Two weeks of music and fun

It's been a busy time, but lots of fun, the last few weeks. This is despite my twisting my knee the week before and hobbling around on crutches for a couple of weeks. Consonance happened over a weekend, and we were fortunate enough to be able to put up two sets of guests before and after the con. Franklin Gunkelmann from Germany was the Interfilk guest, and he came and visited before the con, and Dave Clement and Tom Jeffers (Dandelion Wine) were the Guests of Honor and stayed with us the week after the con. All wonderful guys, and I was thrilled to get to spend time with all three of them.

Our friends Alisa and Luis and Tommy and Gracie Garcia also managed to hang out with us; they came over and did things like mowing our wild back yard for us and washing dishes. Scott and Amanda and Zoe Snyder also were here and everyone pitched in to kid wrangle for us with the boys. (Thanks so much for everything, all of you!!).

Franklin was of course a wonderful guest. He's a very interesting guy, with lots of stories about his life, Germany, and the medieval lifestyle he and his family like. No wonder he's the German Filk con's Toastmaster every year. What you might not suspect is that he's also very good at sculpting with Play Doh, and can not only make cute little critters but can then make the dying squeals of a rabbit when a three year old goes and squashes those cute little critters, much to the hilarity of the three year olds present. He also makes a very good Blackberry Liquer, and knows his single malt scotches. We tortured Franklin the first day he stayed with us by driving him out to a Redwood area I know of that's on the way out to the coast. Combined with travelling for 24 hours, followed by not enough sleep, and jetlag, the drive was not good for poor Franklin. He kept his good humor despite everything, though. He can come stay again anytime, and I know the boys would be thrilled if he did; they loved him. All through the con later that weekend they kept calling out "Frank-a-lin!!" every time they saw him.

The con itself was fun for us despite the problems of dealing with twin three year olds at a hotel for a weekend; it was of course helped immensely by having our other parent friends there with their kids to share the frustrations and spread the kid care around a bit. Everyone is always so patient with us. It was great, as always, to watch the kids all run around together and play. We took over a few function rooms not being used, shoved all the chairs aside and let the kids run in the big empty rooms. They didn't need toys or anything but each other to run like crazy, do somersaults and have a great time. We really hope we can keep getting together with everyone over the years so that the kids can grow up together (with of course the added bonus that we all get to hang out together!). We love you guys!

We actually manged to go to some of the concerts this year (though still not together!) and have a few conversations with other people. Life is getting easier! Kudos to the concom for making this con so kid friendly and in general for putting on a great con. Takes a lot of effort, and it is much appreciated.

After the con officially ended we had people back over to our place the next night for yet more music and lots more talking and bonding between everyone. I got to play harmonica on a song with Tom and Dave, and Franklin did a hilarious group singalong (ask Joey about it sometime), and Lynn Gold did a song that had all of us women cracking up. I know I had a good time, and there was some great music going on in the midst of all the talk.

Tom and Dave stayed with us the rest of the week, and we saw more people over the beginning of the week as people trickled out of town. We saw the Garcias before they went home, and the next night Franklin and Joey Shoji came back over so that Franklin could be arm-twisted into making us all a lavish medieval meal. He made a great dinner despite the heat in the kitchen, and the time crunch, since we'd planned to go out to the Freight and Salvage to catch a bluegrass concert later in the evening. Paul generously opted to stay home with the boys so that I could go out with the big boys and have a nice evening out. A very nice dinner and good music and good company and good ice cream all in one night!

We spent the rest of the week sightseeing, meeting Franklin and Joey again for breakfast in San Francisco, then going on the Bay Cruise around the bay. The following day we started out towards the Redwoods and the beach but ended up going more directly to the beach to save Dave from the same fate Franklin suffered (you'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you??). We spent the afternoon at the beach, Dave bundled up like an eskimo, Tom meditating near the waves, and the boys and I attampting to fly a kite, then me chasing them up and down the beach, which was quite a feat considering my bum knee. We spent another day shopping around and hanging around. There was much talking and music in the evenings. The guys turned me on to another Canadian folksinger/songwriter, David Francie. The guys play several of his songs that are wonderful sweet romantic songs that'll turn anyone into mush. Tom seemed to particularly enjoy our orange tree in the back yard, and Dave cooked us a casserole that we'll be making in the future. It'll be called 'Dave's Casserole', of course.

We had to get a photo of all the boys in the guitar-print shirts that my mom had made for everyone (it's below). She had to search for quite a while to find the right fabrics but the results are really eye-popping. :) All my favorite guys wearing grammom's shirts. How cool is that?

So we took Tom and Dave to the airport yesterday, after cramming in as much time with them as we could. We ended up dropping them at the curb of the airline, worrying about them, whether they had trouble getting all their luggage checked, whether the layover was a hassle, all that. The boys were asking when we were going to go get Tom and Dave at the airport again. Anytime we can get them to come back, I told them. They can come and stay as long as they like. :)

So it felt like everything went pretty well. I know for myself, I had a great time and really enjoyed all the wonderful company. It's amazing how much friends can lift you up and make life grand. Thanks, guys. I love you all.