Taste a little of the summer

"Canned Goods", by Greg Brown

One of the highlights of my summer was playing my first gig as a "featured artist". I have been playing and singing contemporary folk music for about 20 years now, but it has mostly been a "when I have time" thing. Funny how in real life, the things one is most passionate about almost always get a lower priority than earning enough money to pay the bills. I am also in the stage where my kids' interests (volleyball, baseball, band, fishing, etc.) take priority. Most of the time.

There are not a lot of opportunities to play music around here, although if I drive about 60 miles north to Duluth, there are a number of bars and coffeehouses that feature local, live music. But, largely through Facebook, I have gotten to know a few local musicians. Last summer, when the Moose Horn and Kettle rivers flooded, I volunteered to play at a benefit concert. The coordinator of the event, Luke, contacted me this spring about a concert series he and his church youth group were putting together, largely because they had felt the need for continued community service after the flood. Luke and the young people of Barnum put in a lot of hard work and planning to create "Chillin' in the Pavilion", the summer concert series at a log pavilion at the Carlton County fair grounds. 

It was a great gig, from my perspective. A good number of people showed up, not just Facebook friends I had invited. It was relaxed, and well suited to the style of music I play. My set list included songs by Kate Wolf, Greg Brown, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Iris DeMent, and one original song, which I will post soon. 

This song, "Canned Goods", is, to me, everything gardening and home and family is about. Peaches on the shelf, potatoes in a bin. Supper's ready, everybody come on in. Taste a little of the summer, Grandma's put it all in jars.

Sunday miscellany

I was going to post a really weird, funny picture of something that happened overnight, but my camera is not communicating well with the computer. So I'll leave you in suspense.

Some time today, 11:47 AM to be exact, Sand Creek Almanac had its 100,000th visitor. Hooray!

I am not a good outdoor Minnesotan. I spent the majority of the weekend indoors. I was going to go for a walk on the nicely crusted-over snow in our woods, but it was a bit windy and chilly and the walk just never materialized. I'm waiting for a sunny, calm 30 degree day for my outdoor fun.

Instead, I played banjo. I realized I was hitting a rut with that instrument, thinking I would maybe have to drive to the cities for a lesson, but today I went through my books and found a few songs I could maybe learn. I tried a few, and assigned myself two of them to learn within a week. I need to get back into the groove of practicing.

My bird feeders are being visited by about a hundred common redpolls, and I am going through an incredible amount of Nyjer seed every day. I had pictures of that too, but...oh well.

I'll try to get this camera thing resolved soon!

morning at the feeder

you may want to mute the audio, unless you like hearing the TV in the background and an occasional exclamation from Mr. Attitude.

The wind is howling out of the northwest this morning, adding an extra bite to the frigid air. As I sipped my morning coffee, the bird feeder and the ground below, where I had scattered extra sunflower seeds, were a constant hub of activity. Pine grosbeaks, redpolls and goldfinches would descend one by one from the branches of the dead spruce (the "tree of life", as I like to call it) to the feeder or the ground, then some unseen cue would send them all flying back up, then once again the birds descended. While the finches engaged in this dance, the chickadees flitted to and from the feeder, each independent of all the others.

I am enjoying a quiet morning at home. The Hermit took Mr. Attitude to Wal Mart, and Calvin and Starflower are at friends' houses until about noon. So I'll sip some peppermint tea and play some banjo, or maybe get the guitar out and sing. I have laundry to fold, but that can wait. :)

Mr. Attitude found one of our turtles, which had disappeared from the aquarium, alive and crawling on the floor this morning! We put it back with the other turtle and The Hermit has a cat-proof aquarium cover on his shopping list.

UPDATE- When I was driving to pick up Starflower, I saw a bald eagle AND a rough legged hawk flying above my car at the same time! Is that a blessing or what?

Deb plays banjo!

Live from Sand Creek...it's me!

It was a bit dark, and my cinematographer (Calvin) kept moving in front of the light, but...you get the idea.