This time of my life is filled with choices. Each day I assume various roles and through my choices, experience a richness of living. This blog is for me, to capture my life!
A few weeks ago when my brother, Fred, and I were cleaning my mother's garage he grabbed a heavy item sitting on one of the shelves, opened it and exclaimed, "Now why on earth was she keeping this?" As he walked over to the trash bin to dispose of the bag which contained two old used bricks I yelled, "Wait! Stop! Don't throw those away...those are from Grandma Montalto's house on Oakdale Ave."
A number of years ago the old house, the house where my mother and her siblings were raised, the house where we children played with cousins, where we ran up and down the stairs to the second floor, where we gathered for family holiday dinners, where my Grandfather died, was demolished to provide space to expand the parking lot of the Polish Club next door. Family members gathered at the site and emotionally grabbed some of the bricks before they were hauled away. Two bricks were saved for my mother who lived in California, 3000 miles away from Lorain, OH and she carried them home with her after her next trip to visit family. Having the bricks was like having a little piece of our family history and the bricks were an umbilical cord to our memories and our love for our family.
1720 Oakdale Ave - Home of the Montalto Family
1720 Oakdale Ave. Backyard where the garden used to be.
1720 Oakdale Ave. being demolished. 1994
1720 Oakdale was just one of the homes that held the role of "homestead" for our family. My father's family grew up at 627 Franklin Ave, Kent, OH. That home also
holds memories of a grandmother who buried your face in her soft, soft bosom when she hugged you, of learning to make gnocchi, of rabbits being
raised in the backyard. That house is still in the family and my dad's
sister, Mary, continues to live there.
627 Franklin Ave. Home of Joseph & Harriet Rinaldi Family
When my parents married and moved to Kent, Ohio they eventually were able to buy 1034 Merydith St. This is the house where my siblings and I were raised. When I close my eyes, I can still walk from room to room in my head. I can still feel how proud I was to finally have my own room when we remodeled the house. I can remember the feeling of running out the back door, hearing the screen door bang shut as I took off for the neighbor's house, and the sadness when we drove away from it in on a snowy day in November 1955 to move to Hawthorne, CA. Whenever we visit family in Kent, I make a pilgrimage to the house and once was able to knock on the door and ask if I could visit inside just one more time.
1034 Merydith St. - Home of Archie & Grace Rinaldi Family - 1955 the day we left
In Hawthorne we moved to 5433 W. 140 St. Here we spent our high school years, where I brought my toddlers to spend time with their grandparents, where my parents spent their last years and where my sister and her husband continue to live today.
5433 W. 140 St. - New home of the Rinaldi Family
When I married and was finally able to purchase our own home, we lived at 5515 W. 124 St. Here my sons grew up, their dogs ran through the rooms, we marked their height on the door jamb, they held their wild high school parties, played musical instruments, invited friends to eat huge pasta dinners. When I married Jay and moved to my current home, I finally decided to sell this house and my sons were very emotional about it, especially Marc. It was the only house he had ever lived in and he asked me, "How can you sell it?" I asked him, "What do you want me to do, Marc, turn it into a shrine?" Though my response was flip, I understood his feelings. It was OUR house...how could someone else inhabit its walls.
5515 W. 124 St. - Home of the Altieri Family
Each of these homes represent an important time in the history of our family. The walls ARE like a shrine. They have held the hopes, dreams, fears, laughter, tears, the words of anger and the words of love. They have sheltered us as a family from the physical and intangible elements from outside our little family unit and kept us safe and together. So it seems right to honor these homesteads and to remember them.
As for the bricks...they are currently sitting on a shelf in MY garage.
Bricks from 1720 Oakdale Ave.
I hope my sons read this blog post so they will recognize them when the day comes for them to clean out my garage and they won't throw them out in the trash!
