Remembering 9/11

A decade ago, I woke to a crisp fall dawn in the high plains of Wyoming.  As I lamentably departed my warm cocoon of pillows, sheets, and blankets, I switched the TV on to the morning news and started getting ready for class.  From there, my story probably sounds a lot like yours…

As we each remember that day- where we were, what we were doing, and who we were with- we each have our own unique memories, details, and effects from the experience. Greater than the particulars though, was the uniting sense of being human. The magnitude and awe of the unfolding tragedy, and the compassion for the victims and their families felt by the watching world, were humbling indicators of what is at the core of humanity.  That day, we witnessed the best and worst of what we are.

This morning, under beautiful Tennessee skies, my TV broadcast the memorial service honoring those taken 10 years ago.  As each name was read, I was pulled a little further back into the emotion of that day.  The longer it took to read each name, the more evident- and senseless- the enormity of the loss became.  Watching the children of the fallen speak, those who were just babies then, particularly tugged at my heart. Their innocent spirits intact, after such an undeserved injustice…

Unexpectedly, a few tears began to chase my cheek.  My dog, adorably sensitive and sweet, came and licked them off.  With big brown imploring eyes, he wagged his tail and looked at me trying to understand why I was upset.  I think that’s when it hit me.  He can’t understand what happened- he wasn’t even around then, and even if he were, words wouldn’t help his little doggie brain. Maybe in that realization came the simplest truth.  We do have words to communicate the motives and methods for what happened that day, but they hardly make the attack make sense. Whether we lived through that day or not, we too may never fully understand. 

One of the victim’s family members ended his memorial with a phrase his loved one used to live by: “Love yourself; be good to others, and enjoy life.”  In a world that may never make sense, and for the short time we are all here, that sounds like the way to do it to me.

My Theory on Swinging...

Write.  My purpose and intent of starting a blog was simply to do that. Write.  Yet, in the confines of my daily life, that’s the activity that often gets edged out competing against work, working out, eating, sleeping, and the myriad of must-do, life-maintenance tasks.  Today, however, I find myself vacationing, with a few hours not requiring attention to any of the above, and I face a cumbersome affair trying to nudge the cursor down the page in free thought…  I think this is what’s referred to as not being able to relax. 

Somehow I’ve learned to do this- to adhere to the administrative compulsories of life- and to forfeit the space that used to be devoted to daydreaming, wondering, reflecting, exploring creative thought and impulse.  This stalwart compliance is a skill I must unlearn. 

Not to say I’m going to stop paying bills and let the lawn consume the house, but I think that space to think, to wonder, to dream, is requisite to the soul.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to wake up every morning and plow through the day without considering what I’m plowing towards…or why… or even what it is I’m plowing through… Without that space to reflect though, those are questions that seldom get raised, much less answered.  That leaves a pretty narrow margin for vision, on both large and small scales. 

In the big scheme of things, purpose and goals are great things to have. For me personally, they have instilled hope and inspiration into my thoughts and aims in life, yet on the other end of the spectrum I’m equally inspired and compelled by the small things that often get taken for granted or overlooked.  Something as simple as watching the wind blow through the trees, and wondering how those trees came to be and where that wind originated from, fascinates me.

I’m not proposing we all become tree huggers and new age hippies, but retaining a little bit of that childlike wonder can’t be a bad thing for the world.  I have this theory that if every adult would go and swing on a swing set once a month, the world would be a happier place.  It’s hard to take yourself or life too seriously when you’re staring at the sky, the wind blowing across your face, and playing like you did when you were a kid.  Next time you want to yell at your boss, have road rage, or are teetering on the brink of going postal, try it.  Go find a swing set and see how you feel after 15 minutes.  I have this curious image in my head of world leaders coming together on a giant playground instead of suits, ties, and conference rooms... but politics are a subject for another entry.  Today, I just wanted to loosen the reins on my brain a little bit, take a deep breath, and think.

Ahhhh….

