Duet sparked idea for a slideshow

By the time you read this, I should have made my debut at Miller’s Merry Manor.

Technically, it’s not actually my debut.

That occurred one Thursday afternoon and found George Lopez performing with his guitar and singing old favorites for the residents.

George, who is now deputy prosecutor and did a stint as county prosecutor, is a musician on the side. I’d seen him perform for his mother Mattie and other residents at Crown Pointe in Portland in the past.

But this was the first time I’d encountered him at Miller’s Dunkirk facility.

I didn’t expect to see him there, and he clearly didn’t expect to see me.

I stop at Miller’s each week — unless I’m on vacation or on assignment somewhere else in the world — to visit with Virginia Conkling, mother of my late classmate Al Conkling, and with Gordon Kesler, longtime Knox Township trustee, who has become a great friend over the past few years.

The visits benefit me as much as Virginia and Gordon. They lift my spirits and provide me with a sense of perspective about life and the world.

Boredom is their biggest enemy, and if I can provide a little gossip or something to talk about, then I’ve delivered something to break up the day.

Just the same, when George spotted me, the equation changed.

He’d been playing old favorites, and the next thing I knew I was being called into service to sing a duet. It was “Under the Boardwalk,” and I’m proud to say that we did not demolish it.

The residents seemed to enjoy our rendition, though I know some have trouble hearing, which might have been a blessing on this occasion.

But it got me to thinking. There’s a string of programs that make their way through Miller’s Merry Manor weekly. Maybe I had something to offer.

A couple of weeks later, when I was showing Virginia some vacation pictures on my laptop, the idea occurred that maybe a slide show would find favor.

Choyce Miller, one of Virginia’s cohorts, encouraged me to give it a try.

After all, there are hundreds of photos on my computer. Couldn’t I find something entertaining in all those images?

At Choyce’s recommendation, I focused on nature first.

Sort of a “walk in the woods” without leaving your walker or wheelchair, that was the idea.

Bird pictures, tree pictures, trail pictures, butterfly pictures, flower pictures, moth pictures, cloud pictures, sunsets and sunrises, most of them local but some of them from as far away as California or New England.

As I write this, I’m still sorting pictures into the four seasons.

Then I’ll need my wife’s help to make sure I’ve identified the flowers correctly. (I know the birds, but the flowers confuse me.)

The goal is to have a “slideshow” of about 100 images, hooking my Mac laptop up to one of the big screen TVs at Miller’s.

It will be pretty low-key. But at least they won’t have to hear me mangle “Under the Boardwalk.”