Dec. 30, 2017: I believe my grandpa’s calendars have yielded just about all the inspiration they have to offer, and so I am taking another break, perhaps permanent. (I may write about more of his photographs, as I’ve done from time to time. But if I take that up it won’t be for a while.)
While I put my feet up and decide what to do next, I am reposting/sticking the farewell entry I wrote in April 2015, when I first decided to stop writing here. It has not been edited or updated.
Bill Blumenau would have been befuddled by this blog, probably; but he would have appreciated your interest, as his grandson does.
# # # # #
Having come to the end of Bill Blumenau’s story online, it seems like I should mention how it ended in real life.
My grandfather suffered a heart attack — his third — in the early hours of Feb. 26, 2001, and was found dead later that morning in the nursing-home room he shared with my grandma. He was 90.
If memory serves, he also was suffering from prostate cancer, but could not be operated on because of his advanced age and the fragility of his heart. I suppose it is better to die quickly than slowly, though the outcome is the same either way.
My grandpa is buried not in Stamford but in Rochester, N.Y., his last home. I do not remember the last time I visited his grave. I prefer to think of him as he was in life, and I do not think my absence (or anything else on the earthly plane) matters to him at this point.
Having just mentioned all that, I have not spent the past four years bringing my grandfather to life on this blog just to have him die at the end.
Instead, we’ll round out our explorations in a sensible place — at the very last calendar entry available to us, on a day my grandpa probably spent quietly puttering around his house.
Since the calendars we have on hand span the years 1961 to 1975, we’ll be setting the WABAC machine to …
Wednesday, December 31, 1975, is a full working day for President Gerald Ford. The president spends the day talking with such distinguished personages as Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan and James Brown.
(No, not the Godfather of Soul; this James E. Brown is an executive at Thiokol Corporation. He gets a seven-minute phone convo with Ford shortly before 11 p.m., while the rest of America is icing down its Champale.)
The year seems to be winding down fairly quietly, without much in the news. As the new year dawns, the Liberty Bell is about to be moved to a new enclosure in time for the bicentennial. The movers say they can do the job without further damaging the symbol of liberty, and they are as good as their word.
Investigators are probing a bomb blast two days earlier that killed 11 people at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, fewer than 40 highway miles from Hope Street. Presumably the investigators are still probing, as the bombing has never been solved.
Guy Lombardo plays one of his last New Year’s Eve specials, joined by guest Aretha Franklin. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve fights back with Neil Sedaka, KC and the Sunshine Band, Melissa Manchester, Freddy Fender and the Average White Band. And — this being a regular workday for Johnny Carson, just as it is for President Ford — The Tonight Show features Joan Rivers, Orson Bean and Charles Nelson Reilly as guests.
Frances Drake’s syndicated horoscope warns Capricorns against a “tendency toward indiscretion,” cautions Scorpios to “be prepared for all contingencies,” but tells Cancers that travel could lead to “a most unusual and highly stimulating experience.”
According to the morning front pages of December 31, U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger denied a request the day before to delay a multibillion-dollar increase in the nation’s postal rates.
And that — not the airport explosion, or Guy Lombardo, or preparation for all contingencies — is what’s on my grandpa’s last calendar entry of this sequence.
It’s a natural thing for my grandpa to make note of. Postal rate increases are scattered throughout his 15 years of calendars.
At least one of the other postal rate hikes is illustrated with a drawing of a letter with wings. But this one seems hefty enough for my grandpa to skip the whimsy.
I’m sure he counted every cent, and an increase from 10 cents to 13 would have been something he noticed — another sign that the basics of American life just kept getting more and more and more expensive.
Other items of interest at 1107 Hope Street that day:
– My grandfather didn’t have a watercolor painting class. (His teacher, unlike President Ford and Johnny Carson, must have taken the day off.)
– The weather was pretty unmemorable — overcast, nippy and rainy, more Novemberish than wintry.
Despite the rain and the postal rate increase, there were other things on the horizon in December 1975 that would have made my grandfather happy.
He had two healthy grandchildren, and had just found out a third was on the way in the new year. His kids were both within visiting distance, more or less, and visits were not rare.

Apologies for the poor picture quality. This is December 25, 1975, and my Aunt Elaine and her husband Steve are visiting Hope Street.
He’d been retired a few years, and he hadn’t had any more heart attacks, so he was probably pretty well comfortable with his lifestyle at that point. He knew what he could do and what he shouldn’t, and he’d made his peace with it.
