Day: December 31, 2023

2023 Year in Review: Memorable Events

~ Liam ~ Leave a comment

I started a tradition back in 1996 of making a list of the most memorable events of the year. I always say that memorable does not mean it is necessarily positive, so don’t be surprised to see negative experiences on this list.

Here is my 27th annual list.

February

Boston Pride – I determined to make this the year I started regularly supporting Boston’s women’s hockey game.  I watched several games online, went to my first game in February and then a playoffs game in March (which they lost).  Then the league folded.  Now there’s a whole new league with a new Boston teams that doesn’t have a name yet starting in January 2024.

March

 

New England Archivists 50th Anniversary Meeting – I joined my fellow archivists from the New England for a celebratory conference in Portsmouth, NH.

April

Theater – I got to attend three theatrical productions this year: Into the Woods at Emerson Colonial Theater,  Sister Act at the Lyric Theater, and Assassins also at the Lyric Theater.

Raffy – we adopted a kitten and he’s absolutely delightful.  And a menace!

Whaling exhibit – Working with several co-workers we put on a small exhibit of objects and manuscripts from our libraries collection related to whales as a commodity.

Patriots Day – Gathered together in Newton to see a friend running the Boston Marathon.

New York in April – Visited my Mom in New York and did some sightseeing at the Louis Armstrong House, the Museum of the Moving Image, the Museum of the City of New York, and the New York Botanical Garden, as well as a performance at the Metropolitan Opera.

 

Revels  – after two years performing in the Midwinter Revels, this year I didn’t get cast (although I had a blast at the audition).  Nevertheless, I sang with the Revel Singers, the unauditioned community chorus for two sessions.  And when I saw the Midwinter Revels performance on the solstice, I got called up on the stage for some audience participation in “The 12 Days of Christmas.”  But my biggest Revels highlight of the year was singing at the annual performance at the Perkins School for the Blind where I was paired up with one of the students for several songs and a dance!

 

Freelance Players – Kay continues to have the drama bug and performed in two shows this year, portraying a guard in the spring show in May and a squirrel in the autumn show in December.

June

Moving Up – Kay finished elementary school in a raucous ceremony at their school.

Title IX Invitational – Kay participated in several baseball tournaments this year with the Boston Slammers, a team for girls and gender-nonconforming kids who love baseball.  I got to see the Slammers play in Hoboken, New Jersey with the New York City skyline in the background.  The tournament honored Maria Pepe whose exclusion from her Hoboken baseball team in the 1970s lead to the case that integrated Little League. Kay’s team also played at the Baseball for All national tournament in Kentucky, but I was sadly unable to go to watch.

August

Glasses – After a lifetime of 20/20 vision, I distressingly found it more and more difficult to see things in the distance.  Watching a game from the Fenway Park bleachers in July was particularly miserable.  And so I got my first pair of glasses in August.  Four months later I’m still getting used to them.

A Death in the Family – My brother-in-law Woody died suddenly in August.  I was able to go spend some time with my sister and nephew and attend his memorial service in October.

New England Botanical Garden – Susan and I ventured out for a lovely hike around this arboretum and gardens.

September

Swim Class – Having not had a swim class since before I was 10-years-old, I was happy to relearn some of the strokes and improve efficiency in this 8-week course at the Y.

Anniversary – Susan and I celebrated our anniversary with a performance of Assassins (see above), and cocktails at a hotel bar in Copley Square. We also saw some cows.

Hudson Valley – On the Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend, we visited my mother in New York and headed up the Hudson Valley to the Storm King Art Center and the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze.

November

50th Birthday – I turned 50 years old this year and celebrated with my friends two weeks later with a trivia night at the Boston Nature Center.

 

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