I have always loved music. Since I was a child, I could never stand still when spirited music was playing. But somehow when I was growing up "I never got the memo" that I was supposed to have a favorite band, buy all their albums, and sell my first born child to be able to buy tickets to see them in concert. I think I was born in the cusp between generations because my brothers, Chuck and Fred, are just 3 and 5 years younger than I and they were into bands in their teens...starting with the Beatles. My own sons loved music, had posters of KISS, Ted Nugent, Terry Bozzio and many others decorating their bedroom walls through the years and to this day, they still scramble obtain concert tickets before they sell out to see their favorite artists, currently The Avett Brothers.
The first item I ever bought on a time payment plan was a High Fidelity Record player. The first album I ever owned was a Perry Como Christmas album, 33 1/3 rpm...and I was president of the first Andy Williams fan club because my dad worked with Andy's brother when he was first starting his career. But I was never what could be defined as a "groupie!" That is until 2006 when Jay and I went to see my cousin, Michael Montalto perform with his band, Red Meat, at the "world's smallest honky tonk bar" The Cinema Bar, in Culver City.
After that first time we were hooked. Their music is consistent, original, up beat, toe-tapping, humourous lyrics, together with some side-splitting stand-up comedy (even if Smelley is a little risque!) We always grab the chance to see them live. Once, while on a vacation, we even were able to catch one of their shows in the San Francisco Bay area where they live. Each year they make the pilgrimage to Southern California, usually playing one night at the Cinema Bar, and we never miss it.
The group all hails from the Midwest and they have been performing together since 1993. Michael, also known affectionately as "Monty," is the lead guitarist.
Michael Montalto 2012
Scott Young plays the guitar, the violin, the trombone and sings. Jill Olson, bassist and vocalist, tries to keep vocalist and front man, Smelley Kelley, from becoming too outrageously ribald. Drummer, Les James, and manager, Owen Bly, keep everything on an even keel. Much of their music is original written by Jill and Scott, but they also play many country favorites as well. We have bought all their CDs, sing along with the lyrics in the car, and even bought the T-shirt.
Well, last night was the night for 2012. We headed to Culver City to the Cinema Bar and it was a family reunion for us.
Though Michael was just a little boy when we moved from Ohio, over the years I have been able to develop a nice relationship with this first cousin.
Patricia, Michael and Jay
His girlfriend, Gillian, was also along for the trip and it was good to reconnect with her.
Gillian and Michael
All the band greets us as "Here's Montalto's cousins" and we feel right at home. We even enticed another LA resident cousin, Michael Bove, to join us and we all shared beer, laughs, hugs and music. Michael Bove, an actor and drummer himself, knew just how to help Les set up his equipment.
Michael Bove, the cousin and the "roadie!"
A drummer himself, he know how to set it up!
We stayed for both sets and got home around 2 am!
Red Meat performing
So today, though I woke up a little groggy from the late night, I was happy...happy to have reconnected with family and happy to have enjoyed a fun evening with great people. Now I just have to get that song out of my head..."I have a 12 inch, three speed, oscillating fan..."
Los Angeles is a great place to be! Yesterday we were able to take advantage of just one more opportunity to learn and grow - thanks to the Culinary Historians of Southern California, based in Los Angeles. Who knew there were Culinary Historians! We stumbled onto this group a couple of years ago when our "radar" noticed a blip in a local paper that mentioned: lecture...free...Los Angeles...Central Library...food...cooking...Steve Sando...Rancho Gordo Beans...all terms we continually scan for! That lecture was the first of many we would attend. The Culinary Historians were founded in 1995 as an affiliate of the Public Library for library patrons who "sought an intellectual as well as gastronomic approach to food, but not at the expense of taking themselves too seriously that they would forget to have fun!" Through lectures and dining events they learn about food history, trends and social implications of what and how we eat.
When I saw that this month's speaker was Paula Wolfert I was especially intrigued. I was familiar with Paula, a well-known cookbook author who specializes in the food, culture and history of the Mediterranean and especially the country of Morocco.
