Spring has sprung,
The grass is ris’,
I wonder where,
The boidies is?
– Ode to New Jersey Springtime, author unknown
A recent trip up north to New Jersey and Pennsylvania was a timely reminder of just how wonderful springtime can be. Fresh green leaves on the trees, cool brisk mornings, sunny days and young love all tell us that the world is doing what it should be doing.
Down here in the islands, one forgets just how lovely spring (and summer) can be in those northern latitudes. There is a palpable sense of rebirth and awakening from a cold winter, and the expectation of the approaching warm days of summer.
This trip was a combination voyage of sorts — I got to spend time with my sisters in rural southern New Jersey, and then drive across the Keystone State to play a wedding in Pittsburgh. Sarah and I both marveled in the greenery and beauty that was in the process of driving winter’s chill away. This is not to say that it wasn’t chilly at times; compared, however, to the bitter cold of a northern winter, this was just perfect.
My youngest sister lives in a really nice home in Shamong that just happens to be close to a skeet shooting range. It was quiet the first couple of days we were there, but by Wednesday, the gunfire commenced. Multiple shots rang out every second and echoed throughout the surrounding forests. There was likely enough carbon released on shooting days to significantly impact climate change … but it was just another part of the comfortable life in rural America.
After a few days in rural Jersey, it was off on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to assist two young people (both with Keys connections) in getting hitched. After the congestion of getting past Philadelphia, it was smooth sailing through farmland, curves, tunnels and small mountain ridges to make our way to the land of my father’s birth (he was born in Monessen, just down the Monongahela River from Steel City). I hadn’t been to the Greater Pittsburgh area since the mid-1970s; in some areas, not much has changed. There were lots of hills, the people were friendly and there was fun to be had.
The wedding was held in a lovely Catholic church and school combination (where both bride and groom had attended classes earlier in their lives), and I provided the music. The priest and deacon were really nice, the wedding party radiated youth and energy, and it all tied in perfectly with the springtime spirit of rebirth and renewal. It was really soul-satisfying to be able to look at the world through eyes perhaps a bit less jaded than mine. And it was especially gratifying to be able to hold an event at all, as this wedding was postponed a year due to the COVID pandemic.
The reception took place in one of those large event halls, and this one specialized in Italian cuisine. One of the really nice things was that some of the mothers of the wedding party put out this amazing homemade dessert spread. Let me tell you, nothing sucked. There was fudge and buckeyes and cookies and cheesecake bites and chocolate-covered nut clusters and cream horns — and they were all homemade. One of my favorites was the nut roll, the same kind my father’s parents used to make every time we’d visit them in Pennsylvania.
Keeping with the theme of springtime and renewal, it was really nice to spend time with some really intelligent and personable younger people. Sarah and I were kind of like the cool older people at the wedding, and we had a blast hanging with the young’uns. Just as springtime was renewing the world, so will this younger generation bloom and make their way through their lives. It is most certainly an interesting world they are poised to inherit.
If this wedding was an example, I think they just might do a good job with it!
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This coming Wednesday will see a musical reunion of epic proportions. Keyboardist David “Crazy Dave” Howell, one of my oldest friends and musical partners, will be in Marathon — and we will re-create the Herbie’s Hump Night of old! Dave is one of the most brilliant musicians I’ve ever worked with, and this coming Wednesday could become the stuff of legend. Hope to see you at Herbie’s, this coming Wednesday, 6 p.m.
Catch John Wednesdays at Herbie’s, Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing, Friday on Facebook Live, Saturday night at the Key Colony Inn, and Sunday at Havana Jack’s. Music wherever you get your streaming or downloads. www.facebook.com/john.bartus
