SOPHIA

Last year we took in a cat named Sophia. I love the name Sophia.

Yesterday a young woman delivered a cat we can care for in the coming weeks. Well, her markings and green eyes are exactly like Sophia the cat from last year!!

She never stopped wailing and talking cat language. The birds that have been loving our gardens took off in hysterical flight. I do hope the Tui returns in the morning. No bird has such a song.

I also adore the song of the Bell Birds.

Sophie finally settled down. Found the bed in the guest room most adaptable to her needs. We had closed all windows and doors. Keeping her under lock & Key for about 3 days.

This morning I wake up and there no Sophia to be found anywhere in this house! Anne had awaken in the night to the cat's cry and let the damn cat out of the bag, as they say! Then Anne went straight back to bed!

Well, I simply resigned myself to the fact the cat did not love us and had run back to her previous habitat... as I was sipping my morning coffee I heard her wailing at the front door.

She is no fool this cat. She had spent the night marking her space around the property, sitting in the window sills and clawing at doors to find a way into the house. I opened the door and she JUMPED into my arms. (thank god, I did not at the moment have a cup of hot coffee in my hand).

She belongs at 11 Panorama Place. When I returned home after a long walk out to St. Omer Park she was on my bed. I nudged her aside for my much needed "lay down nap", she rolled into a cuddly ball on my tummy.

Thus, I just kissed my sweet allergy free sinuses goodbye. Back to the dripping nose. But the gift of "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE" is worth every moment. Fur People are the sacred messengers that carry love to all of crazy human beings. Stay tunned for more about Sophia.

My Deals with GOD... 2012

Yesterday was absolute magic.

We had neighbors in later in the evening for snacks, drinks and wild conversation.

I made a great dinner for summer: Tender Roast Beef, Potato Salad, home made breads and fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, avocados and hummus. We then proceeded to indulge in cheeses, nuts, crackers, drinks and wine.

The Fire Works Show in Queenstown was fantastic. For the Grand Finale they shot a blast into the open sky and it formed a red heart! Then the heart began shooting all kinds of spirals and darts out into the universe. It was pure love! 2012 came in with a bang.

Round 2:00 AM went to bed... during the night a huge painting on the wall in the bedroom came off the wall crashing like a bomb on the floor. I awoke thinking we had been attacked. COULD NOT GET BACK TO SLEEP. DHAAAHHHH....

I learned years ago: never ever drink after 8 or 9 PM. The body goes into over drive cleansing the liver etc. Well, at 7:30 AM I got out of bed, made STRONG coffee and PROMISED GOD ONE MORE TIME: If you will simply take away this awful feeling inside my body I will never ever do anything bad again. It worked. I am fine. (Thank God for DRUGS...)

In my 65 years living on this planet I have made so many DEALS WITH GOD it is unimaginable that the heavens have not tossed me out for ever. (but on the other hand I believe god has made some strange deals with me???)

Today is gorgeous. The lake is like a mirror. Perfect summer weather.

Best part of today:

We had a cat delivered! She is gorgeous. Fur people forever help and guide me through this existence. They only offer UN CONDITIONAL LOVE on the HIGHEST LEVEL.

I've written before in my blogs about 2012... so lets see what happens. May all our dreams come true in 2012.

My Kiwi Xmax Kitchen...

Today is the day after BOXING DAY IN NZ. I took this photo of my kitchen here in the summer house in NZ because: it expresses apart of myself. This was taken after a gorgeous dinner.

It shows: Half a glass of Pinot Noir, half of a beautiful NZ Christmas Ham I glazed in apricots and oranges.

Half of myself standing taking the photo! (not really!)

In NZ most Kiwis, on Xmas day have a Christmas Breakfast or Luncheon/Bar-B-Que because it is summer in this part of he world!

I however do it different. I like my Xmas Dinner in the evening. Same with Thanksgiving Dinner.

My family in Utah are very traditional and do all these events between noon and 1:00PM. Why do I chose evening? Because: I have for far too many years cooked in restaurants and evening meals are my favorite except for I do love breakfast late in the morning all by my self!

