Inspiration from a Friend
October thoughts - Courtesy of Jesse Paris Smith's prompts
The picture above as nearly nothing to do with what comes next, except that the young lady pictured is an inspiration to me - as is Jesse Paris Smith. Jesse provided a set of questions to readers of her Substack which I saw while I was waiting for Lynn to come out of TJMaxx in Columbia, Maryland yesterday afternoon. Today, I replied:
Nearing the Close of October Questions
Name: Hal Gill (well, actually, legally Harold Bledsoe Gill, III)
Date, Time, Location: October 27, 2024 - 6:30 PM - 2103 ½ S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
How are you feeling today: Content
What are you listening to: The Fare Thee Well Concert #1 being played by Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzman, with Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimienti, and Bruce Hornsby in June 2015
Any other sensory elements around you: My wife and the aromas of our condo - scented candle burning on a small bookcase given to us by a friend from Sardinia (originally) upon her move to Ireland.
What are you working on: Answering these questions - but I have established an LLC for stewarding my father’s legacy - it’s called the Harold B Gill Foundation and is supported by a Substack that I call “Harrowings” which is publishing some of his articles (so far) but there are so many artifacts that I have collected from his study that I am a bit overwhelmed with it all.
What was the best part of the day today: Being here with my wife is the best part but I also got in a long walk down 19th Street that found me at the park dedicated to the signers of the Declaration of Independence on a pond between the World War II Memorial, Constitution Avenue and the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There were a lot of sunfish and a blue heron along with many ducks and the weather was beautiful. I walked down to the National Gallery of Art wearing my “Unbroken Chain” T shirt which has the lyrics “Listening for the Secret/Searching for the Sound” on the back - and wearing my “Rex Foundation” hat - and took in the Paris 1874 exhibition - then I sat for a while in a Barcelona chair in the East Wing and responded to your Mother’s post on Lou Reed’s passing, Jesse. I then walked to the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro - filming the passing show on Facebook live as I walked. It’s a part of my discipline to create these short bits of video and share them publicly on Facebook on the “Never Delete” setting as primary documentation for historians in the future.
What was the hardest part of the day today: Knowing that this is all fleeting - and that it’s likely we won’t actually be having days like this forever. Knowing that being seen and heard in the cacophony of cyberspace is rare….and that we may never be known to each other in a deep and meaningful way.
What are you excited about: I can’t let that cat out of the cag just yet!
What are you grateful for today: Breathing - always - and that I get the opportunity to play through creation - that I’m allowed to run around free (ostensibly) - or as free as any of us are.
Is there anything else you would like to accomplish today: I want to post this and more to my substack for my subscribers because I want to give them something to chomp on with their minds.
What are you looking forward to for tomorrow:
What’s something you can do a little better tomorrow than you did today: I can be a better editor of myself so that I can amplify my signal through my own noise. It’s what fifers do - amplifying signals though the noise.
What is a quote/affirmation that resonates with you today: “Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil” - Jerry Garcia (and probably a host of others).
Thank you, Jesse Paris Smith, for the prompts! - and thank YOU for reading, subscribing, or at least amplifying my signal through the noise by sharing!
Feedback is MOST welcome! Without you, we are not us. Onwards!