Whataweekend!

 "Spirits of the Sea"

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  We had a wonderful evening at the Museum.  The exhibits were breathtaking...African Cloths, Medieval Exhibit, Chinese Buddhism and American painters were the ones we managed to look at before the concert. The place itself is gorgeous and was built for the World's Fair in 1903 and then given to the city of St Louis. They are doing a lot of work out there right now and expanding the building as well as some repairs and remodeling.  The venue for the concert was small...only about 150 seats, and the acoustics were terrible. But the band just threw out the mics and sat down on the floor and went crazy. They were magnificent.  The music was wonderful. There were so many people there, they decided to do 2 sets of about an hour each, and we got in to the first one because we stood at the door for an hour (upon the advice of the information desk woman). She was spot on--when the first set was done, they asked us to please exit and if there were any seats left after they seated everyone, they would open it up again.  Naturally, there were no seats. In fact, there were people who couldn't get in at all.  They played violins, resonator guitars, some kind of clacky things that played like castanets, but looked like tongue depressors, kazoos, a jug, and an African banjo instrument made from a gourd and hides with a long long neck,called an ekontone. Rhiannon clogged in the aisles and they all were hootin' and hollerin' and there was lots of audience participation. It was an absolutely delicious night, altogether.

  And then this morning we had to get up early and go to a funeral.  It was a large and solemn affair punctuated with  laughter and reminiscing. In the longest ever funeral procession of my life, we travelled about 20 miles to the cemetery. It was crazy. We were there to support MissT  and she held up pretty well, all things considered.  It was her aunt who finally succumbed to her fight against pancreatic cancer and her mothers younger sister. So there were lots of tears and fears and all the things that go with funerals and people who tragically die too young.

  We came home after stopping at a new Mexican place for a little lunch. It was quite good and then we were home and I vacuumed and started laundry.  Now it is after 11 and I am ready for bed.  

  Music and funerals and love and grief. Friendship and food and  art and laundry. All the things that an authentic life is composed of, with all the ups and downs and plateaus that come along.  I never thought my life would be like this, for years, when I lived in a twisted surrealism of my own design.  Now I long for the times when I can stay on my little piece of dirt and just breathe...simple things like folding stacks of laundry bring a new serenity to me.  I am blessed by an extravagant God, to get to live the life that is mine.

  I live in an abundant Universe.

  Namaste.