A Matter of Perspective

This entry won’t be about a specific adventure, but more a comment on what we’ve been finding on this tour.  No surprise, a lot has to do with attitude.  The same coffee mug can be looked at by a group of friends; and one might find it lovely, another useful, another artistic… and still another, deformed, too large, etc.  And yet:  same coffee mug!

When I go on an adventure, I never expect anything, but I do anticipate some things and know other things.   For example:  I knew that Jane and I would have a good time on this tour.  How could we not?  We both enjoy meeting new friends, having adventures, sharing music, and seeing unusual things.  So, I anticipated a good time, and — with only a few days left before this tour’s end — I haven’t been disappointed.  Beyond that, I had no expectations.

Grandma Prisbey’s Bottle Village, which I wrote about earlier, was something I’d been wanting to see for DECADES.  I knew that time had taken its toll, and that things once whole would now be broken; but I also anticipated that the spirit of Grandma Prisbey would shine through no matter what.  Beyond that, I had no expectations.  The actual experience we had will stick with me now, forever and always!

We will write a separate post about the friends and family who have showered us with kindness on this trip.  Certainly we had no expectations other than that we’d get to catch up with them; the excellent conversations and the care they’ve shown us have far exceeded anything we might have imagined, anyways.

With our gigs (which we haven’t written about yet!), it’s definitely best not to have expectations.  Truly, each gig is a “ya just never know” experience:  Who will be in the audience?  Will the sound equipment work?  Will they like what you bring them?  I always anticipate a good time, and in general that’s what happens.  Some shows are more “successful” than others, emotionally and/or financially — but each show gives you new information to work with, which comes in handy in the future.  That’s been my experience.

This tour included two very special house concerts, amongst other shows, and both were lovely, moving, heartening, etc., beyond even my anticipation (which was simply that both we, our hosts, and our audiences, would enjoy ourselves).

In particular, we had a special show hosted by the “other Sue Fink“:  she and I had been corresponding since approx. 2003, but had never met; she’s a singer, songwriter, vocal instructor, and chorale director.   We found we had similar senses of humor, and although we’d talked about having a “Sue Fink Squared” show sometime, it was just a pipe dream until we decided to tour  Los Angeles.  Sue and her partner, Jane, hosted Jane Godfrey and me, in their home, and it truly blew my mind:   it was beyond anything I could’ve imagined!

Sue Fink and Sue Fink!

Jane, Jane, Sue, and Sue!

So much more I want to say, but the hour is very late.  I knew our country was beautiful, but I didn’t realize how continuous this beauty is.  More than once, as we drove along, we broke out singing “America the Beautiful” in earnest.  The ocean, desert, rocky craggy mountains and tree-filled mountains… as we drove along, the landscape changed and changed again, filling us with wonder.

Trees in Alpine, AZ

The tour’s not over yet — not until after this weekend!  So, I’ll anticipate more excellent adventures, but without expectations … and, ya just never know what’s coming next!