Jazz and Poetry a little spot for notes & words to dance

Flash Forward

I still haven't written the story about the wind storm that closed the freeway while we frolicked at the Grand Canyon, or the hotel/bus depot we spent the night at in Cheyenne, Wyoming clinging to Aaron Wood's new EP tracks off his website (aaronwoodmusic.com) for comfort. I haven't written about doing 14 shows in 14 different schools around King County in 5 days while trying to squeeze in visits with family & old friends and how many I missed anyway. I haven't written about returning to Asheville to be greeted by so many great musicians ready to make the music happen. I haven't written about how scary it is to look at the next few months of open dates to fill with projects that feed my heart & spirit & belly while keeping a roof over my head. I'm still working it out.

I have a bicycle, that I'm fixing. I have a 5 song EP waiting to be copied, but available to download. I have an article to write for the paper about someone who reminded me to keep focusing on what I do well and to get it done. So, apologies for holding back on the stories until I finish the ones that put a few dollars in my pocket. I need to pass them on to the next person for doing what they do well that I can't do for myself.

Putting it in perspective

When I left Asheville there was not yet an ecological disaster in the Gulf, nor was there a garden in my backyard.

After running across the country packing each day full of shows and reconnecting with loved ones scattered like seeds across the country, I can't help but hope that the work we did through Poetry Alive! helped to provide some nourishment in these, well, interesting times.  I must say it was a relief to walk into schools this trip compared to the last time I was working on the west coast right after the Columbine incident. Everywhere we went both staff and students were grateful to see us and thirsty for the arts instead of scared of bomb threats. I was also reminded of how diverse America has become as I visited more schools where there is no longer a majority, but rather a rainbow of color, language, and culture. However, budgets are tight. Even though the arts and sports help bridge the gaps of culture and give students outlets for their own expressions, they are on the chopping block this season.

I'm worn down from 13,000 miles of road dust in the past month and really don't have time to worry about much except the basics of food, shelter, sleep & how to turn the few dollars I made for the work we did into sustainable independence. Isn't that really what we all need?

I was reminded in Lincoln, Nebraska, the heartland of America, that the essential part of the American dream is that if you work hard you will be rewarded. This doesn't mean you figure out how you can scam the most money out of other people at the least cost to yourself. This doesn't mean you run around blaming everyone else for making you miserable or expect that they owe you something.

If our government can't figure that out, it is our duty as citizens to help them. In the words of Paul Freire, "Nobody liberates anybody else, and nobody liberates themselves all alone. People liberate themselves in fellowship with each other."

My wish is that each of us stops playing the blame game and continues to develop those life sustaining attributes which allow us work together for a better tomorrow as we clean up the messes of yesterday.