The Daily Grist: “These are the times that try mens souls.” (Thomas Paine)
I write to you today from my bubble in Healdsburg and I hope you are safe in your own bubble, wherever that might be. I don’t know about you but I’m going crazy. Geoff Sargeant’s welcome column yesterday was a breath of fresh air. Scroll back and read it if you missed it. What we all need right now is the equivalent of a new puppy.
This past weekend I should have been going to the Sonoma County Bluegrass Festival. I’ve been going almost every year for the last twenty or so and I was looking forward to its return to Analy High. Given the circumstances I don’t see how the organizers had any option but to cancel the event.
Sheltering in place is not what it ought to be. A couple of weeks or so where I don’t have to go to work and I can just watch TV doesn’t sound so bad really. I tuned in one of my favorite sports sports channels yesterday and they were broadcasting the Big Ten basketball championship. Cool. Wait a minute. Why is the arena full of people? Aren’t they worried about corona virus? Then I noticed it was the 2018 championship game. Will we have my favorite major league sport of baseball this year? I need that. What is going on here? Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and all across Dublin the pubs will be empty.
Just as important, will we have the Grass Valley Festival this year? I can live without a spring campout. We can postpone the fiddle championship if necessary. The board met yesterday about this issue and I hope they came to a wise decision.
In times like these we need our music more than ever. Maybe i can’t go out to a venue and hear a live band for a while. Maybe I can’t even get together with my friends and swap a few tunes but whatever it takes we need to persevere and play music together when we can. You can’t really get a real jam by Skyping it.
For now we are all in the bubble that suits us best. We need to avoid illness as best we can even if that means temporarily sacrificing some of the things that make up tick. I look forward to the time when it is safe to once again gather together and listen to and play music together. Just imagine how good some us will be with all that practice.
