June 16 - just east of Bow Island, AB

This was not my best day. After a lacklustre gig in Lethbridge last night, where the patrons were there to party and could care less about us (Derek played AC/DC - that should tell you enough about it), I felt physically off today while struggling against the wind and some more strange weather that wouldn't settle in to hot or cold, rain or shine. My one highlight of the day was a yelling conversation with a farmer:

"How far are you going?"
"All the way to Halifax!"
"Good for you!"
"Thanks!"

Kind of lifted my spirits a bit. The rest of my day was spent in a vacuous head-space, pr pondering how horses, llamas and cows take great interest in us, or reminiscing about the beautiful Asta K (our hostess in Vernon, BC), who I have kept in touch with because she drew my interest back there and, well, I am one to follow-up on my interests, as is evidenced by this trip.

After a terrible sleep last night thanks to some mice and drunken neighbors, I am set to go to bed early. Tomorrow we rise early to ride the remaining 45km to Medicine Hat to play our Jazz Festival gig at Cafe Caprice at 2pm. I hope I am not too rusty, because I plan to play some more-jazzy tunes that I haven't played much at all, or yet, on this tour.

###

a poem before bed:

Your smile: an infectious grip at my collar: "Get up! You dullard! Embrace me, or love this air between us but do not sit one moment longer letting my heart pass by when yours flutters at my motions." I watch long you move quiet eyes swallowing grace given by an attitude a strength commanding respect and seducing some adoration out of me To hold your hips hold you to me under a leaf-scattered moon or on a breeze of soft beach I could hold content holding those hips watching your smile lips lasting ages in my mind and if there were any quiet glint of light in your eye kiss for some eternity For when that kiss stops it is gone forever So, it must last as long as it takes to commit every curve and crevice of each lip its parting its moisture to my memory forever I daydream of you and this and more as my days pass me closerto, if only, a look your face that smile your hair brushing gentle on my hand on your cheek: a quiet hello of affection before we

June 1 - Vernon, BC - House Concert @ Asta K's

We had a hard day getting from Winfield to Vernon because the distance was longer than we expected, the hills were steeper, the heat was scorching, and we were hung-over from bottles of red wine graciously provided by our hostess Kerry the night before. I woke up feeling nautious, which only intensified as the day went on, until only a few kilometres from Asta K's place I had to pull over to be sick. Shortly thereafter, Derek had to pull over to cool down. It was mutually agreed that heavy imbibing the night before biking was NOT a good idea. =) As seems the theme of my trip so far, a guardian angel again appeared to help me out - two, in fact. The first was a woman who had been at our Winfield show and just happened to be passing by checking her mail. She offered to take my gear up to Asta's for me, making my load lighter, and gave Derek and I cool drinks. Second was Ty, the boyfriend of one of our hostesses (Kris) that night, who came to give me a lift up the last few kilometres. Derek, of course, refused to get in a car (he has promised himself no motor vehicles for the duration of this trip), and cycled the rest of the way up (he is hard-core cycle man!). Both of us felt immensely better upon arrival and immersion in cold water, Derek in a shower and I buck naked in a creek that ran through the property, which was idyllic: Three beautiful log cabins tucked away in thick woods with the mentioned creek running through it, complete with a foot bridge made of planks on fallen trees and a wading pool in front of a small waterfall. If Asta and Kris' home was by the ocean and had a garden, I would be tempted to stay with them and never leave. As it was, I was pretty tempted anyway, and had no desire to leave in the morning. Asta and Kris put on the ritz, setting up a little festival-like stage for us complete with cedar boughs and Christmas lights, and a tickle-trunk provided some fantastic costumes that came in handy towards the end of our performance. People kept arriving as the evening deepened, bringing food for a pot-luck and tents to camp in. It was the last day of classes for Asta et al at their massage therapy school, so a party was gearing up. We played an acoustic set (our second such show in as many nights) that tested the limits of our voices and our knowledge of and willingness to play loud party songs. During our break, though, Ty brought us a little amp and microphone, and we got ourselves plugged-in for the second set. After that, things really perked up. People got dancing and enjoying themselves, and Derek whipped out a ton of party tunes he knows. I finished up my night before him, played "My Hammerhead Baby" after dropping my vest and drawers, exposing a shiny red sleeveless shirt, 1980s aviator sunglasses and a skin-tight pair of black and white vertical striped pants that apparantly looked quite good on me. After I finished playing, I felt mellow and famished. Our lovely hostess Asta whipped me up a super salad and even better conversation until 2AM when I had reached my zenith of exhaustion. I went back to my tent by the brook and made sweet love to the Sandman for 7 hours or so, experiencing THE best sleep in my memory.