Mountains... and home

 Well, it's been quite a while since I have stopped by here to muse on the life of a sometime (wanna be) rock star.   These last few months have been fairly quiet in the musical world, at least in terms of new and original happenings.    The one glaring exception to that would be that I took a 5 day haitus to visit the Rocky Mountains for the first time, and while there, played a gig at the Laughing Goat on Pearl St in Boulder CO.   Great gig with some special attendance by my former October Moon band mate, Steve Combs, and a visit from a transplanted Hamdenite, Lynne, from the long ago.    
Let me just say here and now that the energy and feel of Boulder and nearby Nederland are not going to leave my bones very soon.   I have always wanted to go there but have not made it for so many reasons.  But finally, upon arrival at the airport and the 45 minute drive across the high plains to Boulder, watching the Rockies grow ever larger like a snow capped wall, left me gasping and gawking out of the windshield like a New York City tourist obstructing pedestrian traffic by standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking up the the sky scrapers.  I was in love!!!   
Arriving in Boulder just etched this more deeply in stone.  What a creative, funky, artsy, inspiring town.  A place where to be yourself and exhibit your own brand of lunacy, compliance, rebellion, excertion, obsession....  is actually expected and not shunned.  Ahhhh... tolerance and acceptance, not a really prominent New England trait (with some isolated exceptions)
The spark that ignited the idea for this trip was to once again hook up with my Bicycle touring daughter and her husband.  I was incredibly fortunate in that they had pretty much the whole week to kill with me.  Joy Joy!!  We wandered the streets of Boulder, hiked in El Dorado Canyon where we were sternly warned off by a rattlesnake.... and let me just say that you discover how much you are loved when this kind of threat sets off a mini stampede that pretty much tosses you into the brush as your loved ones basically run for their lives over you...  We also drove through Rocky Mountain National Park along the mountain tops, through Estes Park, Caribou open space...
But the pinnacle moment was driving up a pass through the mountains into a valley with a nice big lake... and at the other side of that lake, Nederland.   For those of you that know me well, Dan Fogelberg is by far the biggest influence on my songwriting, playing, singing and general desire of how to live my musical life.  Dan has died now, sadly, of prostate cancer (men.... get your check ups)  but he lived in Nederland for a while and wrote and recorded some of my favorite of his songs there.  His favorite watering hole was the Frontier Inn which is still sitting there like an old west saloon.  I came to pay homage, had a burger and a couple beers, talked to some locals who knew him then....  it was a pilgrimage for me, one that I won't soon forget.
So, the germ of an idea was sown that I hope to follow through on.   Once I finish up the CD I am currently working on, get that released, get a bunch of work done that is scheduled for the coming year and spend a good deal of time getting re-aquainted with my family as they all return from their long and amazing adventures... including an upcoming summer 2012 wedding, I hope to set out to live for a season in, or near, Nederland, and absorb myself in the wild and raw nature, bring my guitars and recording equipment... and write and record the next CD from there.
Pipe dream?    Maybe.  But my kids have proven to me that pipe dreams can and do come true if you put enough intention and focus on them.  Wish me luck!

In the mean time, I have come back from that life changing trip, endured a week + without power, and several weeks without internet, due to the effects of Hurricane Irene...  and moved out of my simple little bachelor pad into a really cozy, clean and modern apartment near the picturesque, quintessential New England little burrough of Stony Creek....   I have big hopes for the coming year...   hope you have some attainable dreams, and that you chase them to wonderful and unexpected experiences.
Until next time... Peace
Jim

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