Yep, I am a selfish man. I deserve to be.

This year I had two guests in. One lives on the left side of our house the other two or three doors down the street. We got together round 6 PM had yummy cheeses, breads, assorted nuts and wines... then dinner was: A wonderful baked ham. I glazed in apricot and orange with yams. Boiled potatoes, onions, greens, carrots, courgettes, topped with honey, dill and cream fresh. French and Cibatta breads and NZ REAL BUTTER. Dessert was strawberries and cream, but we settled for Christmas Fruit Cake and brandy.

Boxing Day I treated everyone to a day on the Lake. We boarded the old steamer Eranslaw and steamed over to Walter Peak. Had a wonderful Bar-B-Que Luncheon... watched the farm show, the shearing of sheep and of course the sheep dogs! are the most spiritual of creatures.

The ride back was divine. BLUE SKIES, MOUNTAINS, BLUE WATER, HOT SUN and a piano player on the ship that played songs only my grandparents would ever know every word and melody. Twas magic. Left QT at round 11:30 AM returned round 4:00 PM.

Will write about ever so many other things that have been pressing on my weak mind and body but had to share joy. NEW YEARS WILL BE BEYOND BELIEF THIS YEAR. Stay Tuned.

Last year... this year! Xmas Dinner.

New board to view, new kind of plant life

Ah, I finally did it. Took down the cork board that holds so many phone numbers, cards, photos and anything that cannot find a place on a shelf or on the floor... cleaned it up. I like it.

This year I changed my idea of plant life inside my wee space. Instead of the usual house plants I chose all kinds of interesting little creatures. They seem to be thriving. Plants have the gift of telling me very bluntly how I am doing emotionally and spiritually. I learned how the sacred communication between living plants and human beings can be a very special blessing from the universe many years ago.

Some indoor plants are best LEFT ALONE.

They are able to be at peace and grown according to their DNA when nothing interferes with their natural state of being... other plants NEED ME. They harmonize to certain composers... they need my fingers to pet their stems and whisper against their leaves... they react to weather, sound, color and any movement... We live on a green planet. Green is a healing color. It is the color of the heart chakra. Green and pale orange... faded saffron are my favorite color combinations.

I carried all of my sacred Quartz Crystals from NZ back to Wyoming last year. Now I will begin an adventure in search of certain gems of frozen light. I will cleanse them and regenerate their vibrational energy.

new look in the studio/lab

I think we are what we always will be????

The past few days I have reflected on many adventures and horrific moments that have occurred in my life.

Some have been so painful I can never write about them, even at this late point in my life, but other moments have been perfect magic!

We all must learn the lessons and move on, but, being a very old NEW AGE person... I still keep crystals around me. I cleanse them, I re set their vibrations... I still lite incense, and meditate every day!

I am not a person that can see other peoples energy colors... I do not have visions, but I DO FEEL VIBRATIONS. I will forever maintain that I am a VIBRATIONALIST.

I can walk into a room and within a heart beat FEEL if the energy in the room is balanced, full of anger, angst, pain, joy...

I am a hermit. I could ever so easily live my own life alone and in peace... as long as I have:

Kind people that watch over me, certain foods, lots of wines, certain drugs, music, poetry, books to read and write and most of all nature and music of the spheres.

When I am in WY. my most spiritual moments are when a deer stands alone gazing at my window... when a bird only sings for my ears.

When pine trees and cedar trees radiate their perfume into my lungs.

Like paintbrushes, I try to find and swallow the last pulse, and try to stay alive. I want to feel however what a worm feels it is satisfaction.

I awoke this morning at 2:30 am to the music of gentle rain on the roof. It called me up the stairs to the open patio. There it danced and sang it's melodies. I poured a cup of red wine and sat for one solid hour talking to the rain.

Life is magic. I thank the universe for the open cells of my body that can accept nature, the open parts of my mind that can rejoice in the sounds and colors of nature. I am at peace.

AT LAST...

