Liza Constable

by Harvey Wasserman
Published on Friday, April 13, 2007 by
CommonDreams.org

http://www.commondreams.org/

Here’s something that Sam and Abby sent to me. I won’t copy it in here, you’ve got to get there yourself. As suggested, read and then try it yourself.

A week ago we were furiously packing everything for the 550 mile drive to the Springforth Ball, in Richmond VA. Not only our stuff, all the music gear, clothes, but also the kids clothes, toys for the drive, books, food, and on top of that - our taxes weren’t in the mail yet, so we brought that stuff too. Got a cartop carrier.

Two guitars, Nat’s fiddle, 2 instrument stands, our electronics bags, a box of CDs to sell, my foot board, 4 duffles, many books, 2 sleeping bags, stuffed toys, bag of knitting, two large backpacks with our laptops and tune lists, tune books, ipod…(and a partridge in a pear tree)

In our January tour we were in Richmond with Glen, Finn and the daughters, and had a sweet spell of warm weather. That surprising trip to the park with bears for Glen’s birthday. That awesome Vietnamese restaurant. Tiny sips of Herschel’s ancient bourbon after the gig.

Anyway, one hell of a long drive. I suppose we could have flown, but, now that we have a hybrid car, and are trying to be responsible for our contribution of carbon into the earth’s atmosphere…flying is one of the worst offenders.

After 8 hours, when Zoe was going crazy, we veered off Interstate 95 near the town of Havre de Grace. That’s on the Susquehanna River. We ran around in the Susquehanna River Park, exploring the brook, the hollow trees, the bits of spring green that aren’t in New Hampshire yet.

The Springforth Ball is in one of my favorite buildings, a former school house built in 1914. The dance hall is upstairs, with a fine wood floor, and classic, wide split staircases.

We had a great time. This time Rumblestrip was with Sam instead of Glen, and we had Marco Brehm on standup bass. A great driving sound, as usual. The soundman Jim worked hard to fufill our needs. The dancers worked hard to fufill theirs. Lots of smiles, sweat, twirling dresses, happy people. I don’t think I realized what a good match we were for them until I saw blues dancing on the workshop schedule. Unfortunately it was at the same time as our afternoon contra. But I did get to sing the announcement for the workshop. I think perhaps that was my highlight of the weekend.

We did a lot of couple dances, always two waltzes at the break (thanks to Gaye Fifer), and a bunch of swing tunes - just impromptu. We also had a lot of fun putting together a set for the concert on Sunday, beginning with selections from our cowboy repertoire. From Sam we heard “Blood on the Saddle”, from Nat a poem titled, “Reincarnation”, and from me the Gene Autry classic, “Back in the Saddle Again”. There were a few more serious selections, but not many. Sam and I did a vocal/jaw harp duet that pleased me. Our girls sat on the edge of the stage and sang along with everything they knew. Man, am I thankful that they love music as we do. How could we do it otherwise?

Thanks to all the folks for coming and dancing, we couldn’t do it without you. And never forget those tireless organizers and committee members. Thanks to Linda and Herschel for housing the band and being so very kind, generous and also good to our kids. Sorry we went crazy and trashed the joint.

Trip was wonderful. My feet are brown. The Exumas. To get there we had to cross the Yellow Banks, a beautiful and treacherous stretch of water between Nassau and this long chain of islands. The sea was blue and green, the bottom clear in 12 to 20 feet. The coral heads are black shadows. This cannot be attempted at night, or without a lookout. You can’t rely on the chart. At midday it was exhilarating. So unlike sailing in Maine, Puget Sound, even the Cape.

The islands and waters of the Bahamas are lovely. Inland, poor and depressing. Nassau especially so. I’ve heard that many celebrities live there. They definitely live nowhere near the places where the marinas are cheap (we were at the Nassau Harbor Club. A run down pink hotel with funky showers for the boaters). I saw garbage, broken glass in so many corners, deteriorating houses of cinder block on narrow streets with broken down cars. But I heard a lot of laughter, saw the bright colors of the buildings. The Caribbean is the antithesis of New Hampshire. We were the minority. I wish, for the girls sake, that they could have more time outside of an anglo dominated culture.

Living on the boat, where we have to think about electricity (solar panels), and whether or not we have any fresh vegetables left, things become basic. Wind and tide, food and lights. Keeping the salt water off clothes and towels. After two weeks, it was really exciting to make it to Staniel Cay, where there was fresh bread, tomatoes, kiwis, chocolate, internet hookup at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, and Kalik beer. I ate a conch sandwich. Actually I ate one each day. My digestion was upset for days. Not used to so much fat! We’ve been not-so-strict vegans for 2 years now. Next time we bring more soy milk. I hate that vanilla stuff. And eat only one conch burger. It wasn’t that good.

