dear friends,
at the end of may, i set on on a sojourn...from calgary, at the foothills
of the loveliest stretch of rockies i've experienced...but the ocean
called...
first night: fort macleod, joni's birthplace...in the morning, i went over
to the old wwII airbase, walked around, a few photos (to be developed and then
i will share)...as a baby, joni would have played directly underneath
countless flights of future RCAF fighter and bomber pilots who risked their
lives later in europe...her father was stationed here, as was my ex-father in
law, only in moose jaw, sask...just two of the many makeshift wartime airbases
dotted across the canadian prairie, where americans itching for action had
snuck across the border, even with their planes...and the women who had waited
out the duration of the war with their men over in europe, some for
years...some never coming back...some with dear johnnie letters...so "amelia"
is in the blood of joni, as intimate as can be...and thoughts of the
creativity of countless war babies who spawned the sixties rock explosion and
its revolution of culture, an expansiveness of consciousness suited to prairie
vistas and metaphors of flying...and joni dreamed she 'saw the bombers riding
shotgun in the sky'...and though she cast her lot with the peacemakers, she
remembered the lives of those who suffered 'the beat of black wings'...and i
shared a few flying feelings myself just having worked in airport security
for the canadian corps of commissionaires, among them many veterans...
a brotherhood and sisterhood of unstated solidarity you might say...
i thought of joni when i arrived in sacramento and played at a downtown art
gallery of poets and how such an audience gathered is such a rare thing when
you could hear a pin drop between the lines of your songs...and how i wish for
just such a group of listeners more often for all of you musicians out there
and for joni herself...
and my thanx to one of them, kate bennett, and her kind invitation to enjoy
her gig with her husband and crosby loggins, who at 20, can look forward to
years of fruitfulness as a singer-songwriter...kate revealing a subtle
romanticism that takes courage nowadays to proclaim...and her husband with a
moving john prine-like song that dug deep in the heart...
i also thought of joni when i stumbled by a nitespot in tiny cambria where a
roy haddersley (hope i remembered his name correctly) played with quintet...he
had played with dizzy and was an old colleague of edmonton's now deceased but
legendary big miller...roy had me join a few locals in playing one of my
songs, but like joni i went to my hotel without a prize...but felt hey, that's
okay...
my prize was in santa monica when kakki called on my cell saying she was
waiting for me in the parking lot....because we had such similar tastes it was
uncanny...and i'm sorry, with but one night in LA, i didn't meet the rest of
the jmdl'rs there...but kakki roused herself out of work exhaustion...and with
herculean grace made it an evening i will never forget...a crawl to the
anaconda attack that just had to be relieved, done with proper airforce
discharge many years ago but memorialized in the annals of joni's star...
thankyou kate and kakki, and thankyou catherine t, which though we failed to
meet, primarily due to cell problems, seattle traffic and by then, rushing
ahead of my creeping bills to the lower canadian dollar...
among other places, i visited the sunshine coast, which refreshingly was new
to me...at gibsons, a lovely couple who lived within a stone's throw from
joni's place gave me directions...funny enough i stopped just nextdoor on the
highway, taking a photo of a lovely cove shining through the trees...just then
a kind of rubbie stumbled down the highway muttering to himself under his
pungeant breath, asking why i was taking photos ...when i said i had been
doing so of the entire continental coast for over 5000 miles he exclaimed
'right on....keep on clicking...' and continued with his stagger down the
highway...as i pulled out of this spot i saw a heavily secured gate on the
left and realised it was the same area the friendly couple had pointed out
joni's piece of the shore...and this ethered buddha walking down the
highway...i kind of expected howls of laughter pretty soon...
...it was near sunset...as close to the other side of joni's place i stopped
at the nearest b&b, and looking out at the strait of georgia saw the most
beautiful sunset i'd ever seen...two islands split apart to the north-west and
the sun going down between them kissing the water...a calm glistening sea of
miirored silver...and then i'd realised that with characteristic taste joni
had picked such a view for her own...but my few minutes of it was also like a
zen moment, overlooking the b&b decked swimming pool with two barking dogs at
my feet, an open door to the house....and no one at home...my eyes stared at
paradise...
now back at home with a cd to get recording and gigs to play because i've
got a mountain of bills piled up...a song about the ocean trying to get out of
me...and a few old home blues..."what do i do now?" "can i get a recording
contract somewhere?" "a few old friends are acting strange" ...and i found a
homeless black cat i've given sheltar..."should i call her kakkicat or
klingon? blue or miles?" (suggestions welcome)
...and i read kakki and kate's posts and les's lunch with SIQUOMB and wish i
were still sitting by the dock of the bay...
shane
www.angelfire.com/art/cactussong
