I’ve finally reached the last day of Falcon Ridge. Let’s see if I can remember anything.
I always hope that nobody I love plays the Gospel Wakeup. After staying up to at least 4 AM I don’t want to go to an 11 AM set. We can hear it fine from the Budgiedome so there’s less urgency to go down the hill. This year was an exception, I knew that the Kennedys would have special guests, the VanMerc clan children. In addition to not wanting to miss it we thought I might be helpful getting the kids backstage. I have a pass, so I could get Pete and Maura if they wouldn’t take my word for it. It ended up being easier than we thought as Jake was there, saw them, and let them in. I kvell as much as Emily and Joe when their kids take the stage and sing Stand with Pete and Maura. They’d done it for years at New Bedford but never on the main stage of Falcon Ridge in front of thousands. As always, they did a great job. After their set the younger kids went back to their parents and Maggie stayed backstage with me. The other artists with the Kennedys were Kim & Reggie Harris, and Vance Gilbert. Kim is a Doctor of Divinity. Does that make her clergy? It certainly makes her a natural for the Gospel Wakeup. Vance has a voice suited for gospel, but his attitude is a bit, shall we say, irreverent? Whatever it is, the mixture of artists worked.
I stayed at the Main Stage for The Gaslight Tinkers with Choc’late. Their performance at the Budgiedome the night before was the best I’d ever seen them give. They beat that with this set. Early Sunday is not the ideal time slot for them. They are high energy and pump the air with excitement. They should be playing Saturday night. They don’t have the name recognition, but they could headline the festival. Going from Dar to the Tinkers would be perfect, the Yin and Yang of folk music.
That was my last music at the Main Stage. I listened to “The Power of Two” with The Kennedys, Nields, and Kim & Reggie at the Workshop Stage from the WFUV booth. This was the first I got to hang with Linda and Janeen. After that I walked around the Midway then headed back to the Budgiedome. It was an unexpectedly hot day. Before we left the forecast said the temperature would never go about 81°. I don’t know what it reached that day, but it was above that and I didn’t have one of my wicking fabric shirts. I am good at keeping hydrated and dressing properly for the heat, but the heat got to me. When I got back to camp we struck the Budgiedome. Because I couldn’t use my left arm I was of limited use. But even with that I almost collapsed when we were done. I felt faint. I went over to the Dharma Café where they still had shade, had something to drink, sat on a lounge chair, and passed out. I don’t know how long I slept but it was needed. I was awake for the closing song, Never Turn Back. I’m on a fruitless crusade to change that. It is popularly known as “The Dirge.” Long time festival goers have a sentimental attachment to it but by standards where I’m not long time and this was my 20th Falcon Ridge.
One sad thing is that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Bri and Katie who left while I was downstairs. I never spent as much time with them as I’d have liked.
Sunday night at Falcon Ridge makes a nice bookend with Wednesday. It’s relaxed. We sit around the Dharma Café, talk, and make our own music. Strangers that walk by are free to join us. We even had an overnight guest; a young man whose tent was flooded and had no place to stay and no food.
On Monday morning we packed up our tents. Steve and Lori packed up their trailer. Fred and I bid adieu to those that remained and headed out. We went back to my old tradition of eating at the Martindale Chief Diner. The food is excellent, the prices reasonable, and best of all the servers friendly. I’m afraid that I left my Mets cap there. It has not turned up since I’ve been home. My missing pillow ended up with Joe & Emily. I found my watch just where it belongs on my night table. The problem was that I put my bag of meds and toiletries on top of it.
I should go to the Summer Stage to see the spectacular that Richard Barone is putting on, a tribute to Greenwich Village in the 60s. None of my friends can make it and I’m still lethargic enough to need company to get myself moving. Maybe I’ll start editing my photos and videos from the festival.
It took till very late night, but I finally overcame my paralysis to start going through my emails. I have a lot more to do. I’m going to see my psychiatrist tomorrow and discuss adjusting my meds. I have not been myself of late. Or perhaps I’m back to being my unmedicated self. It makes me appreciate the how helpful the Zoloft has been.
I’m writing this while watching the Met game. I can only watch it on a TV away from my office, the recliner. My computer is not plugged in as I’d have to search for an outlet. The battery is running low. I better call it quits.
Wise Madness 