The Putnam Sportsman

I had an interesting 73rd birthday, for sure. The 4th of July parade in Cold Spring went off without a hitch, as the fleet of Putnam County News & Recorder cars have been well trained. It was a pretty hot day, so I took off my wolverine coat pretty early along the way.

Mama and I got there at the eleventh hour, scrambling to get my stuff out of the car and into the Jeep. There was a lot of activity along both sides of the side road where we would be way up in front of the parade, just behind the first band and leading Cold Spring officials. With a cold soda in hand to keep my thirst quenched, I started my usual welcoming comments to the women passing by.

The parade started a little late, but as we headed out into the main road route, folks were lined up the whole way, most seeking comfort in shaded areas to avoid the burning rays of a hot sun.

Now I had the wolverine coat on, holding up several multicolored fox tails that waved out in the breeze. When we turned the corner on 301 (now “the Freedom Trail”), the crowd had swelled considerably.

Folks seemed genuinely thrilled as I passed, waving my musket with one hand held high, waving the fox tails with the other. I guess it would have been a sight to see, but I didn’t have a camera with me. It seemed everyone in the newspaper’s crew had one, though.

When we finally got to the dock at the Hudson, a huge crowd had gathered, we parked the vehicles, and I went to sit in the shade under the trees by river’s edge. A rumor spread through the crowd that Bruce Springsteen had arrived in a huge boat docked at the landing. I rushed over, hoping to introduce myself. Perhaps sing a duo with the Boss. But he was nowhere to be found, perhaps having lunch at one of the nearby establishments.

Other than that it was a perfect ending to my birthday. Retuning home, somewhat whipped from standing up in the back of the Jeep so log, Mama and I had lunch, and took a nap. It was a major struggle, but I got her to drive me up to Smalley’s where we had a couple of pizza rolls and I had a beer, my first of the day.

We came home, with a takeout bag of the pizza we hadn’t eaten, and we sat in our lawn chairs out in the lawn, waiting for the Lake Carmel fireworks to appear in the northern sky. That wasn’t going to happen, so we just came in and went to bed.

I did shoot off a pack of firecrackers, a couple of Roman candles, and a sparkler, just so I could say I shot off some fireworks on my 73rd birthday.

Heard from all of my relations and many friends on my birthday, all wishing me well and to have fun, which I did.