Hugs are these spectacular things that you can’t really sing about lest you be branded a children’s musician or perhaps gay. It’s sad that way.
There are the usuals that mean nothing. The women who lean far into their hugs so as to give you clavicle and shoulder, perhaps turning to the side and continuing some other conversation in the process. The man-hugs that are slaps on the back, mere extensions of machismo and hand-shakes, and the miscellaneous familiar things that don’t communicate anything beyond the expectation that you’re to get something other than a handshake, but the intimation that you’re to be given nothing at all.
There are support hugs. And sometimes the supporter just hangs off of you like old clothes, making it clear that the need is mutual, and sometimes they are like a wall, giving nothing but giving you something to cling to. Those are hard to read, you have no idea what is being handed you but at that point you don’t even care, you’re just so glad of something to hold you up because there’s nothing so embarrasing as a public collapse.
And then there are the heart-touching, heart-breaking things. They linger and leave scent. Some are sensual and some are support and some just leave you clueless, but they are like those kisses that shock and leave nothing but a trace of warmth and maybe a touch of moisture just for that shock of hot and cold. They are usually unexpected, and they communicate something, and you’re never sure what, but the mystery of that dark warmth is delicious like chocolate after hail and freezing rain.
Heather reflected in the ceiling of the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern – the best Polish restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Little Italy. Their pierogies were awesome. Their kielbasa was immense and intimidating and oh so very, very good. We played the Caliope Acoustic Stage as the featured act which meant we got as much of all of the above as we desired. There was a lot of it. We met a couple of cool people, sold some CDs, Life’s alright. Holly and Kimmy came along, and it was good to see Holly loosen up.
