There's not much I want to say here about the great loss that we (family, friends, and musical community at large) went through last year. The path of all our lives has changed--Dave's gift to us is that he comes with us in our hearts as we move forward.
In that spirit, here's what's new in the last year:
First off, my crafty pursuits have fallen way off the radar. And by that I mean, I only made one of these, this, this, this, one of these, this, one of these...hmm, the list goes on for a bit, so I guess that's not true at all is it? Still feels like a record low looking at the last 5 years.
Last July, I started taking belly dancing classes with this amazing dancer at her studio in Portland, which has become a fixture in my life that I don't think I can let go of. Did my first performance in December. I have to say...the scariest thing about the recital? Getting my makeup done. Two words: fake. eyelashes. Oops--three words: jail. Otherwise, everything about the night was incredible. One of my favorite performances? Heather, co-manager of the studio. I couldn't find my teacher's dance for this recital, but you can see Rosa and her supremely inspiring work here.
For the last few years, my mother and I--avid pedestrians and not great hikers--have become keenly interested in the East Coast greenway. Since we can really only do one long weekend's worth of walking per year, it's very slow going, but it is always a highlight of my summer. The first two years we did all of the off-road portions and some on-road portions of the Eastern Trail that runs from Bug Light in South Portland to Portsmouth, NH. This past August we went up to Machias to check out the 85-mile long Sunrise Trail, which according to the folks who take care of it, is "the longest off-road section of the East Coast Greenway". Pretty impressive for a walking trail that runs from Maine all the way to Florida! Neither of us had ever been to Machias, so it was a really new and wonderful experience for both of us. We stayed in a motel on the Machias river (gorgeous) and in addition to walking on the trail, we took some scenic drives through blueberry fields--some overlooking the ocean, some just rolling away as far as we could see. Photos next time, I promise!!
In September, I went to one of my favorite places on Earth, Star Island, for a conference called "Writers in the Round"--this conference was born from a radio show of the same name broadcast at the Portsmouth Community radio station. It was a real eye-opener and really shook up how I think about writing songs and music. A fantasy weekend of only doing intense songwriting on a wonderfully stark New England island that was once home to a raucous lot of fisherman (you'd be surprised how I can go on and on about this 42-acre rock 10 miles out from the mainland)...magical.
I also did a set with my beautiful friend Aepril at this festival in September, which I will talk about in another post.
In the fall I started playing with this lovely violist, and we formed a duo called Vaga Sidera. We played some Christmas music around town, and are now gearing up for wedding season.
And tonight? Jeremy and I are joining up with some very amazing friends to play some music at Local Sprouts in Portland. We'll be joining up with some dear friends in Eric Schwan's long-running project Orchards; and then they (and Anna, said lovely violist) will join Jeremy and me on a rare South China set. It'll be a short and sweet show, Local Sprouts has great food and drink, it's a suggested donation kind of thing, so consider coming out! And...it's warm today--35 whole degrees forecasted as the high. Looks like it's the last bit of "warmth" we'll get for a while. Hope to get some good photos of the night to share, though I'm not promising anything. As you may know about me, even if I have a camera in my hand when out on the town, I am usually too busy enjoying myself to use it.