(My dad has said many times that my grandpa adapted after his heart attack in ways that many people don’t. He not only made lifestyle changes, but figured out how to relax. The Bill Blumenau of December 1975 was a different man, and in some ways a better one, than he was in January 1961.)
The bicentennial year was coming up, too, and as a patriot, my grandpa would have bought into the idea of celebrating America. I can see him being interested in what was to come.
So, I think my grandfather would have seen out the old year 1975 on a positive note. Life was pretty good on Hope Street. My grandpa had paid his dues in the rat race; now he could sit back and watch the wheels.
And that’s where I think I’ll leave him.
He is sitting on the couch in the front room, a skinny older man in a plaid shirt, reading about Mother Theresa in the latest issue of Time. There are no end-of-year holiday visitors; he is alone in the house with his wife and mother, who are already upstairs, quietly preparing for bed.
The nighttime rain patters gently outside, as it has all day, but he doesn’t pay it much attention. He has nowhere to travel, and his roof will hold.
As page follows page, he starts to think about turning in for the night and saying goodbye to another year. It scarcely seems like another 365 days have passed, but here it is, a new year coming. And if the taxman doesn’t ratchet things up too many more notches, it could be a pretty good one, he thinks.
He yawns, gets up and switches off the light, tossing the magazine onto the coffee table.
As his footsteps disappear up the stairs, the first floor of 1107 Hope Street settles into darkness and silence, with only the eternal streetlights and the occasional tire-slick of a passing car on the wet street to interrupt the stillness of the night.
– April 2011-April 2015
Even as a stranger, it has been satisfying to follow this blog. I’ll miss these posts.
By the way, have you thought of converting the blog into a book, even if only for family members? It can be done via online sites such as:
http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html
Thanks for the kind words.
I did not know about that particular site; I’d assumed there were sites that let you do that, but hadn’t looked into it. I probably should.
Congratulations! A significant, perhaps understated, sometimes whimsical achievement, not unlike your grandfather’s life. Hopefully he took satisfaction that he lived his life just the way it was meant to be lived, with quiet purpose and good spirit.
What your grandfather would not have understood in the least is the “social media” culture. He would have been very amused and highly honored to see this blog from his grandson, but would not comprehend in the slightest why anyone else in the world would be interested in his life.
Given that his calendar has physically lasted (so far) 40 – 54 years, how long will all episodes of this blog last? Where? I have made copies of a few of my favorites, but I would gladly fund ensuring that a total digital copy of the whole thing exists somewhere, either in one of our desks or on someone reputable’s “cloud”. Please advise.
And Yvonne is on to something. You should be writing books (or at least collections of essays) on the side, just like I write music and your grandfather created paintings. It goes with the heritage. Please consider.
And let us all know when and where your next blog starts!
THANK YOU!
Yvonne, above, offers one potential solution to the idea of preservation. There might be others; I haven’t looked into it yet.
The blog itself is not going anywhere (as far as I know) for the immediate future.
In fact, I have to go back to the earliest entries and do some fixing up, as some of their images disappeared when I deleted the original 5,478 Days site.
(Didn’t think that was going to happen but it did, apparently.)
Not sure what my next organized outlet is. Right now I feel kinda burned out, anyway. But knowing me, some weird idea will catch my fancy one of these years.
You’re welcome. 😉
Mondays won’t be the same. I’ve enjoyed your blog for the past 2 years. Thank you for sharing your family and opening my heart to memories of my own family. I wish you the best.
Thank you very much for this comment (and for reading).
I believe I haven’t commented on your blog but I’ve been a follower for a while. Sad to read this is the end. You did a wonderful job of bringing your grandfather’s memories back to life. Good luck on your next ventures.
Thank you for reading, and for commenting! It’s been a fun and interesting ride.
I’ll be casting about for another outlet but am not pushing it … it has to happen organically, as this one did.
Hey Kurt! I will miss reading your grandfather’s calendar entries and your development of ideas around them. I feel like I know him better and, as an unanticipated perk, got to know you! Some of my old Springdale friends also enjoyed some of the entrees (delicious) and photos, which added another dimension. Speaking of another dimension, I also was taken with the posting of your grandfather’s piano music and your updated tech version. It is a given that you should keep writing, but I also hope you will make sure these blog entrees are preserved somewhere in a book or family document. I will add my congratulations! P.S. Kara is moving to Philly so maybe we can all meet up sometime!