The year was wonderful. I trained a dear angel to be my soi chef. She became the part of myself I never express because I lock that self so deeply inside my heart and brain, then when self cannot stand restraint it explodes into a deluge of angst and ugly words... thus she saved me. Sprit guided me and she into perfection.

Business was good. My restaurant danced to "steady Eddy"... meaning: Equilibrium, balance, center, I did not allow humongous parties of more than 10 people... I kept things at a tempo I could play with... Most of my help were reliable and propped me up.

The photos are of the dinning room the night after I closed for the season. I always have a steak dinner for friends. I actually had the entire restaurant filled with candle light. (candle light is a sacred vibration for me) Lots of delicious wines and spirits.

Next photo is of the first snow fall outside my window in Alpine, WY. Magic when the autumn leaves are in cosmic radiance and then the silence of snow upon leaves that have fallen to their death... only to be reincarnated once again in soil that will feed more trees, seeds, there is no death... observe nature.

It seemed as if we would never get our butts out of Alpine. We finally did round 6-7 PM. Had to stop at friends and say goodbyes... then from Afton WY to Evanston WY dense fog.

I do not have a problem driving at night, but I do hate fog. Growing up in Davis County, UT. we lived near the Great Salt Lake... INVERSIONS... fog was a dangerous demon. One could be driving in blind fog only to suddenly drive into a crystal clear sky... I managed the trip to Utah from WYOMING fine, but we arrived at my parents home round 3 AM.

Thanksgiving is a way far overrated holiday in my book. Tooooo much food, toooooo much labor involved and TENSION beyond words. Got through it fine. Then the Xmas decorations.

My mother could open a shop with only Xmas Decorations. She has millions of things that blink, sparkle, need bulbs, wires, connections... we did what we could to make it happen.

The flight to NZ. Longer than the roads to hell... but WORTH EVERY ACHE AND PAIN.

Flying is not what is used to be. NO LONGER DO I DRESS OR MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO LOOK NICE. Soft clothing, slip on shoes, no jewelry. When you are trying to get a 94 year old woman through security as well as yourself and friends... computers, cell phones, I pads, the wee bag of gels. That is by far enough. We made it. Qantas is a great airline, but I do hate the food.

The seats are made out of cement. I took one of those famous sleeping pills in America:

starts with an A... I was awake all night!!!!!!!!!!!! Last year I tried one but I had my meal before I took it and the Doc said that is why it did not work!

WTF I need something to eat before I sleep... well, I did not eat a meal and the damn pill still did not work. I'm calling the FDA one more time... these things are not cheap

12 hours later we landed in Auckland. HOME... (well, my 2ND home away from home) then the rush to domestic flights. Landed in QT at 2:00 PM. GORGEOUS MOUNTAINS, WATER, SKY.

The house was perfect. I can now sleep until noon. I can be awake all night. I can get up early and walk all morning. I can play piano when I want. I can read millions of words that create books inside my I Pad or Nook. I can doooooooooo any damn thing I WANT OR NEED TO DO.

Will post tomorrow about my goals this year. Every year I set certain goals that I want to attain when I am blest with this freedom to explore and do more, more, more. Life is good.

Leaving Wyoming... NZ 2011-2012

Bryan's Song

Today one of my dearest musical brothers crossed over...  He was my bass player for years and recorded three Cd's with me...

Making music with someone else is a bliss beyond explanation, especially IF you are fortunate to touch a place within the universe where you can "groove" on the same vibration.

Bryan and I began making music years ago.  We would rehearse in his basement.  He had mostly played Rock n Roll and Country.  I took him into jazz and standard classics.  He was a fast study and could read my mind.  We formed a trio years ago, piano, bass and drums, then it evolved into a quartet.  He was a man of few words, but when he did have something to say, my God, he said something.  I envied his ability to honestly SAY SOMETHING OF VALUE and MEANING.

Tonight as I lite a candle and opened the Tao Te Ching the book fell open to the 56th verse...
                 
