The day grew warm today, as did my mood. I did a couple of shows at my school’s diversity day. It was good to see girls there and the obvious racial differences. It was comforting to see a sea of color with a smattering of white instead of the other way around. My “workshop” centered around Irish music, but I barely touched on the Irish part of the music. Instead I had a blast talking music, shared experiences, and the bonding power of music to make sense of and make palatable the ups and downs of life. They seemed to go away happy. I certainly did, even though I dragged myself there in a curmudgeonly crawl because I was missing a precious Saturday at home.
On my way home I returned a little Fishman Loudbox to Hatrack that I borrowed for the show. He was painting a floor and getting ready for the big couch his girlfriend Laurie and Erin went out and bought. He bitched and moaned about the size of the couch and the color of the paint, but it couldn’t hide the joy I sensed in his life. Hatrack has been playing with me for years and is probably the most unaffected and giving person I know— all without sanctimony or even an awareness that he is a good guy. Life has thrown him more than few curveballs that hit him pretty hard, so I was just damn happy for his happiness today. If anyone deserves it, it is him!
Kaleigh came home a bit ago and brought her music with her. I can hear the kids inside playing and singing some Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” and “I Will Wait” by the band whose name escapes me, but who seem to be loved and hated in equal degrees. Some of my purist folksinger friends think them annoying and cliche. I rather like them, especially considering the what my kids could be listening to and playing [Mumford and Sons. I just figured it out]. Now a Beatle’s song, “All My Loving.” Pretty cool. It makes me think we did something right by them.
Finally, my brother Tom and sister Eileen and their families will be here soon for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, which just completes the circle of the day. I know we’ll have a blast and laugh and tell stories like we have for the fifty plus years I’ve had here on this old orb of an ecosystem. Even the moon is rising full and beckoning. My life is full of good people.
If there is someone near you, pull them closer. It works.
