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It turns out that Sarah Lee Guthrie, daughter of Arlo and granddaughter of Woody, lives in my town. We went to hear her sing tonight at a little cafe. Nothing spectacular--I wasn't ever sure even Arlo made it on his own talent and not his father's name, and this maybe even be more so. But she's a dear, pretty girl, and her husband, a local guy, isn't bad on the guitar.
The thing about it was the night. A warm summer night, even though it's April, sitting outside. The cafe's in an old mill village house, with a small patio. A litte crowd of people who know each other, the street lights shining through the leaves and the warm wind occasionally brushing our hair. A little beer, some hugs and laughter, the guitar and the sweet young voices. Not far away the river tumbles over the rocks, and we can smell the fresh honeysuckle. It seems like the best parts of my life have been nights like this.
The thing about it was the night. A warm summer night, even though it's April, sitting outside. The cafe's in an old mill village house, with a small patio. A litte crowd of people who know each other, the street lights shining through the leaves and the warm wind occasionally brushing our hair. A little beer, some hugs and laughter, the guitar and the sweet young voices. Not far away the river tumbles over the rocks, and we can smell the fresh honeysuckle. It seems like the best parts of my life have been nights like this.
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To me, this is ideal--it's a university town, so there are interesting people around, but it's also state govt., an army base, and a past--so it's not an academic ivory tower. The past isn't good in all ways, maybe even not in most ways, but it gives us a commonality. And having lived here a long time, there's the shared personal history, the fact that every thing I do usually involves running into someone I know from somewhere. It does make life rich.
But on the other hand (really do have the best of many worlds) I'll get to spend the summer in Chicago and a month in the fall in SF, and there I'll be able to tap into some of that big city richness, which definitely can't be denied. I visited my son in southern CA last year (my first time in many years down there) and was reminded how wonderful is the diversity down there, the wealth of cultures, the beauty of the mountains and oceans. There are a lot of good places, aren't there?
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One reason L.A.'s ideal for us is that R. and I are white, and Nelly's African American. The neighorhood we live in (which includes her school) has quite a few families that resemble ours, so she/we fit right in.
Plus the beach is only 20 minutes away on a Sunday morning.
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I really regret not seeing Woodie, the writer of all the great songs ("This land is your land," "Deportees," etc.) but he was already pretty sick by the time I knew who he was.