O Beautiful

Well...we made it through the Fourth of July, that crazy day when people all over the place think it's fun to explode loud crackers o' fire as well as fire off the firearms after the potato salad and hot dogs and one too many beverages. I think it's supposed to commemorate war and its accompanying sounds, but I have never really liked it much.

When I was a kid, my Dad and Mom would invite all the summer home folks over to the ranger station and we would raise the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing Oh Beautiful For Spacious Skies (which we had), and then eat. Because we lived in the summers up in the mountains where the fire danger was always high, no fireworks were allowed except sparklers, which seems right...sort of like a long burning fuse which looks nice but never explodes in a nasty way. That I liked...all of it, and mostly because there was a sense of communion among all the people as well as with nature and all things patriotic. I think as I write of all the young soldiers across the Way who must surely be longing for a simple picnic with their families in a safe place with maybe softball, and the smells and sounds of summer in July. We all long for peace, like deeply thirsty people.

Judy and I recently returned from a great weekend in Northern California. First, I was so privileged to be part of A Return To Grace, a wonderful 2-hour choral/band event in San Francisco. The choral groups were glorious, the human voices rising and rising and rising high up into the stone chambers of this gothic cathedral, where the notes hung suspended for 5-6 seconds before dropping like rain upon the gathering below. It was a full house, raising money for the cure for breast cancer. It was a full house as hearts beat together in harmony. It was especially nice to meet some of the great folks involved in making this show happen. We walked away with some great new friends.

After the show, we drove three hours through the night, north to Willetts in preparation for the Kate Wolf Festival the next day. Teresa Trull, Barbara Higbie and I did a set around the noontime hours...the crowd was great, even that early on in the day. There was the greatest music all day long, and we got to spend quality ttime with people we know and love as well as folks we so admire and want to know better -- Karla Bonoff, Garnet Rogers, Greg Brown among others. We closed our part of the show with a bunch of us singing a set of Kate Wolf's music...really lovely, and so honoring for Kate. This was my second time at this festival, but the first in this location, and I so hope to return as it is truly one of the best festivals I've ever attended. The thing I noticed was that you don't notice the people who are "in charge"...there is no evidence of the organization behind the thing, just kindness and smiling people and the widest embrace possible. I had such a great time! The weather was perfection, and though we arrived home simply exhausted, it was well worth it. Just the best!

I'm off this weekend to the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina, teaching songwriting all week. I'll talk with you all soon. Stay well, stay safe, stay...Cris