                  "Those who know do not talk.  Those who talk do not know.  Keep your mouth closed.
                     Guard your senses.  Temper your sharpness.  Simplify your problems.  Mask  your
                      Brightness.  Be at one with the dust of the earth.  This is primal union.
                       He who has achieved this state is unconcerned with friends and enemies,  with good and
                        and Harm, with honor and disgrace.  THIS THEREFORE IS THE HIGHEST
                         STATE OF MAN."

Bryan lived the above words perfectly and his wife, was a living angel.  The woman was his twin soul
mate.  She never, ever left his side, except for one night recently when she went to JH and he came to
dinner at my restaurant for a after closing party.

I could write forever about the moments we shared musically.  He will forever be with those of us that knew the beauty and joy this man could share.

If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song... and if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky...

Play and sing your songs...  miss you but will soon be where you are...

I am a free man, kinda like! 2012

We finally closed the business for the year 2011. What a fantastic year. I will be writing about far too many adventures into the spirit, present, past and beyond belief regarding all the minute things that occurred this past year since JUNE through SEPTEMBER.

I have been asked at least 100 times this season about 2012. December 21, 2012! The end of world as we know it, some comet Elenine sailing into the earth and destroying it... PLANET X which I have studied the past few years... is quite amazing.

Ever since I was a little boy I have been fascinated my the heavens... stars and moon, sun rise and sun set. I visit the International Space Station almost every day when I am in NZ. (I have the time to enjoy the moments minus time tables) There is NO SUCH THING AS TIME. It was invented as a way to mark events and episodes within out life and the happenings on earth. IN REALITY: the past, present and future are all happening at once. I am living with a woman 93 years old who is suffering full blown dementia, however, her "space suit" (her body) is doing fine because of science and chemistry. I work with kids between 14 and 21 years of age. Talk about past, present and future... spend a few hours in my kitchen.

This I know, or I should say I have learned. For the first time in 26,000 years our solar system will be in direct alignment with the center of our galaxy. The distance between our planet and center of the galaxy will be approximately 26,000 light years. The average life span of a human being is 26,000 days.According to many things I have read over the years these are facts supported by those who study the heavens.

On December 21,2012, the precession of the equinoxes will end and a new precession will begin. The great cycle began in August 3014 BCE, the approximate time of the first Egyptian hieroglyphics. The great cycle will end on December 21,2012, when our sun will move into direct alignment with the equator of the Milky Way galaxy. Most scientists acknowledges this galactic alignment will occur and the Mayan Calendar marks the event.

What will this all mean? Will it mean a POLAR SHIFT as some have predicted and have written.... the sun will rise in the south and set in the north? Some computers predict that a magnetic pole reversal could bring about the end of civilization, and worse that the Earth would be left with NO MAGNETIC FIELD AT ALL! We have not a clue what happened 26,000 years ago when the last alignment occurred.

The Mayan people and their culture came suddenly and left suddenly, after three hundred years. Some call them the surfers of our magic universe. When they were "taken up" as it were did they leave their calender as a means to tell us something?

Magnetic reversals have happened, according to science, 171 times in the last 76 million years, with at least 14 of the reversals occurring in the last 4.5 million years alone. Some mainstream scientists suggest we are overdue for a plor shift. Some say we are in the early stages of just such a reversal which explains our erratic weather patterns, the short circuity of our consciousness, and the weakling of the planet's magnetic field.

We know the sun is going through a magnetic shift right now. The earth appears to be in tyhe early stages of a polar reversal. Wo what does this mean?

Our brains detect magnetic changes because our brains contain millions of tiny magnetic particles. These particles connected us to the Earth's magnetic field in a powerful and intimate way which affects our consciousness in a stunning way. Our nervous systems are affected, our immune systems, and even our perceptions of reality! Our dreams, our thoughts, our emotions, and our understanding of time and space are thrown out of balance when the magnetic field is weakened.

These magnetic fields on earth are kind of a glue which designates our reality, when the glue shifts it fhrows off our perception of what is real. At first I thought I was gr owning old...loosing my mind, but some of my friends in their 20's are experiencing the same things.

