Finding It

I'm glad to really have this opportunity. There have been times here and there when I would listen to music I have recorded with different people throughout my life and I would often return to a group from my 20's where the music seemed to have something. I did a lot of music since then, but it seemed more like I was working hard to make it good enough, but could not reach the goal. I was getting closer and closer, but the image of an old black man with a beat-up guitar on a street corner, playing something true, kept popping up in my mind. Was it that I really had nothing to say? Was it that no matter how much I polished the recorded tracks, I would find the music lacking? Why is it that the image of the old man, broken and worn out, stuck in my mind? The music just poured from him, and the notes were right, even when they weren't in tune.
Then I just plain got lucky. I assembled a group of friends and my son and requested that we just try to play some songs they made up. Instantly, the songs were not much like the original ideas, but something special that was created in the room by this bunch of guys. The music poured out effortlessly, just like my fantasy of the old black man. It dawned on me then, that art is not work, it is something that wants to escape and that is what is happening now...

The Campfire

We are having a real experience here, with some of the coldest weather in my memory. Today, I could go surfing early, but the ocean temperature is still in the 50's and the last trip, I sat in the water shivering in my full wetsuit with gloves, booties, and hood! The only good part is that the cold really thins out the crowd, and the next few days we expect some very good waves.
The cold reminds me of last year and our camping trip at Blue Springs, where we found ourselves standing close to a small campfire, trying to stay warm in 20 degree weather. Your front and hands stayed warm, but anything facing away from the fire got the chill. The thought of leaving the fire and trying to sleep in the tent was not enticing.
This comes to mind now as our family and friends draw together in some of the worst times that anyone can remember. In spite of some good indicators showing the economy is improving, people are losing jobs and homes. Prices are still high and everybody is pretty much hanging on, hoping to get through this. What is on the increase is desperate behavior. More robberies, more backstabbing at work, and more repair guys that take your money and run.
What does put a smile on my face is that we still have the fire burning here and having my family around it with us.