OFF TO BALI: Garage sale pt. 1

Wednesday

Garage sale pt. 1

I want to thank everyone who came out to the garage sale last week. What a blast! I bow in humble admiration to Heather. While I've been off in Friday Harbor working on our boat, she, along with a band of merry companions, put together what I will describe as "An Event".

Saturday we woke early to make (attempt) final preparations for the Hordes. (These Hordes are not related to the Minnesota Hordes, Richard and Virginia.). We saddled up our faithful steed, Bella the mighty Sienna. Accompanied by a host of smiley face balloons, armed to the tooth with my trusty Dewalt and a full bandalao of screws, we rode off into a slightly annoyed and "Hey, I'm still sleeping here!" morning. Since we kept driving anyhow the day went potty (I can't bring myself to say "take a leak"anymore) and headed down the hall for coffee.

I've learned to read Heather pretty well by now and I could tell she was frightened. I knew this was going to be one of those moments where my few extra years of experience were going to pay off. I reached over to her and said "what's wrong Honey". She whispered "What's happening"? I was moved and wishing to comfort her I said, with all my heart, "Don't mumble". This is what I say one hundred and eighty-five times a day in order to avoid getting hearing aids. Taking courage she sweetly yelled " WHAT...........IS................HAPPENING..............". I nodded and took a moment to reflect, what could be troubling her so? Then it dawned on me. And her too. I remember what I felt then first time I saw the sun come up. It's one thing to read about it, discuss it, and see it on the screen, but to actually witness the slow progression from dark to light, to see the world infuse with color and watch the miracle as the sun appears with majesty. Dude.

We worked through it and when she was comforted she lay back in her seat and said, with reverence, "At least I got to see this once". With a small tear in one eye, grateful to be with her in this moment, I drove on. We put up the rest of our signs and leaving a trail of smiley faces behind us we returned home.

Our Bali Young Musicians Project

On our Bali trip in 2008 we met a young man named Iwan playing guitar at an Italian restaurant in Lovina, a small beach town on the north shore. He invited Heather to sing with him. After thumbing through his huge homemade song book, she found When You Say Nothing At All, which they performed to big smiles around the room. A few days later, we sat on the front porch of Iwan's bungalow, playing guitar, trading off songs, eating his wife's Gado Gado and soaking in bits and pieces about the life of a young musician with a young family in Bali.

A few days later, Iwan gathered some friends and we rented a music studio (basically a room with a sound system and set of drums) for a two-hour jam session. We also made the trek to an Ubud jazz club where 6 young twenty-something musicians, much like Iwan, played standards and their own compositions for an evening.

After these two experiences, Bryan had the inspired idea to help young musicians like these improve their livelihoods by recording CDs to sell to the tourists they entertain. Our project would involve setting up a studio in a restaurant/cafe setting where musicians could record their own "Live at the ____" (insert catchy name here). As partners in this venture, we would sponsor their CD productions and as they begin to sell CDs, a portion of the proceeds would come back to help expand the program for future artists.

And lastly, as you might have guessed, we would find our way onto the stage as well, fulfilling a long time dream: making playing music together the cornerstone of our family life. We hope that our friends and family will join us when we've found the home for this venture, even if only through the internet... did we mention webcasts? Stay tuned... the possibilities are endless...