What I Really Want to Say

I don't think I can keep a blog. What if you find out what I'm really like? Oh, well, gotta risk it.

Here's a recap of the weekend, which centered around yardwork and music. First time in a while the weekend hasn't centered around kids' activities.

Yardwork

  • Finished tilling the upper garden, and deeper than ever. I bought a good rear-tine tiller that works the soil slowly. I tend to regret most everything I ever buy, but so far so good on the tiller.
  • Still cleaning up limbs from the October snow. Piles and piles. How can the silver maples have any branches left? Needed to mow but got rained out Sunday evening.

Music

  • Saturday morning songwriting workshop led by Grace Pettis. Grace has great ideas, but I like especially how she listens and responds to our songs. We talk things through together, and our songs get better. Afterward, I had a great talk with Grace's husband, Chris. Wise be
  • Saturday afternoon show with a nameless bluegrass band--Ramona and Mike Shenk, Mark Currence, and me. Out in Bergton--so quiet--in a narrow valley. Fundraiser dinner for Bergton firefighters. Raised $1000. People kept listening so we played an extra half hour.
  • Honored St. Padraic and my people by singing "The Reason I Left Mullingar," and later by playing jigs and reels on the mandolin, and then watching "The Secret of Roan Inish."
  • Played music at church, too. Fun to play with a big band, but (here's where you find out what I'm really like) I could stand for us to just be quiet in church for about ten years. I think we may have said it all already.

Still lots of cleanup to do in the yard, and work looks to be especially demanding over the next few weeks. Remind me not to forget to practice music and write songs and be kind to my family. And I'm looking forward to playing in Edinburg, Shenandoah County, next Sunday at Deer Haven, a pretty sweet vacation home. I'll play solo for a while and then get joined by the bluegrass band.

Ah, good. Finished writing, and I didn't wander into politics or religion. Next time, perhaps.

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