In the past I have used her recipes for greens and grains and explored cooking in clay pottery, but I did not know much about the actual cuisine of Morocco. Not only did we attend the lecture, but we signed up for a "members only" Algerian dinner that same evening held at a local Algerian restaurant in Culver City, Cafe Livre, where Paula would also be a guest.
The lecture was fascinating. It is so much fun to listen to someone speak on a topic that comes from her heart and with a depth of knowledge that comes from 40 years of traveling and writing thoughout the Mediterranean and results in words so eager to be expressed that you cannot take notes fast enough! She made me want to sit on the floor with a family of Berbers and share the tagine of food, offering tidbits to others with the three fingers of my right hand and saving the eyeball for the honored guest!
Paula Wolfert being interviewed by Nancy Zaslavsky
The dinner in the evening was great fun. Not only did we get to eat the Algerian cuisine but each dish was described by the owner/chef, Farid Zadi, who explained its history and preparation.
Chef Zadi explaining his dishes to us.
We had five courses that we with shared with spoons, not fingers. Salads, hummus, soup, lamb shank, Merquez sausage, and a tagine of vegetables with chicken, beef and lamb. What I was most impressed with was the couscous.
Authentic couscous!!
Couscous is a fairly new dish for me. I knew it was from the Mediterranean region and was even often prepared in my beloved Sicily, but it is not a part of my family's culinary history. The only couscous I have prepared and eaten comes from a box of instant couscous from Trader Joe's, prepared and ready in 5 minutes. Well, the difference between that and Chef Zadi's couscous was the difference between Chef Boyardee canned ravioli and my mother's homemade! Who knew that couscous so could be so delicious!! Of course he explained that it is steamed 3 times...from 45 minutes to an hour each time. Its preparation is not for the faint-hearted.
That evening I could not help thinking about the world. How amazing that I could eat Moroccan food in Los Angeles, that I could buy couscous at Trader Joe's. As the world grows smaller, we become more alike and what is at risk is the loss of all that makes us unique. So I guess it falls to those of us who remember to capture the traditions, the stories, the songs, the recipes; to preserve them so that those who follow us can know the roots and the people on whose shoulders we stand. So, I rejoice that I am a historian...a keeper of the memories, the recipes, the stories and the traditions of my family. It is a privilege to be able to look to the past while walking into the future.
Bottom line, we enjoyed our evening, making new friends at our table and getting to interact on a personal level with our guest of honor.
Will I ever attempt to make couscous traditionally? Chi sa, who knows!. Will I ever go eat Chef Zadi's couscous at Cafe Livre? Absolutely!
While I am not a particularly sports-minded person, by virtue of having 3 sons, sports have always been a part of my life. Working in the snack stands, washing grass-stained uniforms, bringing treats for the team was all in a day's work. Whether it was football, baseball, basketball or golf I took my place in the stands and loudly cheered while whispering little prayers that their team would win.
Today, many years later, I again found myself sitting in the stands cheering for one of their teams. My second son, Michael, has been a part of the Los Angeles King's Hockey staff for many years and I have had the pleasure of attending my share of games as a spectator, but today's game was special because the Kings were hoping to "sweep" the second round of play-off games...this round against the St. Louis Blues...in their attempt to ultimately capture the 2012 Stanley Cup. Hockey games are always exciting and hockey fans are a rare, avid breed. We reached the Staples Center in downtown LA well before the noon game so we could wander around LA Live and see all the pre-game activity.
LA Live is the Sports and Entertainment District that has been created around the Staples Center and the Nokia Theater. It was filled with people getting into the play-off spirit, wearing King jerseys and other emblems of their team loyalty...even purple hair!
Kids were playing street hockey,
Luc Robitaille's son was entertaining with his band,
Jay even got to check out the new hybrid plug-in Prius on display.
The entire family supports the Kings and I was happy to see Joey who had driven up from San Diego with his buddy Nick to attend the game.
