There’s a bridge over the Seekonk River, off the Fox Point neighborhood in Providence, that has been stuck in the open position since being abandoned nearly 40 years ago.
Some call this the Crook Point Bascule Bridge.
Some call it the Seekonk River Drawbridge.
Many call it the Ghost Bridge for its sense of abandonment.
Moonie, of course, calls it the Whee Bridge.
“Whee!” is the first word I heard Moonie say on the first day we met. “Whee!” was his reaction to being lifted off the shelf of an antique shop and placed (after purchase) in my pocketbook. “Whee!” was his reaction to us walking a few blocks away to climb onto the Ghost Bridge amid strong wind gusts to enjoy the view. “Whee!” was his reaction to getting to see Cardboard Ox play in Dedham that evening. And “Whee!” was his reaction to me putting a record on the record player that night after we got home. He stood on the record as it played, enjoying being gently spun around, and to this day he calls records “whees.”
So you can guess that he was pretty happy about being invited by his friend J.J. to a 45 rpm (r-pWHEE-m, as Moonie would call it) record dance party at The Parlour last night. He had a whole entire room of whees!
He also got to stand near his beloved Marshall stacks. The Marshall stacks gods smiled down, bestowing a beam of light on Moonie.
And then he had himself a ball crawling into people’s food baskets to sample their sliders and pasta salads. He’s lucky he’s cute.
Last night Moonie and I headed to the AS220 Project Space to view “Toy Portraits” by Sandy MacDonald Studio, which is on display now through January 30th. He was so excited to see paintings of some of his toy friends!
It was so crowded, packed to the gills with art lovers and well-wishers, that we first ducked into the non-Sandy half of the project space to view works by talented artist Antoine Revoy. His whimsical illustrations featured interesting and colorful character concepts. Moonie really liked “Meteorites (Noah’s Ark)” – although he was a little concerned that the polar bears’ tummies looked suspiciously full.
But then we found a break in the crowd and headed in to see Sandy’s paintings in their own special little room. Oh boy!
My nude little dude loves color and movement and flowers. So colorful, moving flower-shaped pinwheels are sure to draw excited squeals as he runs over to hug them.
Unfortunately, he sometimes get a little too carried away with his hugging while the pinwheels are moving. During such times, I’ll generally hear a strange noise followed by Moonie very calmly stating, “Uh oh.”
Then I’ll tend to look over and see this:
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Although New Year’s Eve is a terrific occasion for masquerade balls, Moonie was ahead of the curve; he and I attended one last month for Sojourner House, a wonderful organization that provides all kinds of support service to victims of domestic assault and their families. Moonie couldn’t wait to get us tickets knowing they’d go toward such a good cause! He also stayed in his little Moonie workshop all day to make us matching masquerade ball masks.
In no time, my tiny handsome date and I were ready to rock!
As soon as we walked into the ball, Moonie was photobombing the decked-out guests, loving the wonderful atmosphere.
Yesterday, Moonie got to wake up to the magic of snow.
Tickled pink – or at least pinker than usual – he jumped in, ready to make snow angels.
Unfortunately, they all came out as circles, not angels.
Must be all those cookies he eats.
Every Tuesday, Rhode Island musician Joanne Lurgio hosts an open mic at Pub on Park in Cranston. Moonie and I checked it out last week, when Moonie’s pal Marc Douglas Berardo was slated as the feature act.
It didn’t take long for Moonie to ask MDB to make him a cape out of a napkin (he likes when people fashion him clothing out of found objects). He giggled delightedly as MDB gently blew air, making his long cape flap.
Moonie repaid his pal but trying to steal MDB’s beer. He’s kind of a sneak sometimes.
But he cheered loudly for his pal when it was Marc’s turn to play his fun set.
Yesterday was Moonie’s first day home, and mine too from being away on a trip, so I asked what he wanted to do. I saw his little mind burn steam going back and forth between music and cookies and dancing and hugging flowers, but he finally decided.
“Art!” he shouted.
“OK, let’s do art,” I said.
“And leaves!” he added.
“And leaves,” I agreed.
Fall is the prettiest season to be in my home state of Massachusetts, so I drove Moonie up to Natick, where the Natick Artists Open Studios was in its second and final day. What a beautiful day to see 70 local artists!
We stopped to take a few little walks at Turner Pond and Middlesex Pond and at Kingsbury Grist Mill.
Moonie and I have had three whole months to regenerate our blood, so when a blood drive came to our work last week, we signed right up. He was so happy to be able to help out again! He gallantly let me go first (mostly so he could play with the blood pressure cuff).
Then he cheered me on while he got ready to donate himself. I got curious and asked what his blood type was.
“Orange zebra seven,” he responded.
“Not purple cow six?” I teased.
“That’s not a real blood type,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.
Well, excuse me.
4:52 p.m.: “Is it PRONK! yet?”
“No, Moonie.”
5:31 p.m.: “is it PRONK!” yet?”
“Five and a half weeks, little dude.”
6:47 p.m.: “Has it been five and a half weeks yet?”
(sigh)
He was clearly missing his red, white and shiny street marching band, so I took Moonie to the Extraordinary Rendition Band‘s weekly rehearsal tonight, where their bleats and beats floated along the river, mingling with the sounds from nearby bars and clubs and attracting delighted onlookers and scattered applause from passersby.
He was enthralled and danced away as they practiced. He thinks they played extra good because they had a nude little dude in the audience tonight.
I’m just glad he’s stopped asking about PRONK! for a bit. There are only so many cookies and rainbow-colored objects in the world for me to distract him with.
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