Last week was a fairly short work week considering the return back from a holiday break. I arrived in Chattanooga Monday after lunch. A short while after being there I was informed that my weekend off would be the upcoming weekend. This worked out great for Gin and I. We wanted to attend the Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary show in Carrboro, NC that was scheduled for Saturday night. After discussing it with Gin, which didn’t take much convincing, I was online making the ticket purchase and reward points hotel reservations. I emailed my brother-in-law Ray to see if he and Laurie were interested in meeting us there. Ray was also more than willing, but Laurie was scheduled to work. Ray decided to attend anyway.
We arrived in Burlington late Saturday morning and met with Ray for lunch and a visit to Ed McKay’s used books and CDs. Gin picked up two CDS from Kate Campbell. Ray picked up several CDs to add to his million +1 collection. After the CD store Gin and I checked in at the Hampton Inn where I left her to relax. Ray and I made it out to Cedarock Park outside of Burlington for a round of disc golf. This park was recommended to me by Jonathan Byrd. The wind was strong and the chill was like a knife. I think both played against me on this course. A lot of long baskets which was tough in with the wind we were experiencing. Ray did much better than I for the most of the course. I was just trying to make it to the end. I would like to return there with better weather conditions and more time.
Saturday night was the event of the weekend, a reunion concert with Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary. The group pre-sold 100 tickets back in November to guarantee the show would happen. They included renowned double bass player Robbie Link to the bill to fulfill the rich sound of the show. Jonathan opened up with “The Waitress” and followed with some of his new material from the recently released Cackalack CD. He then yielded the stage to Dromedary’s Rob McMaken and Andrew Reissiger. We were treated to three tunes from the duo. The way these two musicians play and feed off of each other’s rhythm is something special to witness.
The band took a short break to meet and greet the 250+ guests before the feature of the night. We all spent a little time speaking to Rob, Andrew and Jonathan. Before long the musicians were assembled on stage and the album was cued up in our hearts, minds and ears. Attending a performance in which the entire record is played from start to finish because it was designed to be played that way is amazing. The flow from song to song with instrumental changes, love and disparity, hope and joy, is a pleasure to hear. Not only the lyrics, but the instruments themselves speak to the soul as you are collected and taken on the musical journey.
Before we knew it, the album was complete. Then an encore was provided by the musicians and we were presented with a very entertaining and animated rendition of The Cocaine Kid. Rob provided the appropriate gestures for visual stimulation of the rolling wrap Jonathan delivered of the originally named Mesopotamia Wrap. Jonathan closed the show with a new song he had not released nor played for a live audience. We were truly lucky to be a part of the performance in Carrboro. A night I’ll remember for a long time.
Gin and I traveled back Sunday morning with a side trip to the Ikea store in Charlotte. We picked up some replacement dishes and enjoyed a Swedish meatball lunch. A stop at the grocery store before arriving home helped prepare ourselves for the next snow event which was predicted to start Sunday night.
And it did! We were dusted with six inches of dry powder snow before it turned to 10 hours of sleet. The only thing I did Monday was clear the steps of the snow, then apply ice melt before the sleet arrived. Today I ventured out to begin the snow and ice removal. I managed to shovel the top half of the driveway and one side down to the mailbox. I also cleared the snow and ice from the rental car, Gin’s truck and the Lumina (better known as “Pappy’s Car”). This afternoon I finished the other half of the lower driveway and the area around the Lumina and where the trucks park.
I’m done. Cabin fever is breaking and I will probably travel on Wednesday afternoon.
Have a good week.
P@
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