August 2022 - Turning 70; Class Reunion; Pratt & Whitney; Cape Cod

Late Summer Happenings

I turned 70 in July.  I know that a number of you have already crossed that bridge, and I totally agree when people say things like "it's just a number" or "it sure beats the alternative".  Any casual observer of history knows that 70 is a privilege not afforded to too many over the centuries.  So, I have to chuckle a bit when I think back to the lyrics from a Simon & Garfunkel song from the late 1960's:

"Old friends sat on a park bench like bookends...

Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly?

How terribly strange to be seventy."

I was probably 15 or 16 when I first heard that song and couldn't imagine being 70, just as I can't imagine just passing my days on a park bench now that I am 70!   

BUT....I had a brief vision of just that future fate on the morning of my birthday.  Out for a hike with my dog Zoey, I absent-mindedly stepped on a small rock, twisting my right ankle and landing with a THUD on my left hip.  Getting up slowly and picking up my glasses and backpack, I did a quick assessment and came to the conclusion (a) thankfully, no one saw me and (b) nothing was broken.  I limped the last half mile back to my car - and continued to limp for the next few weeks, with my ankle in a brace  and a large rainbow-colored bruise on my hip.  It was Mother Nature's warped way of introducing me to the 70's. .   

A few weeks later, another milestone: my 50th high school reunion.  Technically, it was the 52nd reunion - Conard High class of 1970 - delayed by two years due to Covid.  

(Side note here: we were the class of '70, 70 years old, born in '52, our 52nd reunion.  I've been playing with the math to figure that out.  If the class of '71, born in '53, has a 53rd reunion in 2024, they'll all be 71.  Same with the class of '60, born in '42 and 60 years old at their 42nd reunion, etc.   Does that work for every year?)

 Anyway, back to the reunion: we were a class of over 600, but only about 200 were in attendance at the dinner, held at Wampanoag CC in West Hartford.  It was a pleasant event marked by a bunch 70 year-olds that mostly didn't recognize eachother and spent the evening squinting to read each other's name tags.  I attended with my long-term friends Nancy and Barbara, and it proved to be a fun weekend of reminiscing and laughter, including a Sunday morning tour through our old neighborhoods and landmarks in Elmwood.

Selfie in front of our alma mater Talcott Jr High, now part of a condominium complex

Which is what brings me to Pratt & Whitney.  

My friend Barbara has been living in Michigan for the last 25 or 30 years, so I decided to take her through downtown Hartford to see how it's changed.  As we approached the intersection of Main Street and Maple Avenue near the South Green, we started to notice an uptake in motorcycle traffic and saw police lights ahead.  That should have been a signal to turn around, but before we could assess the scene, we were detoured from Wyllis Street onto one-way Congress Street - away from Main.  Observing the abundance of people with balloons and Puerto Rican flags walking by, we realized (confirmed via a quick online search) that we had stumbled into the midst of Hartford's Puerto Rican pride day.  

We weren't going anywhere soon - in fact, for close to an hour.

Now, I know that some folks would just sit and stew in their cars in frustration, but Barbara seemed to share my reaction that this was just a continuation of our weekend's adventure.  Looking around, we slowly came to realize that the street we were on was lined with a collection of (mostly restored) beautiful 19th century Brownstone buildings.  Nothing else to do, Barbara did another online search and found that all of Congress Street is in fact listed in the National Register of Historic Places....

Congress Street in Hartford

.....AND....

Early residents of the street included Francis A. Pratt (1827-1902) and Amos Whitney (1832-1920).   Mr. Pratt was a native of Peru, New York and Mr. Whitney was born in Biddeford, Maine.  Both settled in Hartford in 1852 and likely met while working at Colt Armory.  In 1860, they formed the Pratt & Whitney Company.  More about the company's origins and history HERE.  

Lesson learned: you never know what factoids you may pick up while stranded in traffic!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'll end with a picture of sunset on Cape Cod last weekend - our first visit there with friends since pre-Covid 2019.