Afternoon Tunes
May 3, 2025
It’s hard to get more pleasant than this, and I’m not even a jazz fan.
TH, the owner of Cloud Forest has been offering live music from his outside deck in the Spring and Fall on Saturday afternoons from 4-6. He’s been doing it for years now. This is the second time I’ve gone (can’t remember if I blogged about it two weeks ago).
Today’s was a 5-person jazz ensemble that included a trumpet player who used to back up Gladys Knight (two weeks ago, there was a guitar player who used to back up BB King). Today also featured a vocalist who was lovely. They did a lot of Cole Porter, some Miles Davis, all kinds of standards I knew, a George Benson song, and more; they played for two hours with a break.
He could advertise it more… the crowd is very small… but the quality of music is high and the setting is lovely. Warm day, light breeze, shaded patio, gin and tonics… lots to love about all that. And all free.
Now That’s a Good Saturday
April 19, 2025
My idea of a near perfect Saturday:
I Start the day with the best workout in a loooong time. It was a great workout because this 69-year-old body was about as free of inflammation as I’ve felt in years, thanks to a 6-day course of methylprednisolone, which I took to reduce an inflamed nerve in my tooth, in preparation for yesterday’s pre-implant tooth extraction. (With me here?) The benefit of taking an oral steroid to reduce inflammation in my mouth, was the systemic effect of overall inflammation reduction.. which has resulted in astonishing mobility and flexibility and bendiness. It’s like my teenage self (only a small exaggeration). I may have reported — a couple of months ago — the effect of having taken a 5-day “prednisone burst,” prescribed by my primary to address very stubborn knee inflammation caused by last summer’s traumatizing Dolomites hike. That was a Hail Mary tactic that worked beautifully… but it was child’s play compared to the effects of this week’s steroid. So.. yeah.. started the day with fantastic stretching and yoga and bendiness — positions I haven’t managed in a very long time. Made for an exceptional workout and a fantastic start to the day!
(I have no pictures of this.)
II Then attend a HAND’S OFF rally right here in town. Life in these United States, for the next few years, is going to involve a lot of rage against the regime. In the first 85 days of this corrupt and dangerous administration, that has meant marches, protests and rallies in Sacramento, Ann Arbor, San Luis Obispo, Folsom…. and today: Davis! It’s a sad (and scary) statement about the state of our country, for sure, but it also feels righteous to turn the anger into action. And it’s especially nice to be in solidarity with people from my own town, to listen to members of my own community share their stories, to stand on a corner waving signs just a few blocks from my own house, to get honks of support from people I know.
III Then go listen to some jazz music at my favorite cafe. TH at Cloud Forest Cafe has been organizing a series of live music concerts in the Spring and Fall for a number of years now. This was my first time going and it was just lovely.
IV Then go to Janet’s for dinner. Always nice when someone else does all the cooking! Plus, good company and a post dinner walk around the pond.
Music at the Odd Fellows
April 11, 2025
Jim and I went to hear Duo Quartet tonight at the Odd Fellows Hall. Duo Quartet comprises two duo groups: Chris Webster & Nina Gerber, and Pam Delgado & Jeri Jones. When they all play together, they’re the Due Quartet. Plus a dog, who lay quietly in her doggie bed right on stage.
This is who I really wanted to see.. Nina and Chris.
Jim and I have heard Chris sing countless times, mostly at Home for the Holidays annual concerts (like, almost 20 of them) and a few Mumbo Gumbo events. Her voice is just buttery gorgeous. Nina accompanies a whole bunch of singers (the ones I know and have heard live are: Greg Brown, Kate Wolf, Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson). I just read on Nina’s website that she and Chris are performing twice this summer in Sac, just the two of them… might have to pitch that to Jim.
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Had a nice lunch at Tower Cafe this afternoon with Susan. A sad percentage of our lunch was taken up with fretful, angry conversation about the current president and all that he’s doing to tank the economy, topple the world order, strip us of our civil rights, rewrite and whitewash history… horror on every front. But it was good to see her and it’s always good to share perspectives on the politics of the day.
Canada Geese and Music
February 28, 2025
Today was really about the president and vice president of the United States bullying an ally (Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine) in the Oval office on live TV. Today also marks a radical departure from a foundational, 80-year commitment to our European allies in favor of a cozier alliance with Russia.
So.. putting a pin in that. Will likely be talking about this again and again. It’s huge news and very disturbing, on top of all the other very unsettling developments in the past 5 weeks.
For a photo, and in lighter news, we drove up to Dutch Flat this evening to hear our friend Bill play with two other guys at the Monte Vista Inn. Now, that was fun. We met Sarah and Gabe, Susan and Jim, met some friends of theirs, and even saw Jimmy Johnson in the bar. Felt warm, comfortable, joyful.. all an exceptional antidote to the dread that’s slamming us daily.
A couple pics…
First, as we crossed the causeway, the skies were just thick in migrating, honking geese heading back North.. that stream of birds filled the flyway and kept coming and coming and coming … it was a remarkable site.
Right out the window, overhead
And here’s a shot of Bill (Edwards, in the middle) playing with Rob Bonner and Peter Wilson at the Monte Vista…
Life of Wry 