Crystal City Visions

 I had never been to Las Vegas before. I don't gamble, and I live on the east coast. However, a friend of mine was performing with New Wave party band The-B52s, and the final shows of their career were happening at the Venetian Theater, and I had some free time in May.

I booked a room at the Cosmopolitan Hotel with a balcony overlooking the famous Bellagio Fountains.

with temperatures in the low 80s and a nice breeze blowing, it was fun to relax in the morning with coffee watching the scene unfold along the strip.

It was even more fun at night, where the city really comes into its own.

The days leading up to the show we explored some of the resorts and local attractions like Meow Wolf.

Hard to Explain.

Following that experience, it was off to downtown and the Fremont Street Experience, where old meets new.

I had also never seen a Cirque De Soleil show, and The Mirage was hosting the performance of The Beatles "Love", and I was encouraged by several people to check it out.

I was not let down.

It was an adventure checking out some of the shopping areas at places like The Venetian, with it's gondolas and sky painted ceilings, making you feel like you are outside on a cool fresh late afternoon.

Or the Bellagio with its incredible glass sculptures and floral arrangements. 

The sights sounds smells and tastes were all accounted for in Las Vegas.

and when you think you have no room in your belly, there's still room for more on your plate.

All of this was great fun, but the reason we were here was to see our friend Kenny play with The B-52s: Greatest New Wave Party Band Ever! The show and the theater were both wonderful, plus we got to meet the opening act, DJ Cumberbund!

After 5 days and 4 nights, it was time to head back home, but not after one last adventure.

Riding on the High Roller Ferris Wheel, we were treated to a view of the mountains and deserts of Nevada, and noticed The Sphere where U2 is soon performing at this Fall. Funny enough, another friend of ours works for U2.

Could we possibly think about coming back in November?

We'll have to think about that for awhile.

Greener Pastures (Version 23)

 

Spring temperatures like I like 'em. 50s and 60s. Partly cloudy and not too much wind. Thank you Nature!

On my daily ritual of walking, and encountered only a couple of cars, and no pedestrians. Just me and the outdoors.

A large tract of land that alternates between corn and hay (one section had been Industrial Hemp (!) for a couple of years, but went back to planting corn last year.

Whatever they plant this year, it will still be a great place for me to clear my head, get some exercise and breath some fresh air.

I usually feel pretty good afterward!

Come On Up To The House

This weekend, Amy and I visited the Treehouse Brewing Company, which is a large facility serving beverages and pizza in a former sprawling corporate office in Deerfield.

It's absolutely beautiful, and live music plays there often.

It was very cool to see such a building used to invite the public - families and all - to such a welcoming environment. We took the kids, who had been asking for awhile to check it out.

They seemed to enjoy it.

Live shows this summer include Aimee Mann, and local friend Martin Sexton. I can't help but feel like I'm losing out on doing some cool solo or duo gigs in places like these, as breweries are popping up like dandelions in the spring. In the meantime, It's good to get out of the house with everyone and see something new.

 

Springing Forward

 

By the time Easter rolls around, I start to feel the real Spring weather showing up.

 

We also received the Easter blessing of our resident groundhog, affectionately named "Dirt Friend". First time this year, and has spent the winter digging tunnels under the yard.

We made our first visit of the year to Shelburne Falls. Temps were in the upper 50s and the winds were mild. Plenty of sunlight too.

A recent restaurant opened up called the Blue Rock, and we had a terrific experience that went into the early evening.

Looking forward to coming back in a month or so when more flowers are in bloom, but it was still very pretty.

Purple Heart Village

Nearly every Wednesday Night for the last several years, I've been taking part in an open mic event in the village of Florence, where I briefly lived for a spell. This being an eccentric and vibrant arts community, all types of performances have been welcome over the years, I've seen Beat poets, washtub players (sometimes as the same performer!) along with performance artists, comedians, and players of just about any kind of instrument you could imagine. A few performances were difficult to watch, not because they were bad, but because I couldn't grasp what I was watching. I have occasionally been a host for open mic events (usually as a fill-in) so I have learned to roll with whomever shows up, because you don't want to be rude, and you especially want to encourage as many people to participate, and tell their friends to show up and watch. That's how you build a scene.

This latest Wednesday, I was waved over to a table by an older gentleman, who was sitting alone at a small table, with a scattered assortment of  newspapers from another time in front of him. He had just seen me playing bass to support another performer, and mistook me for someone else. He wore thick glasses, and appeared a little frail and nervous. After that briefly awkward introduction, he then asked me if he could come up onstage and recite some poems and stories about his time stationed in Vietnam.

"Yes!" I said, in a louder-than-I-probably-should-have-said-it voice. "Go talk to that guy (pointing at Shawn, near the sign up sheet) and tell him you want to be included!" 

"Okay. Thanks" he responded, as he slowly made his way to the table to meet Shawn.

Usually no room is left on the sign up list, but a few competing nearby events took away a small portion of our usual performers for this night, but I later realizing that he was going to be the last person on stage, and this might be a very heavy and somber experience. I offered to switch places with him and I could close the night out with something upbeat. Both he and Shawn were in agreement. As the night went on, and it became this gentleman's turn to take the stage, things got very quiet in a hurry.

Clutching a few newspaper articles, some typed out sheets of poems, and a small poster for a veterans memorial event - He started talking about his experiences in the Vietnam war, and immediately started to choke up on his words and holding back tears. As he continued, I could feel the emotions stir up inside me as well, and soon knew that I wasn't going to be able to hold it together much longer myself. 

I went downstairs to close out my tab, and get one last drink to prepare myself for going on next.

When I came back upstairs a few minutes later, the gentleman was now completely sobbing as he tried to recite the poems his friend had written about being stuck in Vietnam. About feeling forgotten, despised, and waiting to die rather than stay and suffer through a war they didn't understand, but were nonetheless pressed into service to fight. Everyone's faces were frozen in the same sad. compassionate look of attention. Nobody was looking at their phones anymore, but a lot of people like me were blankly staring at their tables, listening patiently, yet uncomfortably, as this poor, sad, broken down loveable man finished his last words, and said "I'm sorry" before totally breaking down and leaving the stage.

I was the first one to get up there, put my hand on his shoulder and say, "Thank you for doing that, it was really moving." Several other people followed and did more or less the same thing. He said he needed a ride back to his assisted living place, and left with someone shortly after.

How do you follow that? 

January Blues

 Last week I was able to walk about with no snow and mild temperatures

It was a different story a few days later/

We have only gotten a few inches of snow this winter, with 4" falling with this latest bout. Not bad, considering the blizzards and Nor'easters we are normally accustomed to. With only 48 days until Spring, I'm looking forward already. 

Meanwhile. I still promised to go walking pretty much every day, regardless of the weather. It's still makes for pretty pictures. 

Walk This Way

 

Most every day, I manage to go walking. 

It's something I set for myself to do pretty much every day. There's not very much traffic.

A giant cornfield, which has been preserved by the town to avoid having it become a bunch of high priced homes. They've done a good job at keeping things rural, so as a result, deer, geese, fox, bear and many other wild creatures visit the area. Sometimes, the sound of a large group of Canada geese can be deafening.

Sunsets can be very nice too.