On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

As I face another birthday I go into reminiscing mode. I look back over my many years in Somerville and think about all the changes I have seen. Forget the obvious ones like the Red Line because that topic has been all talked out.

When I think back over the decades I remember the little things that have changed. One thing that has changed for me on a personal level is my hip. Right about the time of my last birthday in July of 2011, I noticed I was limping because of a pain in my right hip. It turned out to be arthritis and bone spurs and a need for a new hip. Cool! I could finally use that old bad joke, “my hip goes out more than I do!”

The worse part of it, besides the pain, is everyone asking me why I am limping. Being a clown I am starting to give dumb answers like, I was bitten by a shark, shot with a bow and arrow, or stepped in a bear trap.

Surgery is in the near future. When people ask what happened to my hip I say, maybe it was the years of jogging without stretching. Maybe it was from lifting weights in the old days. Perhaps it is from being overweight for too long. Was it all the running, jumping, falling down and goofing around over the years?

Maybe it’s just old age. Ouch. All the Aleve in the world won’t take away the pain of realizing your getting old. But I’ll take hip pain, knee pain, loss of memory, nodding out every time I sit in my recliner any day as long I am still drawing a breath. Bring it on. I have several friends who have had replacement surgery and they assure me that it is “nothing.” We’ll see. Now, on to some more little things that have changed over my time in Somerville.

Remember when dogs would just run around the city unleashed? “Shep” lived across the street and “Fluffernutter” (Fluffy for short) lived up the street. These friendly dogs roamed around the street freely. They came out in the morning and went home later just like us kids. The dogs were part of our group. I don’t recall any Pit Bulls or even Rottweiler’s back then. As a matter of fact, Fluffy’ owner’s birthday was yesterday, July 17th. He’s three years older than me and still has all his original parts.

My grandfather had a friend named Danielli. I don’t know if that’s the correct spelling. From what I remember, he brought his huge wooden knife-sharpening pushcart over on the boat from Italy. For years he would push the cart around the streets of Somerville charging five cents to sharpen knives and scissors. He hung around with my grandpa who lived on Elmwood St, and my great Uncle Henry who had a house on Trull St. My grandfather Giuseppe used to let Danielli keep the push cart in his yard on Elmwood. I remember my father in later years telling me that the cart was probably in some garage someplace and because of its age would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have no idea where it is today. All the old timers are gone so who could we ask? Danielli and his knife-sharpening pushcart went the way of the neighborhood fruit seller. “Strawberries, raspberries, che-e-e-ries!”

Remember the door-to-door salesmen that came to our houses? My friend from Bay State Ave. told this story and it’s one of my favorites. I think the company name was Melamine and they made “unbreakable” dishes. There were other brand names for these colorful and durable dishes like Melaware. Anyway, the salesman was in the Somerville area one day and his gimmick was a good one. My friend’s mother heard a knock on the front door. She opens the door and a plate comes flying through, into the hall, and bounces around on the hard wood floors. The salesman then launches into his sales pitch singing the praises of the “unbreakable” dinnerware. We also had brush and vacuum cleaner salesmen who came to the door along with what dad used to call holy jumpers, and holy rollers.

When you live a city for a long time you get used to things. I have seen the same people watering their yards for the past 40 years. I have seen a father pushing his daughter in a baby carriage one day, and next thing I know he is yelling at her while she is trying to back the car out of the driveway. Recently, I lost a neighbor to a fast moving disease. It seemed like only yesterday our thirty something kids were in preschool together. You walk in and out of your house performing the same everyday routine and next thing you know, your high school is holding its 40th reunion.

So, to anyone who is celebrating a summer birthday, take a minute and look around at all the changes. Thank God we can get replacement parts for our bodies if we need them. And while you are waiting for that Mass Cash quick pick to hit, be grateful for the small things. Those small things are our memories. As Simon and Garfunkel said, “Slow down, you move too fast, you got to make the morning last.”

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Jimmy is available to host your event, play music, or just spice up any party or function.
Call 617-623-0554 or you can email Jimmy directly at jimmydel@rcn.com.