I KNOW there are places on the planet that contains amazingly powerful magnetic fields. I live within one vortex... near the TETONS. Some of lowest energy areas are Suez Canal, Israel... hence change is occurring every day within the middle east so many unbelievable energy cycles happening every moment.

Another low magnetic field runs parallel to the west coast of America. Things happen very quickly in California, Oregon, Washington State. Meaning, science, technology, fashion, music, art, and film. RUSSIA HAS SOME OF MOST POWERFUL GRIDS. People there tend to cling to tradition and changes come extremely SLOWLY.

I know musicians and poets as well as painters than can only produce under the effects of a FULL MOON. Look at the affects of what ONE IDIOT WORLD LEADER CAN DO!

2012, will join into a magnificent power with QUANTUM PHYSICS. We are all headed toward a catastrophe that has indeed occurred in the ancient past, or are we going to create a NEW JERUSALEM WITH THE MAGNETIC OF THE 2012 alighment?

Stephen Hawking, said that the speed with which our computers are performing will soon surpass the capacity of the human brain. He even states that there are extraterrestial life out there... We THINK we are so very powerful... however, we are part of the earth, the universe and we will evolve as our home EARTH evolves...

Exciting stuff... I could write for miles about such exiting FACTS... but, as always most people will not or simply refuse to sense truth beyond their COMMANDERS and RELIGIOUS COMMANDERS... One true prophet was Edgar Cayce. I simply tell you read his heeling's...

Later, I'll be seeing you soon...

Summer madness

Brenthoven's Restaurnat is all over the place... weather and the economy are rather Bi-Polar... One day amazing and pure joy, the next strange because of the kind of people coming and going. It is all one learning adventure within the expanding universe.

Will go into some details about all this when I have time. Until then, things are great. Made music today with my bass player. No matter what the day presents before me the music equalizes everything. I thank my LUCKY STARS.

Doom and some gloom

The mud slide if clear. You can drive through the grand canyon of the Snake River with no fear of being killed because of a mountains crashing upon your life...
We have had some gorgeous days and nights, but it seems these days of sunshine disappear within one, two, three days of light.
and then more rain...

Will try to keep this blog going this summer. My restaurant is doing fine... will write later.

MUD SLIDE

Spring is late this year. The daffodils are in bloom, but buds on the aspen, maple and other trees are still searching for warmth and sunshine. We did have a few days of brilliant sunshine and with the sunshine there occurred a horrific mud slide up the Snake River Canyon.

14 years ago we suffered a terrible mud slide in the canyon up near Dog Lake. It nearly put me out of business. It became a political nightmare.

Two geologists that were working on the slide stayed with us at the Nordic Inn. I learned many things from them. Before the spring run off had ever began high above where the slide erupted was an under ground lake inside the mountain. The lake was fed water from another open lake very high in the mountains.

When the spring melting of snow began the open lake could not hold all the water from the winter snow and it filled the hidden lake. The under ground lake erupted and began what is known in mother nature as a BRAND NEW RIVER!
If there had not been any humans in the area the mud slide would have opened a new artery into the mighty Snake River and branched off into many other streams and over many years there would be many new rivers, creeks, lakes. The creative process seemed endless over hundreds of years creating new water ways...

Well, this current mud slide is many times greater than the slide 14 years ago. I walked up the canyon this afternoon. The river is raging... very muddy with lots of run off water carrying trees, huge boulders and natural debris down the river at a fast tempo.
Nice to walk without any traffic... only the sounds of nature.

Nature rules. We must accept the fact. The natural disasters the past year have been shocking. But are they really? We forget we are very much a part of this planet, the cycles of nature and it's many blessing of magic and wellness.

I shall never forget what a little Japanese lady said to me in Queenstown soon after the earthquake in Japan. She would come to St Peter's daily to hear me play Chopin. After the horrible earthquake I asked her if she had lost family or friends in the disaster. She smiled, paced her words very evenly and said: "Young man, you must always enjoy the sound of birdsong, the white clouds against a blue sky and most of all hold some kind of secret peace inside your heart..." Having been to Japan a few times over the years as well as all of South East Asia I sensed her stoic and most amazing reply. Emotions are to be felt INSIDE not OUTSIDE. (I have one hell of a time with that concept! I seem to scream, cry, dramatize beyond imagination)

I reflect where I was two years ago. Full of cancer, E coli, besides too many physical problems to imagine at the present moment.

