In the Spring of 1991 I learned that there is one day every year in Ireland when the pubs are closed. Good Friday is that day. The holiest day on the Irish calendar. I was traveling on a weekend with two classmates and we had just checked into a hostile in Sligo. We had planned on a pub meal for dinner but when we asked the hostess about pub recommendations she said, "They're all closed today, or they are for you anyway." As we ambled downtown in search of food we began to better understand her statement. The pubs were all locked up. The curtains were drawn and the shutters closed tightly but we could hear people inside. I would check the door but they were all locked. It was a "locals only" night at the pubs. We reckoned that they were entering and leaving via back doors but our hostess was correct. The pubs were all closed to us.
This year Good Friday falls on April 14th. How ruined can one day get? The assassination of Abraham Lincoln fell on Good Friday April 14th 1865. The Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic shortly before midnight on April 14th 1912. The dust storm considered to be the worst in American history known as Black Sunday occurred April 14th 1935. Now add the crucifixion of Jesus and you have a day that I don't want anything to do with.
The first time I had heard of Ruination Day was when my daughter Clare had asked me about it. She had learned about it through the Gillian Welch album "Time (the Revelator)." Two songs on that album feature that most ominous of all days, "April 14th" and "Ruination Day." Welch describes the birth of the phrase "Ruination Day" as follows: "It was in the body of working on “April the 14th” and “Ruination Day,”—which were first one song and then kind of split apart into two songs—that I spat out the phrase “ruination day,” and then that was that."
You can read more about it in the link below and listen to the songs.
gillian-welch-on-ruination-day
April 14th part 1
Ruination Day
Last year Ruination Day got personal for me as my mom passed away on April 14th. She always hated doing her taxes. I figured she had chosen the day as a way to wring the most out of 2016 without filing but perhaps she just wanted to hide behind all of the prior tragedy of this day. I know she would never want anyone mourning her. She was one of the most generous people I have ever known, always thinking of others. So while I'm thinking about all that has gone down on 4/14 the thing that occupies my thoughts is the one year anniversary of the death of my mother April14th, 2016 at the age of 95. Miss you mom.
This year Good Friday falls on April 14th. How ruined can one day get? The assassination of Abraham Lincoln fell on Good Friday April 14th 1865. The Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic shortly before midnight on April 14th 1912. The dust storm considered to be the worst in American history known as Black Sunday occurred April 14th 1935. Now add the crucifixion of Jesus and you have a day that I don't want anything to do with.
The first time I had heard of Ruination Day was when my daughter Clare had asked me about it. She had learned about it through the Gillian Welch album "Time (the Revelator)." Two songs on that album feature that most ominous of all days, "April 14th" and "Ruination Day." Welch describes the birth of the phrase "Ruination Day" as follows: "It was in the body of working on “April the 14th” and “Ruination Day,”—which were first one song and then kind of split apart into two songs—that I spat out the phrase “ruination day,” and then that was that."
You can read more about it in the link below and listen to the songs.
gillian-welch-on-ruination-day
April 14th part 1
Ruination Day
Last year Ruination Day got personal for me as my mom passed away on April 14th. She always hated doing her taxes. I figured she had chosen the day as a way to wring the most out of 2016 without filing but perhaps she just wanted to hide behind all of the prior tragedy of this day. I know she would never want anyone mourning her. She was one of the most generous people I have ever known, always thinking of others. So while I'm thinking about all that has gone down on 4/14 the thing that occupies my thoughts is the one year anniversary of the death of my mother April14th, 2016 at the age of 95. Miss you mom.
Beautiful John
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