A new family tradition, a new city-wide tradition and recommendations for reading and listening

Posted By: David Fortier June 25, 2023

By David Fortier 

Come Sunday morning, the humidity will have moved in, which is fine since we are approaching July. Over the past few weeks, we have been pretty fortunate with the weather. On Saturday, the weather cooperated in a nice way, since the family, behind the initiative of child No. 2, met for what we are considering the first monthly family meal bringing together Fortier parents, kids who are in the area and grandkids. 

Everyone chips in with something, such as salads, breads and desserts, with main course being pasta (angel hair as Nana would have done) and tomato sauce (with sausage and children—there was always some variety of meat, including pork, when there wasn’t freshly made meatballs) using Nana’s recipe. This time around child No. 1 and family brought the salad. Mary and I brought some desserts and a loaf of bread from Bakery on Maple. 

The grandkids roamed under foot and the adults managed to catch up over a glass of wine or seltzer or even some cold brew coffee. The soft aroma of the tomato sauce simmering on the stove wafted through the house, along with the garlic bread baking in the oven. For a few minutes, the television played some kids show. For the most part, there were no distractions from any screens and the day ended with a walk to a neighborhood playground. I am already looking forward to at the next gathering. 

*** 

This wasn’t the only remarkable gathering of the week. Another get-together bringing together a large family occurred at the Carousel Museum on Monday, with city’s first celebration of Juneteenth. (Juneteenth commemorates the occasion when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, bringing with them General Orders, No. 3, freeing the last of the slaves a few months after the end of the Civil War and two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 

There was food and song, several performances, a dramatic reading of General Orders, No. 3, and dancing after the official program ended. To say it was a pretty good time would be an understatement. That’s another celebration to look forward to next year. 

*** 

Reading/listening: There is simply so much good stuff out that it’s difficult to keep up with. I suppose that has always been the case. (Which makes me wonder if Teddy Roosevelt, who was known for reading one book a day in his adult years, including those he was president, would have fared any better in the age of A.I.? Would he have turned over his reading habit to A.I. and asked for summaries rather than rambling through those volumes himself?) 

For listening, how about The Ezra Klien Show podcast and “Why This Economist Wants to Give Every Poor Child $50,000.” (Something the Connecticut legislature did this year with the introduction of “baby bonds.”) Click here. 

For reading, how about “The Art of Being a Flaneur,” flaneur being a person who ambles, walks for the pleasure of walking in cities or I guess anywhere. This one appears in The New York Times. Click here for the story. 

*** 

The week has had its memorable news stories, from the OceanGate tragedy to the NBA draft to the Supreme Court vote affecting tribal water resources to the resolution of the Hunter Biden case. Of course, this is all of a piece and its our “work” to make some sense of it. 

And the Fourth of July is right around the corner. 

Be well! 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org. 

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