big hurricane and a little camera

A Sandy Olympus ©2012 Gary Garbett

Hurricane Sandy and a Camera: I've been looking for an #Olympus OM series camera for a while. This one is gorgeous. The package arrived today, five days after the auction closed. Everything, including a second lens and a flash was extremely well packaged and securely boxed. You never really know just what you may get from an online auction until the package actually arrives. I won the auction for this 1979 OM-2n on Sunday evening and paid for it immediately. In less than 24 hours from the time I submitted payment, Hurricane Sandy would make a devastating attack of the Northeast, pummeling New York and New Jersey.

Ben, the seller of the camera, lives in Staten Island, NY. After watching the fallout that Sandy left behind, my excitement for a camera was quickly replaced by an honest concern for a community and for Ben. I've read the stories, seen the photos, and watched the news. The horror is simply that. Horror. I'd ruled out any possibility of ever receiving the package and to be quite honest, was perfectly fine with that. The price of a camera was unimportant. I just hoped that Ben and his family were safe.

I returned home this afternoon after running several errands to find a package waiting for me. It was sitting on my stoop in the warmth of the sunshine. The return address read Staten Island and the postmark was October 29, 2012, the very day that Sandy made landfall. I was shocked. Knowing that this little camera came from an area of such devastation just a few days ago and now it's new home is in the calm of autumn a few hundred miles south is nearly unimaginable.

A person's character speaks greater words than any that ever come from their mouth. On Monday, just hours before Sandy's arrival, I'm sure that Ben had far more important things to do than worry about getting a package in the mail. Once again, character speaks volumes. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ben and all those affected by this disaster. Please let me know if I can do anything to help.

Peace and goodness to all.

A Sandy Olympus ©2012 Gary Garbett

celebrating birthdays. celebrating years.

A Birthday Wish

We recently celebrated our daughter’s birthday… again. It feels like I light the candles on that family tradition birthday cake every few weeks rather than years.

Aside from those years when I was an ambitious teen managing my small town paper route monopoly, fatherhood feels like it’s been a fixture in my life for my entire life. With everyone now grown, my position, as a father is certainly different than it once was. The love and dedication I have for our children has never wavered. Those emotions however, much like our children and myself, have all matured. Adjusting from so many years of dedicated full time parenting to an occasional visit a few times a year has certainly taken some getting use to. I get better at it every day.

From the time I was a child myself, I’ve always been an avid collector of music. With this new level of parenting, I’m now able to listen to quite a few more albums in their entirety than I was able to find time for over the past three decades. My dogs and I also spend more quality time together than we once did. They love it and so do I. Luckily for me, the pups are also music aficionados. It’s a double win for each of us.

Perhaps there was a day or two during my endless years of parenting that wasn’t quite perfect. The whole parenting thing is so judgmental. It doesn’t come with a manual or even a report card, but I’m convinced that I did a better than average job as Daddy. What I do know for sure, is that every moment of it came from the heart.

Before you know it, we’ll be celebrating another birthday year with that same cake recipe and lighting a few more candles. Before that time though, the pups and I have enough time to listen to a few more records. Life, like a song, is beyond that good.

friday morning’s big shoe breakfast

Flipp Breakfast

Yesterday afternoon was sort of like being in the produce section of the grocery store and running into an old girlfriend that I hadn’t seen in a decade or maybe two. No. Wait. Actually it was more like stumbling into one of my favorite kick ass rock bands who I hadn’t heard from in way too long. Plus this was far sexier than any produce aisle and it came with liner notes.

While digging through my endless collection of music yesterday, my soul was kickstarted much the same way it was fifteen years ago with the all out guitar driven assault, punk angst, energy driving, and in your face rock and roll of FLIPP.

I was introduced the band when they opened for Cheap Trick’s 1997 tour. A friend gave me a heads up after seeing the tour a week earlier. He suggested I get to the show in time for the opening band. That’s all I needed to hear and trusted his call. I just went with it. From the time FLIPP took the stage in front of their wall of glittery Kustom Amps and punched the first power chord, I was all in. Sold. Done.

My life has changed a little bit since first seeing FLIPP. My passion for kick ass music however, has not. Re-listening to FLIPP’s library over the past day relit that same fuse that was sparked when I first heard the guys play “I Wish I Was a Planet” on that small stage in Richmond’s Floodzone. It was unbelievable. Today’s breakfast at my office included an orange, two cups of coffee, and Flipp’s back catalog. I stomped my Doc Martens under my desk a few times, loosened the collar on my button down, and threw my fist to the air on several occasions. Even wearing slacks, I’m happy to testify that Rock and Roll ain’t dead.

Although the band hasn’t played in several years, FLIPP, for me, remain a real rock and roll band for the sake of just that… Rock and Roll. In my review of their sophomore release, I wrote:

“Once again, Rock and Roll raises it’s head, steps out front with big shoes, glittery screaming guitars, and demands attention. Flipp is a much needed rock and roll enema and their new release is a winning royal flush.”

I still believe every word I wrote and I still believe in this band. I also believe I’ll take the longer road home from the office today, guaranteed to have all the windows down, the roof open, and the music louder than loud. I may even stop by the grocery store too. You never know who you may see in the produce section. I Still Love Rock and Roll. Period.