NANTWICH UNDER SIEGE

Disaster in Nantwich

The gloaming comes early in this part of the world. Combine the northern latitude with the wintry times and it gets dark mid-afternoon in northwest England. The sun is usually a rare sighting any time of year, although it was unseasonably delightful yesterday and there have been silvery glints in the sky. Today the full impact of English weather is on display with blustery winds and rain that comes in fits and spurts, nothing full on and nothing quite clear, just a muddling through the day. Other parts of England are suffering through severe flooding caused by Storm Frank. Nantwich has been largely spared, although the winds that left my face raw red after my run was cause for some excitement in this sleepy little town. They will be talking about the fierce storm of 2015 for decades to come in the pubs of Nantwich. Not only was an elderly man’s hat blown clear across the street, the winds did blow over a tree. This offensive tree just happened to be front of the apartment of our hosts’ daughter and throughout the day she was comforted and congratulated for her bravery by friends and family.

 TREE DOWN

Yes, not a lot happens in Nantwich.

And, that’s wonderful.

THE HORRIBLE AFTERMATH!

  

To Grandmother's House we go..............

The boss of Team VFH, is currently in England visiting her daughter and son-in-law and their 11 month old child. Work commitments have me here Stateside until tomorrow when I fly out to Manchester out of Philadelphia.

 

THE CROWN HOTEL, NANTWICH

This is an over the hills and through the woods excursion across the pond and hearts and minds will brim with warm thoughts and embraces and another chance to see the young grandson that has Janet’s heart on a string. I’ll be there for just 6 days, so there’s not much time for exploring. Usually I am loath to return to a destination because it is such a big world and there is so much to see, but this particular trip to Nantwich, Chesire in the UK is all about family.

 THE CROWN HOTEL, NANTWICH

ST. MARY'S CHURCH, NANTWICH

Nantwch is about 40 miles south of Liverpool and I was last there for the kid’s wedding at the Crown Hotel, a 16^th century building that leans into High Street like a drunken sailor. Our visit this time to this charming, quiet town will no doubt include several trips to “The Gun”, The Rifleman, the favored pub of our hosts. They’ll be little time for anything else. I understand our NYE celebration will include a pub crawl and then a gathering at the square before St. Mary’s Church to hear the New Year chime in as we all link arms to sing a drunken version of Auld Lang Syne. ….before going back to the pubs.

THE RIFLEMAN

Sounds like fun!

The Mind Behind The Voice

I would be remiss if I allow this date to pass without acknowledging how it changed my life and set me on an around the world course, literally. Twice!

Today is the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra.

For a relatively brief stint in his illustrious career I worked for him as his teleprompter operator. Some may scoff that he couldn’t remember all his lyrics and I say that every night the orchestra would unfurl their sheet music to play such standards as “I’ve Got The World On A String” and “Under My Skin.” I obviously make a joke that I was The Mind behind The Voice, but it was a necessary job.

The cultural icon was born in Hoboken, NJ in 1915 and always had some difficulty remembering lyrics. During his shows he used to tell a story about his time as a singing waiter at The Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, NJ and tried to sing a Cole Porter song for the man and his entourage, but forgot the lyrics.

And, that’s where I come in, at least in 1986. Prompting is an easy fix for flawed memories, especially during the swirl and commotion of a live event

My five years with Mr. Sinatra took me to places I never would have hoped to visit. He took me to Australia three times, Japan twice. I cut a wide swatch through Europe in our tours; countries like Austria, Monaco, Finland and Italy, among many, many others. Had I not worked a show in Des Moines I doubt I would ever have visited Iowa.

Yes, traveling on Sinatra’s dime had its perks and as the founding father of Vacations From Home traveling to such varied and exotic locations was quite alluring, especially since I only had to pay for my beer. My passport brimmed with stamps. Yeah, there was work, but that never got in the way of exploring with days off. We once traveled to Italy for five weeks and did all of five shows while there. We would travel to Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City or London for a week at a time, which allowed me to travel my fledgling family in for mini-vacations. These were good times.

So, happy birthday Francis Albert Sinatra. I am sure there’s a rip-snorting party going on right now!