(above, I never really took a photograph of our audience, which is a shame, because they filled the hills – perhaps a hundred people, a fair number of which actually cared we were playing for them there at Red Shedman Brewery at Linganore Winery in Mount Airy, MD)
I’m an exhaustarob. Two marvelous gigs but both with high overhead of body and soul and perhaps my car to boot. I feel absurdly satisfied at the moment, but tomorrow morning I might get a call about my Saturn and it might be simple or it might be complicated – every time something goes wrong I dread it’s the car killer, but I’ve actually got a fair amount of optimism about this.
Cross your fingers with me dear reader.
Saturday Rowan and I played Red Shedman Brewery at Linganore Winery. It’s not a gig I would’ve taken two years ago. Pre-COVID I’d have turned down the absurdly low paycheck no matter how many times they swore up and down that the crowds were huge and tips generous. It’s about an hour each way and I have no real affection for playing outdoors, but fortunately at the beginning of the summer, when the booker approached me I was hankering for ANY gig of ANY sort and I picked up a pair of dates. One for me and Heather and another with me and Rowan.
The first one was fabulous and this weekend was, though hotter, though moister, if anything even MORE fun than the first!
Not having Heather to hide behind means that I’VE got to go be the social one and work the crowd and after a string break we took our first REAL break and I wandered as happy social butterfly while Rowan restrung my OX.
Totally different dynamic.
AND I met Kate.
I noticed Kate while I was playing Argonauts. She was so distracting I lost the last verse of the song and I even had to call her out and explain :
“This song was written in a pretty dark time,” I explained, still playing the riff – it was that kind of audience, the kind of audience you thought you could talk to – and Kate and her whole table were pretty tuned in. “And I write a lot of pretty depressing lyrics sometimes to get me through those dark times – in the hopes that they’ll help others. And we’re in the middle of a LOT of dark times. It’s a difficult world. But that dog that’s getting belly rubs and being squozen by their humans out there – I think everything that I solved by writing and performing music for a year, recording and releasing a heavy album – it all could’ve been solved by that dog.”
And that’s how I met Kate the dog and her human Dylan. During the break I just HAD to get acquainted and though she was plum tuckered out and just lying sprawled in a ridiculous doggy sprawl on a picnic table I rubbed her ears till we could be friends.
Man – I was just having a GREAT day. Layered brisket bowl with slaw and corn pudding. Playing great music. A woman came over from one of the tents with a stern expression and I totally expected her to complain about something – and she did – she complained that we should be LOUDER. So really – coupled with an amazing sunset, even loading out in the rain didn’t do anything but literally dampen my body, nothing was dampening my spirits.
It was all fun and games till, after loading all my damp gear into my erstwhile steed I go to throw her in gear and… clunk… my gearshift goes completely limp.
My fucking transmission had snapped.
In a field next to a closed winery as both rain and darkness fell.
Thank goodness Rowan hadn’t left yet.
Thank goodness my mom buys me AAA.
Thank goodness we could get cell signal from the OTHER side of the road.
2 hours later the tow truck arrived looking like CHRISTMAS complete with jolly rotund driver. Since the transmission had snapped while in gear we had to go back and forth planning how to get the car up on the truck…. he couldn’t drive the truck onto the grass for fear of damaging the grounds, and he couldn’t just drag the car up for the same reason… so I had to get in my Saturn, push the clutch in and steer it up the truck, slam the brake on, clutch, brake as positioning slowly was figured on the wet metal of the tow truck.
By about 11pm (the gig ended at 7pm) I was saying farewell to my Saturn and… well, I’ve been trying to come to terms with the idea that she might be on her last legs, you know? Saturns haven’t been made in over a decade and parts are getting harder and harder to find. I’ve been half-heartedly looking for what I might want to get and knowing that any given repair MIGHT be the car killer.
But standing in the rain, looking at my car up on the damned Jerr-Dan I know I’m not ready. I Love this car. I got it from my dad and it’s the last everyday reminder of his presence in my Life.
I know it’s just a THING. But this THING has been in my Life longer than my wife.
Like Christmas! 
There have been a NUMBER of occasions where I’ve documented Heather as she’s figured out what to do with HER car. Rowan’s in charge of making sure there’s evidence of tonight. 
At one point I had that fear – what if this is the last time I see my car? 
