(mostly reprinted from our ilyAIMY updates)
It’s been a rough year in a lot of ways, but this weekend disaster struck very, very close to home in the form of flooding in Historic Ellicott City, five miles from our doors.
For those of you who don’t know, the coffeeshops of Ellicott City, MD were formative for ilyAIMY – it’s where I first met Brian Gundersdorf and We’re About 9, it’s where the first couple of gigs under the moniker “ilyAIMY” took place – I’ve walked the streets here since college, reveling in the beauty of the shops, the old stone buildings and the rushing waters and the passing trains. A lot of my first kisses happened in this town. And second kisses. I must admit it’s figured heavily in both romance and a romantic view of the world around me.
The oldest surviving train station in the country is now closed till further notice, the streets are unrecognizable, and though this old mill town has stood for over two centuries and been a huge part of my Life for the past two decades – it’s desperately hurting. Ellicott City HAS seen worse (look at the flood markers on the old railroad bridge) – but not in my Lifetime.
Friends who are heroes have lost everything, businesses that I adore have vanished overnight. I can’t do much, but maybe we can pass something along. Last month we put our entire back catalog of music up at ilyaimy.bandcamp.com – and from the moment this goes out till the end of August, we’ll transfer ALL proceeds from there to the Ellicott City Partnership (www.ecpartnership.org – there are plenty of options out there, but this is an organization that we’ve at least known for a while – I hate being distrustful of most organizations, but I’m a city rob).
Random thoughts : it’s not that I haven’t had enough TIME to sleep, it’s that I don’t sleep. It’s an old lament. I have a new theory on snoring : it’s a way of one human declaring FIRST to the others. Last night I was HORRIBLY aware of Rowan going from a sneeze sound, thanking me for a “bless you” and then within SECONDS snoring. It was kiiiind of like he was mocking me.
Tonight I’m writing from a marvelous little coffeeshop in Glastonbury, CT. Heather says “hi!” Kristen says “hi!” Rowan says “hi!” I say “hi!” It’s absolutely Lovely to be on the road with so much of the ilyFamily. It’s a little harder to be on the road as a quartet – logistically the shower dance is dicier, the pack is less forgiving, and the money sure doesn’t go as far – but it’s just so much fun, most everything’s forgiven.
At the moment of course, no matter the joys of the road, we’re feeling the hardships of home. In the week before we departed on this trip, most of us visited Ellicott City. It’s a huge part of all of our pasts – and knowing that when I see it again it’ll be a different town makes my heart ache.
Of course, over the years, Ellicott City’s seen worse, and it will overcome this. We’ve had favourite venues and places in that town burn to the ground (this was an ongoing “joke” – that any venue we played would die in a fire shortly thereafter), some have floundered and failed – some have grown back – but we have to remember that we are more than our places and possessions. Even now there’s a new generation of kids who’ll discover that town and fall in Love with it, walk the rails and the river and explore the nooks and crannies of the glitter-filled shops and make new memories there.
They just have to order more glitter I guess. It’s insane to see pictures – there are places where the road is simply gone, parts of buildings are missing, and of course there are these massive swaths and pile-ups of mud – but the interior of some of the shops look like they’ve been stripped, almost power-washed. It’s insane.
One last thing: this weekend – Rowan and Kristen and I are sorry that we won’t be able to make it to Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, but sometimes no amount of willing more days into the calendar and fewer miles on the maps can get EVERYTHING in, and this year it just wasn’t in the cards. Please send your hugs home with Heather!
