shifting gears...

So far I have succeeded in remaining inside and at home today - quite a change from all the schlepping at the start of the week. Last night, after the rain had mostly abated, I ventured out to my favorite local club, Dièse Onze, for their weekly jam. Things got rolling later than I had anticipated @ 9:45 pm, so I had a long time to chat up the owner and wait staff. True confession: talking with waitresses, bar tenders and restauranteurs is one of my favorite quotidian past times. These are hard working people who see the public everyday at their best and worst. It not only nourishes my understanding of how the world really works to hear their stories, but I want offer them a bit of gratitude, too. Call it the seeds of an emerging ministry, but these tough souls need to know they are loved as much as the rest of us.

Well, in time, the bass player finally showed up (the regular host was on tour in Switzerland) and damn if those cats didn't cook once they got into the groove. I had to pry myself away at 1:15 am knowing I needed to prepare Di's breakfast and lunch today @ 7 am. Let's just say that it was a sweet but all too short night. That's one reason I chose to chill at home today.

There is that my old legs and back were worn out from all my previous walking. Besides, I needed to devote time to an essay re: the essence spiritual practices of resistance. Drawing on Brueggemann and Bonhoeffer, this essay may be included in an e-book a colleague is preparing for early summer. Di burst out laughing when I told her later that after my third draft I had finally whittled it down to under two thousand words. "Most people, my dear," she smiled, "would be stumped to come up with 500 words but you... you clearly have a lot to say!"  We talked about everything I left out of this essay for the next 90 minutes.(I'll let you know if my it makes the final cut.)

It was satisfying to give the day over to writing and research. I needed the break. When the local temperature hits 23 C tomorrow,(that's 75 F for those who hail from the USA) I want to be back out on the street. And let's not forget that Christine Tassan is at Dièse Onze tomorrow night and she's one of Di's favorites. Bonne nuit et rest bien mes amis.