dance Pavilion has turned out to be much better than either the St. John St or Tsongas Arena location. We miss the Market Mills stage, but it makes a nice arts and craft venue. And it’s really fun the way the local businesses are adding music, outdoor seating and expanded hours to keep the crowds happy after the festival officially ends. We were lined up for tacos and burritos at the Mambo Grill at around 10:00 pm last night and every outdoor seat was taken at Cafe Paradiso, Fortunatos and the rest. So, today’s weather may be okay despite rain and storms last night, and even if it isn’t, we can’t really complain. Enjoy the day!

Wandering downtown today, one could see the whole city gearing up for Lowell’s signature event this weekend. Some streets were already closed, the amount of sidewalk tables at the Mambo Grill seems to have doubled and the Dutton Street Dance Pavilion was ready for tonight’s festivities. Check out the website for maps and schedules. My personal top ten for the festival: getting the latest t-shirt (I caught a sneak peak in Barnes & Noble’s front window and this year’s logo is fantastic!), eating many Laotian spring rolls, dancing to the Cajun music (there’s always Cajun or Zydeco), getting a Gyro sandwich from the Hellenic Orthodox Church food booth (always at JFK Plaza), following the Parade to Boarding House Park, listening to local bands at some of the bars and restaurants that are joining in the fun, fresh-squeezed lemonade from that booth near Cobblestones, sitting in the shade at Market Mills, …..well, that’s only eight, but I’m sure I’ll discover new favorite activities this year. That’s the thing with the Folk Festival, some type of music, food or event that we weren’t expecting to like always surprises us. Well, enough said, I’m heading downtown!

The school committee reception in honor of Dr. Baehr is a week from today, that’s Wednesday, June 18, 5:30-7:00 pm, in the Mayor’s reception room at City Hall, ust prior to her last school committee meeting. Light refreshments will be served and all are welcome.  The Citywide Parent Council has arranged “Books for Baehr” as a way to help our schools and pay a tribute to Dr. Baehr’s eight years of service to the city.  To participate in this “twofer” in Baehr-speak simply go to Barnes & Noble at 151 Merrimack Street, purchase a book, and choose a school library, or EVEN EASIER, call Barnes & Noble at 978-458-3939 and purchase the book by telephone with a credit card. B&N will record your donation for the presentation to Dr. Baehr and deliver your book to the school library you selected. The downtown store is also offering a 20 percent discount on books purchased for this program and can recommend children’s favorites. See Mimi’s post for inspiration or if you need help picking a book, look at these great recommendations from Bright Horizons. (I just ordered a beautiful book of poems, Talking Like the Rain for the McAuliffe School where I used to work and for the Bailey, where my son went to elementary. For the Daley Middle School, I am ordering two books by Richard Peck that look great:  A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder.  These look so good, I am going to read them myself.

You can now view the proposed fiscal 2009 budget for the city here. We’ll be taking a closer look and giving our thoughts on the school funding piece, but in the meantime, thanks to Manager Lynch for making this document so accessible!

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Margaret and Jackie