Fast March
Do me a favour, world; slow down, wouldja?
The slow suicide of January and February have seemed to have passed, at an even quicker rate than usual, and now March is ripping by at bullet-train speed. The world careens on towards whatever it is careening to, and we are passengers on the ship. Waiting. Figuring. Calculating. Biding time. Taking risks. Watching netflix. Eating bananas. Crying. Laughing.
But it all happens with healthy doses of grace and beauty mixed in there, and we need to soak those moments into our bones.
I've been playing a ton of music - and not just my own. Through the Branch, I've been able to connect with a lot of hidden musical gems of the greater Valley region. I want to become a better side player and support guitarist and vocalist and bassist or whatever-ist to my friends projects. If I want survive in music, diversity is the only way to go.
Last night, I had the chance to play some guitar with Ali McCormick. She's got some serious songwriting chops and though her style is different than mine, it was nice to be in another musical headspace and fire out some licks. We practiced in Almonte at a music store owned by a cool, talented fella named George. I hadn't been to the 'Monte for probably 20 years since my old friend Brad 'Bardlye' Huskins left town. We used to gut ourselves about the Valley accent, and yell 'GIDDAY LAD' as loudly and obnoxiously as possible when we saw each other. Many spring and summer nights, Brad and I spent our mid-teen years playing NBA jam in his basement and dunking on his adjustable hoop in his backyard.
These days, I'm spending a lot of hours behind a finicky PC laptop that clicks and clacks and sometimes freezes, while I try and input people's data into a T1 database that allows them to spend another year with no Sauron-gaze from the evil regime that is Revenue Canada. I drink coffee once a day. I try to go running and stay health conscious and active. I'm looking forward to the coming months and seeing what I can manage on my plate.
And I'm thankful for all of it.
