Reading (For Dummies)

Falcon Ridge 2004

My life is now fair and balanced. Falcon Ridge was the perfect event to juxtapose last week's Cyber-Corps Symposium: conservative over-the-hill FBI guys with wedding bands on their fingers oggling 16-year old girls meet over-the-hill sketchy hippies with wedding bands on their fingers oggling 16-year old girls. This year's Falcon Ridge was not the typical Ridge...

As usual, we camped near the Fraggle Rock (aka the Fairies). SUOC was camped out just down the hill from us as well. In my immediate group only Kat and Cheri were in attendance. No matter, as it turned out. There were enough Fairies in attendance to keep us entertained. And, of course, Polar was hanging out with the SUOC crew, and in rare form.

The fun began Friday afternoon when a weather front (probably the same front that delayed me in Chicago) came sweeping through upstate New York.

Kat shows her Herbal Essences-induced "O"-face

The storm started off gently enough, with a bit of a spit. Polar came over to say hello and gab over beers in the rain. Then the wind start to pick up. Gently, at first. And the rain started coming down a little harder. Before we knew it...

Just a wee drop of rain

Polar and I were holding down the SUOC tent (a quite large teepee) with the rain blowing horizontal in 40 or 50 mile an hour winds. The temperature dropped. A genetically familiar memory of voyages at sea were called to mind, especially when Bill (who owned the tent) put on his very Captain Gordon-looking rain slicker and started barking at us to come about and drop the sails. It's hard to tell if he was joking...the tent was trying to lift off with us attached. That, and we were all suffering under the effects C₃H₆O. But no matter.

We survived where a lot of people did not. My low-profile tent stayed completely dry, in fact. So dry that I thought it would be good place to store one of my full Nalgene bottles. Sadly, my bottle's lid is not as good at holding back water as my tent's floor and seam sealant., and I had quite a puddle inside by evening...

Later on...

The highlight performer of the weekend was Richie Havens, of Woodstock fame. Falcon Ridge has been doing a cool thing lately -- bringing in old-skool folk heroes to create some generational void-filling material. So many of the young kids today only listen to Da Vincis Notebook and Vance Gilbert, the younger generation of folk artists.

Mr. Havens was making some patter after his opening number, and he said, "Men and women are actually different species. We just haven't realized it yet."

Just then, a shooting star fell over the stage. The whole audience "Ooh"ed. For a moment, I thought, "perhaps this is a sign!"

Signs often tell us the things we already knew. I suppose that's how religions start.

Something else happened over the weekend. I met at young woman at the water cooler by the name of Ariel. We got to talking, and she led me off to my first Contra dance. I'll likely never see her again, but the dancing bug has bit me with some measured ferocity. Future Falcon Ridges will likely be freakish affairs at which I don't even drink so that I can spend more time on the dance floor.

Anyway, in the spirit of ending with a goofy picture, I give you your moment of Zen from up on Long Hill Road (remember, the only Zen at the top of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is the Zen you bring there).

A little farther...a little farther....no honey, too far!