The Banshee Set

SEE BUTTON FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

THE PLACE

I walked down the modern sidewalk to where a rock inscribed with “SAGAMORE HILL” in white letters sat plopped on the grass next to a backless bench. A few feet away a placard sat at the top of a metal post painted blue. The placard was inscribed with the words, “SAGAMORE HILL HOME OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES,” without punctuation. I looked up across the slope, at the top of which sat the eponymous mansion.

Visiting historical places long since empty of former big-name occupants, preserved by historical associations for the purposes of remembering the notable past, is like reading a book. Our imaginations fill in the gaps between the lines, which makes the experiences often more vivid and impactful than being present during active events. We generate and interpret the missing information in our ways, and nothing is more personal to us than our own minds.

THE LENS

I walked softly and carried a big camera. I filmed the entire trip on the gimbal in moving shots starting from the bottom of the hill, up to the mansion, then past the windmill, across the orchard, past the museum, then down the hill to the beach. None of the video linked at the bottom of the page is filtered or color graded. You see it as I saw it.

The following are moments from the YouTube video linked at the bottom of the page.

THE MUSIC

These are three Irish reels, which I played on a five-string fiddle and accompanied by playing the bodhrán. Logic Pro is my DAW of choice, though I’ve been looking into Ableton Live on the advice of a producer friend. I’ve spent far more time in the past several years learning the fiddle than learning the tech. I’ll need to catch up my tech learning sooner than later.

THE GLASS

Why not a can (poured into a glass) of Stone IPA? It’s gently piney in the nose, slightly hazy in its dark-gold color, and balanced in its bitterness. At 6.9% ABV, one or two render the world a quieter, rounder, more pleasant place, given to forgiveness and to being forgiven. Slàinte mhath.