WV Sunday afternoon 942011

A slight breeze is stirring and the air is coming in a bit cooler.It's been high 90's and brutal. Glad we have fans here. Sitting in the rocker that came from Dan's mom's house at the end of the porch overlooking the ridge, my favourite spot. Just finished reading my friend Bud Navarro's new play “So The Boys Can Cry”. It's about the first responders set in a neighborhood bar near The World Trade Center the day of 9/11/2001 and the eve before. The play is good, really good. The subject stuns me to silence. The words of what people saw as they ran in to help when the towers collapsed. The image of shoes everywhere in one character's dialogue stays with me. I remember my sister telling me that her friend's boyfriend worked downtown and saw arms and legs flying. That image has never left me.
The frustration and anger, the difficulty of forgiveness of moving on. Stunned by the enormity.

Struck by the irony of life. Quietly here in the middle of the West Virginia hills, amid the sounds of crickets and birds, I stand in my kitchen mixing Tabouleh salad for tonight's dinner. I've Greek olives and hummus with vegetables to serve with some grilled chicken I made the day before. We are all mixed together just like the food.

The saloon where Bud's play is set reminds me of several saloons in NYC that I have been to with Bud! The dark funky bar downtown with the great jukebox and cheap drinks. The yuppier bar on the upper West Side where Bud received his mail and his drycleaning.

I was going to fly to NYC to use a free US Air ticket I have. But I'm not so anxious to travel right now. I need the time to rest and practice and a book of songs I've started is tugging at me. We go next week to visit Dan's mom and also meet up with Dan's brother and his wife. I'm hoping to stop in Morgantown on the way back to visit my new friend Cynthia. She and I met in Barcelona at the Festival of Song masterclass.

I sang two Spanish songs acapella for Bud's play. Interesting getting back into my soprano voice and the Spanish words. I sang Lloraba La Niña by Granados and Respóndemos by Rodrigo. Two pieces I began work on in Spain. Nothing is coincidence as Bud asks if I can send him an mp3 of some ¨flamenco vocals¨. I explain that I don´t remotely sing the flamenco wail, but find songs with a Sephardic, southern Spanish style to send him.

Music becomes a part of the daily life here. Dan has been writing some spooky music that sounds like the wind singing through my harp . I practice just about daily. Last night we jammed with Lisa ( Buck and Diane's daugher in law ) who is a fiddle player. She is studying at ETSU for a degree in bluegrass. Anita Morrell was so proud when she told us that was being offered! Lisa and Morgan and their two children live in Johnson City, Tenn right down the road from Bristol! We had fun last night. Playing old time bluegrass and some of my Celtic and Spanish songs. Dan played guitar and I played harp and our painter friend George played bass. It was a blast, sitting on the back porch of their farm as the stars came out. We ride out over Davison ridge to get there. Dan and I have walked over before, 7 miles along the ridge ( and a 2 mile huff to the ridge road that we haven't walked yet – but Diane has. ) Memorable gathering of friends, food and music.

And sometimes life is grand.