Notes from the road? The roads 'round Raleigh, North Carolina lately.

Two weeks ago I had little idea where I'd be. Things just fell together at the last minute. I did a bit of parking lot camping in Chapel Hill the week following my last "Notes FTR". I perused the papers, and drove around a lot. That Thursday night I attended the Little Lake house concert in Raleigh to see Don Conoscenti, and met the hosts Bett & Bill Padgett. What a great place for a concert! A huge, beautiful house, nice people, and Don put on a great show. Word got around that I was new in town and was looking for a place to live when lo and behold; then and there I met my landlady-to-be!

So now I'm here in Northwest Raleigh. I've got this sweet little basement apartment with a high ceiling and a fireplace. In the day, looking out the windows there's a lovely pond where ducks gather. There's pine and oak and magnolia all around, and this quiet place carries a notion of ruralness. You wouldn't know by looking that one of the biggest shopping malls in the entire southeast is just two miles away.

Now I face the culture shock of living in the South. I never would have thunk I'd be setting up shop south of the Mason-Dixon line. I've always felt myself to be pretty much a northerner, but this is where my son lives, and this is where the music I listen to most of the time comes from: all the great old-time string band music and the southern no-depression music. Well honestly, it's not a big culture shock. This area is pretty much a Yankee outpost and is quite multi-cultural. I guess you don't notice the "south" until you get out of town. The main difference I've seen so far is that folks are by and large a little friendlier and more gregarious, which suits me fine.

Basically, I don't know nothin' about here yet. I've been hearing this and that about all the great music and music personalities around, but I've been too busy moving and unpacking to go out and sample any of it! It's both unnerving and exciting, this starting over again. What a fabulous opportunity to reinvent myself, and what a massive amount of energy it takes to do so. I suppose this is my anti-entropy medicine, my way of stepping out of my comfort zone. It would have been so easy to stay where I was in Massachusetts with good friends and music connections, but I suppose this is my long-term investment in both music education and in being a dad.

Next time I write I just might have something to share about what the scene down here is about (I'd better!) Tune in then: mid January I expect. Meanwhile, Happy New Year and love and light through the dark of the year! Please remember to send your thoughts via the guest book.

Warmest Wishes,
Dana