Summer Solstice

Well now, happy summer solstice to you all out there. Hope your weekend was even a quarter as good as ours turned out to be. In fact even if yours was just about an eighth as good as ours was I’d still wish it on you. That’s what a nice time we had.

My sister-in-law’s family has a place up near Arlington and most years around the solstice they play host to a party of family and friends and let all of us stay up late and camp out under the stars. They live on some leased forestry land that has just the right amount of old trees and clearing.

We try to go up every year and bring instruments and beer, spending the evening around the campfire trying to remember any song we know more than the first line to. It’s a fun cast of characters, some of whom we only see once a year at this party. The party goes well into the night and if you bring your kids, rises early in the morning as well.

We set out close to noon on Saturday, packing what seemed like a weeks worth of stuff for our one-day journey into the woods. This was really the first time I realized that one day or one week comes out to about the same amount of stuff. Once you get all the basics packed, the tent, the sleeping bags, cooler, pillows, the rest is just fluff. Doesn’t really take any more room if you pack four shirts or one. It seems like I packed for three hours straight. I didn’t think we were ever gonna make down our driveway.

The older boy was about as excited as I’ve ever seen him. I thought he was gonna burst out of his car seat and explode all over the ceiling of the minivan. Fortunately for us, he has not learned the stock phrase, “are we there yet” cause if he had, he would’ve used it for the entire two-hour trip. Instead, his mind was racing a million miles an hour and we were stuck in a sort of free association improv where he says something like, “Mommy? What metabies have a fire attack?” and “Daddy, Levi says that earwigs craw into your ears and kill you” back to back, and you’re left trying to keep yourself from having your own thoughts because they only get in the way of his next question. I imagine being pinned down on Omaha beach by a German free association machinegun would have a similar feel. I can only thank god he doesn’t speak a foreign language.

Late that night after the older boy couldn’t hardly keep his eyes open anymore, I laid down next to him to help him get fall asleep. “Today was the best day ever.” He says and I find it hard to dispute.

The boys sleep and Sweetie turns in early as well. It’s been a long day, hell a long year for us all, but it’s too nice a day for me to let it go that easy. My brother and I get out our guitars and there with all our friends play every song we know the words to. Hell, every song we know half the words to. Singing late into the night underneath an almost full moon, underneath old Cedar branches and blackberry bramble, perched on our chairs around the fire pit making up words to Brown Eyed Girl and Wild Horses.

The older boy slept the entire way home. Two hours strait and didn’t even miss his bedtime. Days like that make your life feel normal. Like all the plans you made in your head never did get sidetracked and all the gifts that you’d thought you’d receive are right there at your fingertips. Like you just stretched out your arm and grabed a handful of stars.

The Great Weekend

It was a great weekend by any account. There were birthday parties attended, fathers day gifts unwraped and strange stew-like meals et. The weather was fair and what rain there was, was light and soon turned to sun.

Friday afternoon I took the oldest boy to a party at Owen Beach in Point Defiance Park. Though the sound is freezing cold, the boys didn’t seem to mind and spent most of the time splashing about in the water.

Saturday night The Prairie Dogs played a show at Kings Coffee to about 30 or so people. It’s actually a good amount to come see you play at that place. It’s not very big and it makes for a nice cozy atmosphere but also one where everyone has a place to sit down. Doug brought his whole band to open up for us. Not sure that’s really what I had in mind when he asked if he could open up for us but there they all were. His band is good but they don’t really mesh with what we’re trying to do so it made for a rather disjointed gig. They brought a lot of their own people with who, after his band finished, stood outside and chatted throughout our entire show. Anyway, not sure we’ll do that again.

Sunday was nice. The oldest boy bought me a lime press cause he thought I needed one and Sweetie bought me a globe cause I said I wanted one. I’ve always liked globes and lately the older boy’s been asking questions that are most easily answered with a globe. Like why are the days longer, why do we have seasons and how is it possible for it to be day here and night somewhere else?

We spent the afternoon at my folks with my nieces and nephews, eating a strange peanut stew with brown rice and fruit salad. The kids played well together and it wound up being a nice time.

Sweetie and I stayed up too late last night and paid for it this morning. I’m tired, I woke up late and I can’t seem to shake the cobwebs out of my head. The youngest boy has started a habit of waking up close to five in the morning and crying. Sweetie got out of bed and fell asleep with him on the older boys bed. This was possible due to the fact that the older boy wandered into our room to sleep at around two and though our bed is rather large, managed to spend the entire night pushing me off of my side to the point where I’m balanced on the edge, with my pillow in the uppermost left corner and my blankets mostly gone. So after a peaceful nights sleep, here I am wandering about the mill in a foggy haze, bumping onto things and spilling my coffee onto my desk and finding ways to waste a little time before I get into the meat of the day.

The Prairie Dogs

Well this weekend The Prairie Dogs are playing another show at Kings Coffee. I’m not sure how this is gonna work out because we haven’t had a chance to play together for almost three weeks due to the fact that one of our members has been in England on vacation. I imagine that it’ll be the fine sloppy mess that it always is.

I had a great idea for a post last night amidst the crying children and being kicked in the kidneys all night. The funny thing is I knew that I would forget it even as I was thinking about it, but having no pen or piece of paper handy, I just had to let it go. I keep thinking if I leave my mind open today it’ll pop in there but so far no go.

The littlest boy is scheduled to go into the hospital at the end of next month. The doctor wants to lengthen the tendons in his left hip. I really don’t want to see him go through this but I can’t really see that we have much of a choice. The best part of it is that we can do the surgery here in Tacoma and not have to travel up to Seattle. That’s a long drive and it always makes me think of his first year and him being so sick and all.

Someday when I’m bored and feel like torturing myself I’ll put up the journal that we kept during those long stays at the hospital. Thought why I would want to subject any of you with that I’m not sure. As it is, it’s far too depressing to look at and I’m sure I’ll need a lot more distance between the events and now before I can stand the thought of reading them again.

I think I might try and go play at an open mic tonight again. I feel like I should redeem myself for last week. Not that I played poorly or anything, just that I thought I could have done a lot better had I not been so nervous. It’s a strange thing, playing in front of absolutely nobody you know. Drinking all that coffee before hand probably didn’t do much to help either.

Kennewick Man

Well it’s looking like the littlest one is gonna have to go into the hospital again and have some surgery on his left hip. Guess they need to lengthen some tendons in there so he isn’t so crooked. I feel bad for the little guy cause he’s already spent way more time in the hospital than any two year old I know and it just doesn’t seem right. Still…if we’re gonna get him walking I suppose that this has to be the first step. Straighten him out so he can stand tall.

Speaking of the boy, he’s been doing very well in therapy lately. He’s just starting to figure out how to use his hands to push buttons and his head and neck control gets a little bit better every day.

We planted a bit of a garden in the back yard last month and all the seeds are sprouting. Last year when the tomatos were green, the older boy and his friend picked every last one for some game they were playing. This year we have an understanding that they’re not to be picked until dad says it’s ok. Guess we’ll just have to see how it goes this year.

The Kennewick Man movie did very well in it two screenings at the SIFF. It had very good turnouts both days with Sundays showing selling out. I was approached by a couple who are doing a documentary on Washington’s ticketing law and was interested in my doing the music. We’ll see if anything comes out of that.

It’s a scattered Forum this week for some reason. Perhaps the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. I’m going to go and play at an open mic tonight. It’s at a place than I’m trying to get my band to play at and I thought perhaps this might be a good way to get my foot in the door. I guess I‘ll just have to see if anything comes of it.