The kids learned how to snorkel. Zoe is scared of brain coral, but not of multicolored striped fishes. Piper learned how to dive underwater to get a better look at things. “That is so amazing!” she exclaimed when we came up, “how do you stay down for so long?” she wanted to know. “Practice,” I said. We barely touched anenomes and watched them disappear. We saw parrotfish nibbling. And a fish we called a leopard fish until I identified it in a book, a wildly painted cowfish.

So much to learn. They had their homework to do. Nat taught some trigonometry in the form of navigation. And instead of studying Jupiter (with no resources), I decided the place to start was being able to find the North Star. The Big Dipper was standing on it’s handle. And Cassiopea was a sidways M or W. Both of which point to the north star. We found natural sponges on a beach in Norman’s Cay, they had no idea that’s how our kitchen sponge was invented.

We found a huge starfish at least 14″ across. Zoe watched and then helped with cleaning and rebuilding the winch. Of course there was the inevitable squabbling. And problems with privacy. We decided to make signs that would say “do not disturb” and hang them on our bunks when we wanted to be left alone.

We return later this spring to bring the boat back to Maine. Then I get to see the Gulf Stream.

I suppose I should make it clear that I’m not sitting at home whining about Nat being off in the warm regions. I’m not. He came home, we did our gigs last in snowy cold Maine last weekend. Well, we would have done our gigs if I hadn’t scared the shit out of myself by falling on my left and dominant wrist (skating backwards on Center Pond, the ice is perfect, and I tripped over the chair). Guitarist John Cote filled in for me, and I rested my hand in a splint. I missed playing. Yes, I was jealous — had to work on positive thoughts, listening to how good they sounded without me.

It’s better now, and I’m out of the splint. I have a broken bone. I broke it back when I was just 20 in Kodiak, AK. Casted for 2 months. A bone graft at 30, ten years later. Casted. Nothing has worked, just like they all say, it’s a notoriously difficult bone to heal. So, I have just dealt with it for the past 15 years. Certain motions hurt. Twisting a screwdriver. Clearing brush all day. Yoga can be hard but good - has really helped with flexibility. Official name: Scaphoid non-union. Alright, so it’s time to take care of it. I think I’ll have to have a screw to hold it together or something, to keep it stable. Damn I don’t want to be out of a job for a few months. Need the dough. Need the sanity! But most of all I need my wrist to work smoothly for the next 60 years. I will see what the bone doctor says.

It was great in Maine. As usual. I love the feeling of the dances, the rabid happiness and exuberance. P and Z always seem to find someone to play with, Tristan was their jungle gym for a whole evening. Genevieve was their calm and cozy lap. We had an awesome pizza party at Jeff’s using his new outside pizza oven. And music. And fun with nat. I love how we can play and be ridiculous, even after all this time. And then make great music too.
The Belfast dance was big fun. I danced two, then remembered it didn’t feel good on my wrist even with a splint. Lots of good dancers, all ages. Chrissy Fowler has done a good job making that dance a happening thing.

So the real reason that I’m not whining, is that in 4 days we’re headed to southern regions for the rest of the month. Bahamas. Sailing. Kids out of school for 3 weeks, with a boatschool plan. Study fish, reefs, math (buying groceries). Bringing instruments, it’s the best way to meet people.
Here’s our marriage counseling advice: Take a vacation, and do what you have been wanting to do for the last 12 years of marriage. Just do it. It’s about the same cost as a few months of marriage counseling. We needed both last year, but this year — just the vacation. Whahoo! I will bring back picts.

Band notes:
Glen got a hair cut, no more Sir Lancelot. What is making him so damn happy?

Nat, Fin and Fin’s friend Dan from college made it to the Bahamas today.

Hullo,
Arrived safely at Old Bahama Harbour, Grand Bahama 7:30 Saturday. The crossing was easy, except for having to beat upwind the whole way.
26 hours out of Fort Kent, FL. 1047 miles out of Annapolis, 1800 miles out of Portland.
I’m on deck, shorts and no shirt, WiFi in the harbor. But after two nights with four hours of sleep I’m ready to hibernate. We got here too late for customs, so we’re flying a quarantine flag and staying on the boat.
Dan can’t believe I won’t let him go ashore. I wanted to send this off in case you were up doing email.
Love,
YH

Reality Check:
The girls and I spent the afternoon skating on Center Pond. Zoey cried because she brought the thin knitted mittens and her hands were freezing (I brought extra gloves and hot chocolate). About 5 degrees here, like it’s been all week.