SXSW 2011

As I write this Jeremiah and I are about an hour outside of Memphis headed back to Nashville from our annual pilgrimage to South by Southwest in Austin, TX.   Fortunately, our gracious house host for the week, Mr. James Segerson, gave word that I had forgotten my laptop at his house before we got too far down the road.  Otherwise, this blog certainly wouldn’t be happening now, nor would my work day tomorrow morning.  That would be a big time FAIL! Luckily we have tiger blood though, so it’s only WINNING for this crew.  ;)

It definitely felt like a successful trip though. This was my fourth trip down, and it seems to get better every year.  We ended up playing four shows altogether.  We started out on Tuesday at an Irish pub called BD Riley’s on 6^th street.  Cool venue with a stage that opens up to the street, and considering the winter we’ve had in Nashville, that warm air and sunshine was just as welcomed as the nice little crowd we had in there.   A few acts after us, we got to hear Mike Stinson play- a great songwriter and an old friend from our days in Los Angeles.  Naturally, we took advantage of the free bar tab while we waited to hear him go on!

Wednesday we made it to the Guitartown/Conqueroo Kick Off party- our first year being there early enough to catch it!  From there, we headed out to the Waterloo Ice House to see the ever fabulous Randy Weeks- another LA buddy- before we played a couple spots later.  We had some friends out for that and had a fun little night.  The manager there was awesome, and liked our set enough to hook us up with all sorts of fun things- pint glasses, posters, t-shirts, picks- all sorts of goodies!

Thursday prompted our newly adopted tradition of feasting at Matt’s El Rancho, a fantastic Mexican restaurant I used to frequent with my family when I lived there early on.  We each had a couple (strong) margaritas, despite it being St. Patrick’s Day.  Later that evening I caught the Americana Music Association’s event at Antone’s.  What a great lineup!  Band of Heathens, Abigail Washburn, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, Emmylou Harris, and the Old 97’s.  It was like a sardine can in there for Emmylou, but how can you complain- it’s Emmylou!!

Friday was an epic day of music starting out with the Sin City event at Maria’s Tacos.  We didn’t get to see everyone, but were there long enough for Tim Easton, Stonehoney, and Shurman.  From there we raced over to the new Austin City Limits venue at Moody Theatre, for the Lost Highway 10 year celebration.  We were able to score VIP passes for that one, which was a pretty awesome way to see Black Joe Lewis, Hayes Carll, Dan Tyminski, Ryan Bingham, Robert Earl Keen, and Lucinda Williams!  What an amazing and inspiring show to see.  Topped off the evening with a little pizza in the crowded streets of downtown before crashing!

Saturday was our mini-marathon day during the marathon week.  We made it to the Continental Club just in time to catch the end of Mother Trucker’s packed set.  Our friend Mark Gonzalez has been working to help promote them, and it was great to see those efforts paying off for a deserving band.   We had to spilt from there to make it to Sam’s Town Point in time to play our first of two shows that night.  It was pretty great to be at Sam’s and catch our breath a little bit from all the madness of the downtown.  It was such a perfect evening out, and we were able to enjoy a couple beers on the back porch before playing.   That show was our only one with technical difficulties for the week- pretty good for us!  Jeremiah was just rocking so hard that his foot stomping knocked the power source loose, but other than that all went well.  After that we hopped back to town to play Uncorked- a lovely wine bar with an outdoor patio overlooking the Austin skyline.  I guess the full moon was as big as it’s appeared in 20 years or something, and it rose up right behind us as we played.  A glass of wine and visiting with some friends after was the perfect ending to our SXSW run. 

So here we are under that big ol’ moon once again, passing Memphis and looking forward to a little rest soon!  Great to see everyone- let’s do it again next year! J

BIG THANKS TO:

Jason, Penny Jo, and Bonny for helping us out with our banjo situation.  We were short one arriving to Austin, and they set us up!

Jim for his hospitality and awesome company!  Love the new pad!

Everyone who helped us set up shows- Todd,  Johnny, Julie, Ramsey, and Jason- and to all those who tried!  Last but not least, thank you so much to everyone that came out!!