Readers Dear,
I'm still trying to recover from the hard trials of traveling... we made it home safe but not before the ol' Chief popped a belt. We were less than an hour from home and the alternator belt broke. We were able to get the Chief to the RV shop and left it in their hands. Shouldn't be a problem to fix that, and a couple more things they needed to do as well. Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be ready on Monday, because that's when we leave again.
It already seems ages ago to think of the last gig, on Sunday night at Chico Hot Springs. We played yet another all-nighter 3 set bar show... the crowd wasn't huge but the dancing was fantastic. Some serious dancers there. The owner even sprinkled sawdust on the floor for added authenticity. The place was an old resort hotel and saloon, with the hot "springs" outside in the shape of a swimming pool. We all felt the germ potential in the unchlorinated pool was worth avoiding, unfortunately. I liked the place itself, though. And the setting... Paradise Valley is quite aptly named.
[Dear Montana: how I love your big skies and deep valleys. Your mountains reign eternal and their snowy peaks blend with the low clouds amongst them. Your gentle streams and racing rivers flow freely and your grasses wave to all passers by. As I waved goodbye, I looked forward to our next meeting. May it be sooner than eternity. May your beauty be eternal and your peaceful setting provide comfort and shelter to all who come to you.]
A little Walt Whitman moment, perhaps... I studied Whitman in college and he was not my favorite poet. However, after seeing Montana, I can get behind the nature-gushing a lot more. What a nice surprise that state was for me!
Let's concentrate now on the future. After the last day's rest, I have a lot of work to do and us Wilders play twice this weekend. It's interesting to me that we are playing a Lewis & Clark event on Saturday, because there were a lot of L&C reminders out west, everywhere near the Missouri or Columbia rivers of course.
Also want to mention that a week from today we'll be playing the Kennedy Center! Millenium Stage, to be exact. And it'll be broadcast on the web. I would put a link but this ol' computer is working real slow and I'm afraid navigating on another page might crash it, so please check our website for a link w/ more info. OK?
So, friends, we'll continue this blog as we head east. Ike and Nate are (obviously) not as web-driven as myself and Phil, but perhaps they will be inspired to write something at some point. I am sure you all appreciate hearing different points of view. And with us Wilders, there are always at least four different viewpoints...
We miss you all, from those we haven't seen in a while to those we won't see for a while. Keep those comments coming -- we really love hearing from you! I always make a point to check for new comments when I visit. I have not responded to many of them, but please know that all of your posts are truly appreciated. May you all travel safely and hope you are all more rested than we are!
all the best to you all...
I am glad you made it back in one piece. This blogging thing is weird, but I'v learned to enjoy it. I think I will get off my lazy arse and come down and see ya all Friday night, because I have the relatives coming out on Saturday to eat some bbq, shoot fireworks, and crank up a Wilders CD. I love the mp3 stuff from your website, this is the real Wilders, wild and crazy! Your fiddle playing on Streamlined Cannonball is off the charts! I'm rambling on, Bye!
ReplyDeleteBetter have the RV place check the muffler on the generator again. When Betse (or anybody else) starts getting all teary and poetic about Montana ya gotta wonder what they've been inhaling. I suppose its OK in the summer, but in the winter it is approximately the same temperature as the surface of the moon (dark side). Nothing between Montana and the North Pole except a couple of barb wire fences. Folks have froze to death in their living rooms while looking up Cut Bank Montana on the map.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tornado card, by the way. I had no idea you could even buy such a thing. I wonder if they have cards for floods, volcanic eruptions, and stuff like that.
All seriousness aside, congratulations on finishing the first and likely toughest trip of the summer. The old Chief showed good judgement in dumping the fan belt so close to home instead of on some desolate stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. (Montana?)
I'll try to stop by Friday, and will be in full ducking and dodging mode in case Betse chooses to answer these comments with thrown objects.
I meant to post this last night, but the web was being a freak, and I didn't have the... um... coherent thougts, that would be... to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great show last night! I know you guys kept saying it was your "we're home and we're glad we don't have to be perfect" show, but I very much enjoyed it.
Let me just say that my mood had turned sour about a week before, and seeing you guys perform totally made me not hate everyone on the planet any more. Kudos!
Betse, please share with Phil my more coherent thoughts on these blog entries... yours and his, I mean. I think I wasn't very... um... with it... when I explained it to him. Or tried to.
Listening to "Wings of a Dove" in my car today. I'm liking it!
Boy are my legs and feet tired. I think I did lots of stomping and attempts at rhytmic moving last night.
You guys have a safe trip, although I hope to see you at tonight's quickie gig and express it in person then.
After reading Betse's Montana love poem, I am reminded of a funny sign that I saw at a barber shop. It said, "Warning, fishing stories told on these premises. Protective footwear is advised". Tickmeister may be misinformed about MT. We were told by more than one inhabitant that the winters in Montana actually aren't that cold. But that's like saying that Tick Fest isn't that hot...or humid...or fun.
ReplyDelete"All day I am surrounded by lies, and that has made me immune to compliments..." David Sedaris
bpw
I have watched a couple of shows in the archive of this Millineum stage thing you are playing in DC it looks like quite a place. I hope to see it live but am glad they archive all their shows. It was nice to have you all in KC for a few days and was glad to hear your stories.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm forced to comment here again, as I have comments to make and no valid comments to hide them behind...
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed the gig Saturday night. I was driving back from the post-Road Rally Birthday Party (the two events had nothing in common... other than making me tired and sore) and driving by the park in question while debating whether or not I should go home for an hour and then come back (it was about 8:00 at that time, and I'd read you'd be on at about 9:00) when left foot (the one so sore from all the Friday-night stomping) got right foot to join it in a little mini-rebellion.
I need to save that sentence and give it to misbehaving children to copy 100 times.
Anyway...
Left foot refused to apply the break, and managed to convince right foot to keep on acceleratin'.
Upon arrival at home, the two proceeded to lead me inside, demanding I not leave the house for at least 18 hours or so. At least I think that's what the note said. My left foot doesn't write very well.
Anyway, I have "Brighten the Corner Where You Are" on repeat in my car right now, and it makes me smile a lot. Although I may have left it repeating too much, because I've started singing a Halloween-esque version: Frighten the Coroner Where You Are... and that started turning into a "How to Get Away With Murder" song. So it's all gotten way too dark.
But I love that song. I'm going to scream my repeated requests for it from the crowd at the next gig I watch... unless it isn't you guys I'm watching... or it is you guys, but it's at the gig being broadcast tomorrow night, in which case you won't hear me.
I did have to look up some lyrics. "Let not narrow self your way debar"? Eh? What now?
Okay, I'm done rambling. Wishing I could watch you guys live and in person again right this instant!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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