Nick and Joey
Gabriel, a die-hard King and Hockey fan, was sitting with his Uncle Marc.
Gabriel with Marc
Once in our seats Michael came to see us.
Michael sporting his beard!
He, like the Kings' players and other staff members, is participating in a Beardathon...growing a beard throughout the playoffs and getting sponsors to contribute to the Kings Care Charity for their efforts. Being a good Mom I supported this activity, just like I supported his jogathons when he was a young boy!
The game was fantastic and began immediately with the King's scoring a goal.
For the entire three periods the Kings were never behind and at the end, with the crowd going wild, the Kings did it, they won 3 - 1, sweeping the round by winning the first 4 games of the series and knocking out the first and second seeded teams in their conference.
Even Jay was excited!
Next they will advance to the Western Conference Finals.
It was a lively day and an exciting game. I cheered hard, I waved my King's towel and I even whispered a little prayer during the tense last 2 minutes. While I was happy for the Kings, I have to admit that I was happier for Michael. A mom always wants her son's team to win!
I remember when I was in elementary school at St. Patrick's Catholic School in Kent, OH I always envied the kids who were the "Publics," those kids attending public school. I was jealous because they went on Field Trips. With green eyes I would watch their school bus pass by on their way to the zoo or a museum...someplace in the neighboring big city of Cleveland and I longed to be with them!
Well, a while ago, as students "of a certain age" Jay and I joined our Omnilorean Learning-in-Retirement classmates on a Field Trip. Once a year we have the opportunity to venture on a walking tour to someplace in our big city of Los Angeles. The day is planned and led by our wonderful, John Taber. Over the years John, a seasoned walker/hiker has exposed us to the history and various sites of our city. This time we were going to see the area of Angelino Heights one of the oldest neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
Getting there was half the fun! Because we come from various parts of the South Bay, because the freeways and parking can be such a nightmare and because part of the adventure is getting there, we take public transportation, mainly using the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. We started out from various points and met at the junction point of Wilmington Station.
Jay with others at Wilmington Station Junction
Then we rode the Blue Line to the Seventh Street Station, changed to board the Red Line to the Pershing Square Station where, after a "potty stop," we caught a local bus that deposited us in Angelino Heights.
John has always walked the tour in advance and done extensive research on what he is going to show us. This time he had "tour guide in training," Dennis Eggert accompany him on his dry run and assist in the day's outing.
Dennis explaining something to the group.
We started at the old Fire Station where John shared the history with us.
John relating the history.
Andrea, Steve, Berthe, Jim and Janet.
From there we walked toward our real destination, the old historical Victorian homes that look down on the city.
We had all heard of Carroll Avenue but most of us had never seen it before. So while we did not have to hold hands with our "buddies" we did make a rag-tag looking bunch of senior scholars as we ambled down the street to get a closer look at each of the houses.
We did not walk single file, nor with partners!
One home owner saw us ogling through the iron fence and she invited us in to her backyard for a closer look.
Viewing one home-owner's back yard.
It was a fantastic, clear day and we enjoyed seeing these homes.
We don't care to bring brown bag lunches so Dennis had located a restaurant where we hoped to stop for a bite but due to the lunchtime crowd they were unable to accommodate us. So being resourceful, we regrouped, checking a map that Jay had brought with him for an alternative destination.
We ended up taking a bus to the old Angel's Flight Landmark funicular, newly opened for use again, and rode the smallest railway in the world up to the California Plaza.
Riding the Angel's Flight funicular.
California Plaza
Here we ate our purchased lunch alongside the beautiful rooftop gardens and pools
and were even treated to an impromptu concert by a young man who sat down at the outdoor piano.
After lunch we headed back to the Metro Station at Pershing Square where we posed for a group picture.
The Motley Crew!
We returned home, tired and happy from spending the day with old friends, making new friends and seeing a unique part of the Los Angeles...a great Field Trip! Good news...we do not have to write a report on it for class tomorrow.
