Finally a couple nights off

After working my second 21 straight set of night shifts, I finally had 2 nights off on Friday and Saturday. I spent the day Friday mostly trying to catch up a bit on sleep, and all I really accomplished was making a dump run. Saturday morning I was more refreshed, so first thing, I mowed the front and rear pastures, then I broke out the mini rototiller and did a bunch of work with that. When I was done, the areas around the house looked a lot better, and I eliminated a lot of unsightly weeds and dried grass. In the afternoon we had our regular monthly music gathering at the house. It's where we have musicians come and jam with us, and it's also open for folks who just want to come and listen. We focus on playing bluegrass and old time tunes, and we normally have a pretty good turn out. Saturday was no exception, and we had about a dozen musicians (pickers), and an equal amount of folks who just came to listen (grinners). We played songs for about 2 1/2 hours, then we hung out and talked with those who came, before meeting a couple friends for dinner. 

At the jams we always have a core group of pickers who show up to play, but we also have a rotation of new folks, and that's always fun. The rotation also goes for the grinners. This month we had a couple of new neighbors come. On one of my turns to pick the song, I chose to sing "32 Acres". After we were all done playing, those neighbors came up and said they had just bought a farm down the road from us that encompassed...yep, 32 acres. We also found out the husband, Bob, is the brother of a battalion chief I worked with, and have known for nearly 40 years. They invited us to come down to see their place when we had a chance, so we'll do that eventually. They're still in the process of relocating from Utah, and I'm still working through September, so it could be awhile, but we'll get there. 

Our bluegrass jams have been receiving a lot of positive community feedback. We have a beautiful setting out there in the front yard, in the shade under the cedar trees, and both the pickers AND the grinners like it. All we want to do is provide a place where people can come and play music, or just listen, that is free of politics, worry, and strife, even if it's for just a few hours. It seems to be working. After church this morning, we stopped at WinCo so I could get meal supplies for the next couple of weeks. As we walked down an aisle, a lady called out to us as she came up. It turns out she and her husband were two of the first time grinners, and she wanted to tell us how much they enjoyed the afternoon, and that they would definitely be back. A town of over 39,000 people, and we just happened to meet one of the happy brand new listeners at the store. I don't really think that was a coincidence, but I do greatly appreciate knowing that for at least a few people, my wife and I are making a positive difference. Maybe if we all concentrated a little more on facilitating small positive environments, we'd have a lot less long term issues to overcome. 

Our next jam is September 5th, feel free to stop by and join us.