photography – Page 42 – Lorin Duckman Today

Jim Thayer Nears His End

Usually, when I walk down Church Street, elation fills my heart when a person who hasn’t been around for a while finds me. Jim is one of the guys whose smile always brightens my day.

During an early winter cold spell, I carried a sleeping bag around for days looking for him. Our schedules sometimes don’t coincide, me being an early morning person, while he sometimes roams until late at night and then sleeps in or out, depending on the weather. Jim said he’d been around, just not at the same time as me. I must have missed his decline.

Last time I shot him and his daughter Amanda was Christmas morning. They were on their way to a meal at Junior’s, an annual food event for street people. Both seemed a little beaten down. She’s away right now. People say she was doing OK for a while. I saw him again in mid-January. He was talking with a cop about something. I gave him a dollar, staring without talking, before moving along. Enough drama. Didn’t know if he was engaged in a social or investigative conversation.

But, on St. Patrick’s day, as he waited for the parade of Ireland Cement Mixers, we chatted. He looked awful. Even the days in the past when he had been carousing and not taking care of himself, he had a sense of life. He had helped people who had fallen or who couldn’t take care of themselves, like Paul O’Toole. Out early, he would pick up litter in City Hall Park. He told jokes and stories. Had a high sense of morals and etiquette. Got pissed if you didn’t greet him and upset if he missed you. Today, he answered the question, “how are you,” with “… not too good. Doctors say I don’t have a chance.” He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, though I asked several times.

He refused my offer to buy him a new coat. “Not going to be needing a new coat where I am going.” Turned down my open offer to do anything which would make him more comfortable or happy. “No need. I have been all the places I needed to go and done all I wanted to do. Just waiting for the end.” Damn. I took a dollar out of my wallet and offered it to him. He refused and then reached into his pocket, took out a silver dollar. “Here Duck. You take this dollar. Its for all the dollars you have given me over the years.” “I don’t need your dollar,” I said. “Then give it to someone who does. When was the last time a homeless person gave you a dollar?’ I took it.

Hadassah Burlington VT – Chai Tea

Hadassah of Burlington, VT, Sara Frank Chapter, celebrated Chai Tea at the home of Suzanne Brown in Shellburne. Kosher Katz, an A Capella group from the University of Vermont, sang three tunes, adding melody and nachas from the next generation of powerful Jewish women.

Tea was poured.

A Presidential message.

Honoring Chai Society, chapter benefactors.

A raffle.

Stella, 98 years old, heralds the past, present and future state of American Judaism and the satisfaction of contributing to Tikkun Olum.

A prayer from Rabbi Jan.

And too much cake and crustless sandwiches. So, what else is new?

Burlington City Council Does Democracy

So, they have an election for School Board in Ward 1. I don’t live there and have neither a candidate in the race, nor an interest in the outcome. The write-in candidate received 253 votes. The incumbent received 257. The write-in guy is black. The incumbent is white. Under our system of government, a Civil Board of Authority made up of the Mayor and City Council recount the ballots and certify the election results. Some who would do the count openly urged the incumbent to withdraw, citing a need for more diversity on the Board, amongst other things, but he didn’t. In full view of all who wanted to watch, they counted the ballots the old fashioned way, one by one. No kidding or horsing around. Maybe not something worthy of a white wisp of smoke, but an exercise in democracy which enhances our belief in government. Each gained a vote in the final tally. Democracy gained more; its all about voting, casting a vote and counting it. The rest is politics.

Guy Lafountain on Church Street

Not everyday I meet a person who has a street named for them. But, then again, hard to be in Vt and not meet a Lafountain.

Guy once hung out on the street all the time. Knows everyone. You cannot tell a Lafountain that you know another Lafountain or you will spend the next hour doing family geography. They abound in Vt. I mentioned this to the person who introduced me and Guy. I told him that I was a Public Defender in Rutland, Middlebury and Burlington. “Oh, you must know ….” We all laughed. Guy decided life was worth living better at some point. He volunteers at Recycle North or some other place dealing in resyclables, walks around, happy to be whom he is. He says he feels productive. No more hanging out.

Jack Lavery Doesn’t Vote

Jack Lavery defines himself as the “laziest person in Burlington.” He didn’t vote today, because “those bastards promise to do things and then they never do anything.”

I voted, because if you don’t vote, the right to vote and the importance of voting will disappear. One incumbant ran. Vince. Don’t know him. Have watched him at City Council Meetings. He looks sincere, sounds sincere, and wants the job. I don’t know if his politics are mine, he is a neighborhood guy, so I voted for him. Don’t have kids. Don’t understand the school budget. Dont’ know what the others running for office do or why they want the job. And, while I don’t want the land ripped apart for energy, how a position letter advances my cause helps the issue escaped me. Did I say I voted?