{"id":603,"date":"2011-02-19T07:30:47","date_gmt":"2011-02-19T12:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsmithmusic.com\/?p=603"},"modified":"2025-09-26T20:59:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T00:59:00","slug":"the-kitchen-musician-february-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomsmithmusic.com\/?p=603","title":{"rendered":"The Kitchen Musician ~ February 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Friends,<\/p>\n

At the invitation of my friend Timmy Riordan, we each wrote a new song inspired by January’s shooting incident in Tucson, Arizona. Several of my friends joined us with songs and a poem of their own. I share them all in this month’s Kitchen Musician<\/em><\/strong>. Come in, fix yourself some tea and catch a glimpse of several works in progress.<\/p>\n

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Tom and Mally at The Burren
Tom and Mally at The Burren<\/em>, January, 2011
\nPhoto: Tom Bianchi via mobile phone<\/p>\n

Recent News:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Here in New England, we have had weekly major snow events for months, accompanied by cold weather. This adds up to a lot of snow that stays on the ground and piles up so high that many areas have run out of places to put it. Our local Shaq-o-meter<\/a> shows that as of last week, Boston has received over 70 inches of snow. Our normal winter is 41.8 inches. Imagine my disappointment when my trusty snowblower died during the first ten minutes of clearing the second snow storm of the season. By my calculations, my wife Margo, son-in-law Doug and I shoveled over nine tons of snow that day! I discovered that there was not a single snow blower for sale in all of southern New England. Being a thoroughly modern New Englander, I ordered one on the Internet. I was a little worried by the fine print that read “some assembly required”, but I held my breath and clicked “Buy now”. Happily, my new snow blower arrived by freight truck in about a week on the day of the third major storm. I found my old Craftsman tool set (which I hadn’t used for about 10 years), and the snow blower was complete and ready to go with the snow falling around me as I put my tools away. Timing is everything in this world. My new snowblower has since handled several more major storms, including the snow that has fallen in my neighbor’s driveways. Happy me! Happy Neighbors!<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the temperature outside turned dramatically upward and the mud ruts are showing where I park my car on the dirt in my back yard. It has me prematurely thinking of spring and New Hampshire maple syrup season. We New Englanders love to talk about weather. A winter like this one brings us together. Neighbors who might not otherwise tip their hats to each other wind up leaning on their snow shovels and talking and sharing stories. I called my New Hampshire neighbor on the phone to ask how my little cabin is doing this winter. I couldn’t take the time to drive up there, and I was worried about the flat roof collapsing under the weight of snow. When I asked about the voracity of that last storm, in typical New Hampshire fashion he paused for a bit and drawled “Yup, it was a bit windy. It took me a couple hours to shovel out the snow that blew through the keyhole in the front door.” It reminded me of the time I heard Judson Hale (Judson is the editor of Yankee Magazine<\/a> from neighboring Dublin, NH) tell of a summer resident who asked a local townsperson how the winter had been in New Hampshire that year. “Perfectly cussed” the townsperson replied. “In fact, it was a damn sight worse than we expected, but we expected that.”<\/p>\n

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This Month’s Music<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Mark Upon My Son<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00a9 2011 Tom Smith<\/p>\n