Thanks for all your time and help. I do feel like I know you better as well, which in and of itself would make this all worth it.
My dad once told me I knew more about the folks’ life in the years after he moved out than he did. The idea that I could tell he and you about things you didn’t know, or open a window onto your folks’ daily existence, is something I always thought was kinda cool.
Sure, let me know if you’re in Philly; it’s a little farther from here than it looks but I can get there. I wish Kara the best of luck with whatever brings her to Pennsylvania!
Thanks so very much for sharing your grandfather, great-grandmother and family with us. Brought back many memories of the late 60’s/early 70’s, Springdale, and piano lessons on Hope Street. Your post sharing your grandfather’s artwork was awesome. Peace to you and the Blumenau family.
I appreciate your reading! Thanks for tuning in. Glad to bring back memories.
Thanks for the memories. It’s a shame that your grandfather didn’t make any notations on favorite entries on the American Top 40 Countdown, thus producing a certain symmetry in family record-keeping. I still think that referencing someone who happened to take part in taking down COINTELPRO is the most interesting development of the project – they even made a movie about it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_%282014_film%29.
Yeh, that link with minister John Raines (who had worked at the church on Hope Street) came out of nowhere, one of those unexpected “degrees of separation” things you never expect to find. Wouldn’t have found that connection in a million years without this blog!
There are one or two past blog posts about his musical tastes — he went to see Count Basie and Benny Goodman in concert. Neither of them were troubling Casey at the time, of course.
I still think it would have blown my grandpa’s mind to know about John Raines; I wish I could tell him, just to see him process it.
I meant to thank you for my good press! Also I’d like to add that I, and an old friend from the church were blown away by the John Raines piece. However, I think what tickled me most were the posts about the weather with those special descriptive expletives your grandfather created! I had seen them as a kid, but I am glad they are preserved.
This was a wonderful memoir. I’ll miss seeing it every Monday.
Thanks. I appreciate your reading and commenting.
Gotta love it. So much “good” in this journal, start to finish. What’s to salute? Four generations generously sharing their creative gifts. Your goal reached. Finely milled IT multi-media craft; lively language; deep research; open, forthcoming ideas itching for expression; appreciative humanity; gentle respect; vivid intelligence; brilliant flashes of humor; warmly deserved support and encouragement from Rod and Elaine. Gracious acknowledgement by Kurt of every reader comment.
I stumbled across Hope Street while cooped up with a miserable cold that kept me from my usual activities. I credit its magic (and my wife’s chicken soup) with knocking two days off my recovery time. Seriously good therapy. My hat’s off to the Blumenau clan.
Thanks for your comment! Where do I start to reply to that? 😉
For starters, I’m glad you feel better.
This was an enjoyable project; I think it brought out the best of whatever creativity I have to offer, and it seemed to strike a nerve with readers who discovered it.
I appreciate your stopping by to read.
One shameless pitch: If you know anyone who might like Hope Street, feel free to tell them about it.
Thanks again.
“1971” is airing on PBS on Monday. The trailer even includes a snapshot of John and Bonnie Raines – https://www.facebook.com/independentlens?fref=nf.
Thank you so much for the tip on “1971”; watched transfixed last night. I thought (as maybe you did) that it was going to be a show about all that went on in 1971 with a couple minutes on the Media FBI raid. But it was entirely about the latter!
I knew John Raines when he was a student minister in 1958-59, a period of time he calls his “life of privilege” in the Betty Medsger book “The Burglary”. I traded polite emails with him right after Kurt turned up his connection with Media several months ago. An interesting man; a life well lived!
Always happy to be of service to Kurt’s dad. My favorite part of the break-in is that they scheduled for the night of the Ali-Frazier “Fight of the Century” hoping that any security guards would be glued to their radios. It’s also remarkable how clumsy and unprofessional the following year’s Watergate burglary was by comparison.
Will miss “Hope Street – The Blog” (do not miss Hope Street, the place). Please find some other outlet for your creative writing!
Thanks for writing this whole blog. If you can figure out a way, please assure that it all gets saved somewhere in the cloud!
What a wonderful tribute to your grandfather! I wrote more for the previous “ending”, and now reiterate the hope that you will be able to preserve your insights into your grandfather’s calendar entries–somewhere!