Ned Luce

Ah, yes, back into a routine at the Port Ludlow Community Center, also known as Active Life Physical Therapy. 

When one has a regular schedule of appointments for some PT help one can bet that there will also be an opportunity to see many of your friends and neighbors in the lobby. Proprietor Michael Haberpointner has a crew of highly qualified professionals providing help for most of one’s physical needs. The staff includes, in no particular order: Faye, Catherine, Nicole, Tim and Bailey plus the front office of Christina, Heather and Ivy. 

As you might suspect with a demographic like Port Ludlow, business is going gangbusters. Those folks are working hard to get us all well. 

Heck, there are so many people waiting for help that I have taken to waiting outside on the sidewalk as long as the weather is decent. As with other health service providers they require masks in their offices but if I look closely I can still recognize most of my friends. 

Regulars probably already know that Bailey is getting married this coming weekend in the Virgin Islands. (Seems like a strange place to get married, eh?) 

In any case, she is leaving town tomorrow which of course causes Michael some scheduling problems given the volume of patients. So, that woeful, off-key screeching song you hear floating across Ludlow Bay, is Michael badly crying out his version of the Bobby Darin hit from the 1960s.

If you don’t recognize the words, they are, “Won’t you come home Bill Bailey? Won’t you please come home? I’ll do the cookin’ baby. I’ll pay the rent... Oh, Bailey won’t you please come home?”

I apologize.

Another center of community activity is the regular performances arranged by the Port Ludlow Performing Arts organization, PLPA. 

Last Saturday provided an opportunity to see and HEAR the high energy band “Barrio Manouche.” The name roughly translates from French and Spanish to “gypsy neighborhood” as the band includes members from France, Columbia, Spain, Canada, Brazil and San Francisco, California. They claimed that if the United Nations worked as well as their diverse group all the world’s problems would be solved. 

Now, just as the world’s problems might not be solved just as you might like them, the unique sounds of this band of a half dozen talented musicians might also not work for you. The cultural and musical influences were incredibly multi-sourced yet seemed to come through with a single theme.  

It was great to see so many of the locals come out for the concert and help out. 

Greg and Shelley Patton, Peggy and Jeff Welker were serving up the wine. Ed and Sara Davis were selling CDs. Bev Rothenberg, John and Sue Erickson, Kent and Wendy Chesney, and many more were all in attendance on a friendly evening in Port Ludlow. 

Some folks noted that they enjoyed my column so they get their name or their friends’ name in print.

Another friend last week mentioned that she was sorry but most of the younger folks don’t read a physical newspaper, they get all their information online. Of course, the Leader also is available online so I suppose that is where all my young readers come from! 

The world is getting so complex. Before you know it I will be driving an electric car. (Many friends are now screaming, “Say it ain’t so!”)

Also noteworthy amongst my friends is the fact that all of them have seen “Top Gun: Maverick.” 

As a result we needed to avoid feeling so out of touch BJ and I trekked down to Silverdale to catch the latest tribute to Navy pilots from Tom Cruise. Former Navy pilot Pat Cooper among others appreciates the “shout-out.”

Notably missing from the movie was the poster promoting Kansas City from the bar in the first Top Gun. Unfortunately, neither the poster nor the bar made the latest rendition of the movie. 

I do feel the need to note that there was a fine-looking 1973 Porsche 911S featured in some scenes.

Hey, Bailey won’t you please come home?!

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week. 

(Ned Luce is a retired IBM executive and Port Ludlow resident who loves to quote the lyrics of old pop songs so you won’t have to ... hear him sing. Contact Ned at ned@ptleader.com.)