It’s been a few days since I’ve written. Let’s rewind.
It began with rain.
Now this by itself is already strange, since the night proceeding it left me asleep in shorts and a tank top on top of my sheets. If you know me, you know that I usually prefer to cocoon myself into my blankets to generate as much heat as I can. But the rain awakened me. I thought for sure I was dreaming..we’ve been enduring high temperatures this entire week, and I can’t remember the last time it rained.
I had to call the Borders in Los Gatos to make sure that it wasn’t raining over there, since my show was supposed to be outside that day. They said the skies were clear, so I packed my gear and hit the road.
The area they invited me to was absolutely amazing. Los Gatos falls right at the foot of the Santa Cruz mountains, and I found myself distracted from gazing at the view as I played for 2 hours. Everything was fancy. The Borders had a bell tower, and a wedding party was having their photo shoot done a few hundred feet away. It was pretty amazing.
I ended up playing for the two outdoor restaurants that were facing my direction, which were just next to the deck I was standing on. When it was over, I had an encounter with a man that had been listening where I couldn’t see him at a table from one of the restaurants all afternoon, and he told me of how my music touched him in light of the recent death of his son. I was moved almost beyond words. I know music is powerful; to me it is one of the strongest things in the world when it comes to evoking feelings and emotions. But when someone actually tells you what the emotions are – it’s intense. And I appreciated this man’s honesty, his words, and his generous donation on his music loving son’s behalf – the experience is one I know will stick with me for a long time. The feeling is, in essence, what making music is all about.
The days following that show left me sick with a cold, and in bed reading Wicked and drinking Orange Juice. I’ve had a new song in the works in my head for a few days now, but a sore throat doesn’t lend itself to too much vocal creativity. Though I feel mostly better, I’m still hoping it will be totally gone soon. My guitar is calling to me. I find myself touching my finger callouses and humming softly to myself at all hours.
New show are in the works, and the people at the radio station who received my music called and said they are happy with what they heard. My first SF show is fast approaching. The excitement is building.
In spite of not feeling well, I found it impossible to pass up an opportunity to hit the beach with my remaining friends before they leave for various colleges this weekend, so I handed my brother the keys, cracked the window, and closed my eyes in the backseat as we listened to the new MUSE and traveled out of town, over a bridge, through the woods, and to the coast.
The ocean air stung as soon as I climbed out of the car, and I was thankful for the pair of jeans I threw in the trunk.
We wandered down the seashore for a couple hours, taking excitement in everything we found in our path. The immediate future became clouded with the fog, so what kept appearing was like a constantly refreshing computer screen. One moment I was saving a giant, slow moving beetle from the incoming tide. The next, we were practically tripping over a dead sea otter nearly as long as I was. I drew in the sand and dipped my toes in the freezing water, and by the time we returned to the car our hair was damp with fog and our pockets were full of sand.
It was a good day. But even good days are somewhat bittersweet when the air is tainted with that feeling of a big change coming soon.
Can Summer last forever, but have the feeling of Fall? Yes please.
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