I will watch the sun set over the western mountains and silently one by one within the infinite meadows of heaven watch the lovly stars, the "forget-me-not's of the angels....... after all our bodies are made of dust? MUD! our spirits are made of light!

Back in Wyoming...

What an amazing adventure getting from QT New Zealand to Auckland and from Auckland to LAX.

The jet that was to fly us non
stop to Auckland hit a bird before it landed in QT. The inspectors had to check out everything on the plane before take off.
It took over and hour for the inspectors to give the OKAY TO FLY. I did not mind. I would much rather be safe than falling out of the sky because of another flying object called a dead bird.

As we sat on the plan I began to organize thoughts about how we would be able to connect with the international flight to USA.
NO WAY. So, I decided we would simply wait in Auckland until the next flight into America and then re book the flight into Utah.

We landed in Auckland and had exactly one half hour to get from the Domestic Terminal to the International Terminal. We jumped into a cab and drove like hell. Jumped out at International. The staff was amazing. They took our luggage... found a wheel chair for Anne... she is 93 and has dementia... we ran to the customs area. I was sweating like a pig ready for the moment of death. The woman pushing Anne's wheel chair, said: "fill out what you can on the departure forms... I could not even get the passport numbers written out. They ran us through the arch which checks for metal, objects of mass destruction and we ran down the ramp onto the plane. It was packed. We had our carry on pieces. Simply got into our seats and it was TAKE OFF!!! Our luggage could not be put on the plane but would arrive later.

Believe me this would not have happened in America! It was a smooth flight. Landed in LAX, and once again a long run to get from International to South West. Once more my body began sweating like the pigs body I seem to be living in. Talk about a wake up call telling me I did not work out enough at the gym the past 5 months! We made the flight. Landed in SLC and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Spent 5 days and nights with my parents in Clinton Utah. Celebrated my parents 65th Wedding Day celebration at the Lion House in SLC. Saw family members I have not seen in over 30 years!

Seems like when we at my parents Michael ends up doing nothing by fixing problems in the house... The kitchen taps were leaking tons of water. Needed a completely new faucet etc.
then there were other minor things. We got on the road for home early afternoon on the 3rd of May.

The drive to Evanston, WY was beautiful. From Evanston to Cokeville WY was heaven to me... wide open spaces, sage brush,
clouds of every possible shape and you could watch some clouds blessing the land with rain. Stopped to see friends
before we drove into Alpine. Stopped at the grocery for basic items, milk, bread, butter, odds and ends, then drove up the drive way, past the business and HOME.

Today I walked into the national forest behind the house. The trees have buds about the size of pin heads. Mountains still covered in snow. Butter cups were smiling among the Oregon Grape leaves and Robins with beautiful red breasts were perched on branches of Cedar trees and pine.

The most blessed moment was touching my wonderful piano. It held it's pitch amazingly well. I love this instrument. It chose me a few years ago. I did not chose it. It's voice is the voice of my soul and spirit. I placed my favorite piece of art on top of it.
"Walking Wounded"... I played for over an hour. My hands were straining because of the altitude, my breathing is labored for days after I return to the mountains...

I filled the room with pine boughs and sage brush... it smells heavenly. Happy to be back where I belong.

Leaving April 27th, 2011 for Alpine...

Hard to imagine that five months have crossed over into memory and that place we refer to as 'the past'.

Today is Easter Sunday in NZ. I swear Easter was in March last year? I can never quite figure out why the dates change each year?

This is the first year in 21 years of coming to NZ we did not color eggs, put out the chocolate bunnies and I did not bake Hot Cross Buns. Easter has fallen to close to the day we depart. In the place of eggs, and buns, we are CLEANING the house. Sorting out things that must be stowed away in the storage until next year.

Today I washed windows inside and outside in the kitchen. Cleaned oven, cupboards, ceilings, walls, laundry... tossing out food items that will not keep until next year! Tonight will be my studio. Clean my piano keys, sort through all kinds of crap I collect on my desk...

Shifting between two homes is not such a bad thing, only bad thing: I do not have a staff that packs, organizes, cleans, maintains my life style. I do the GRUNT WORK!

Today has been gorgeous. It is now a quarter of 6 PM and the sky is becoming gruesome. No doubt I will fall asleep to the sound of rain dancing on the roof. Will try to finish a lot of work by tomorrow and then my last time at the gym on Tuesday, some good byes. Early Wednesday fly to Auckland. From there into LAX and from there to SLC, UT. From there drive to WY

Will write a quick blog from air ports!

The Real Piano

Music, food, wine...

Today I walked along the shore of the lake through the Queenstown Gardens into the Center of town. Music was playing from performers at the Arts and Crafts Open Fair Market where many people were browsing through scarfs, sweaters, canned goods, oil paintings, pottery, jewelry and a stall with all kinds of cup cakes!

My hearing works like magnets... they attract certain sounds no one else would ever be aware of... someone was playing a very out of tune piano. Sounded almost like a honky tonk piano, but the melody was not ragtime...

I put my blood hound ears "out there" seeking where the music was coming from. Along the water front was a young man playing on a REAL, not electric, but a real acoustic piano!!! The front of the upright piano had been removed so you could see the hammers falling back and forward against the strings. The piano was ancient. He had fashioned a frame out of iron that the piano sat on with side bars and a handle to pull the sweet old piano by hand anywhere he desired. Damn clever! No amplification. Simply organic sounds from a very old piano and the guy made up his own music. He could have not been over 21. He loved making music at the piano! His concert hall was a boardwalk beside a lake, walled in by the shades of autumn leaves, a ceiling of blue on blue sky and laughing seagulls.

In the 70's I often lived out of my cars as I wandered around the country playing piano. Some nights I'd stop into a bar in Evanston, WY and begin playing piano... suddenly there would be a "tip" jar on the piano and I'd make enough to fill up with gas, eat, drive to the next place my musical muses took me!

One night during a blizzard I stopped in Rifle Colorado... walked into a bar/cafe and asked IF I could play piano. The bar tender laughed. He said: "Young man, IF you can get anything that sounds like music out of that heap of crap in the back of this place I'll give you a hundred dollars."

With that kind of a challenge, and the fact I was broke, I was determined to find that forgotten beast of a music maker and find a way to make music from it's neglected shell.

Two burly cowboys got up from their bar stools, stomped back to the end of the bar and rolled out a very rough looking old upright piano. The one winked at me and said: "okay pretty boy you better be able to play!"

The piano was unbelievable. I could not believe the sound... within a half hour the place was packed... breathing room only.
The proprietor, after hearing the first song jumped on the telephone and started calling people... I made over $700.00 dollars in tips. I also had a killing hang over that lasted for days.

I was able to get my car repaired free, good food at a local diner and most of all I seemed to had made a lot of people happy. People that had never heard a Classical piece performed on a keyboard. My event in Rifle CO. was at least 40 years ago!

I sat on a bench listening to the young man's music. It was not my kind of music, but it ignited a plethora of memories inside my mind. Musical moments that I have never, ever thought of in years. At last, I picked up my back pack, put a 20 dollar bill in the piano man's kitty and walked to a cafe for a sandwich and glass of wine.

I sat thinking how in the 60's and 70's war was a huge item... draft... now we have a NO DRAFT MILITARY... racial angst... now we have a BLACK PRESIDENT... still the same bigotry and wars everywhere as well as mother earth erupting with earth quakes, floods, winds, drought and amid it all there are young people that are traveling, making life better for many people and yes, they are creating and making art.

We all pay a certain price for where we end up at the end of the day. My day was magic. I pray that young man has a safe place to sleep, eat and most of all care for his beloved piano.

Perfect Autumn Day in Queenstown