Travel Well (Amy Speace, Jagoda, Tom Prasada-Rao, Cary Cooper)

I've written before of the monthly concert series I help present at our local UU church - it was an amazing show this past weekend, as usual, but I had to write in detail about a particular highlight:

When I arrived at the church Saturday early evening, Jud Caswell, Dave Potts and Friction Farm (Christine Stay and Aidan Quinn) filled me in - they had already been planning to work up a song together to do at the end for an encore...

Jud is friends with Amy Speace and, synchronistically, she, Jagoda (her percussionist), Tom Prasada-Rao and Cary Cooper had just finished writing (in Dallas) a song for Vic Heyman (it started in a noodling session) - when TPR and friends heard that Reba was planning to be at Labyrinth, they e-mailed the song to Jud, and he and Dave learned it that afternoon, teaching it to Friction Farm at the UU...

When the fourth (last) round was over, and received with enthusiastic applause, they gathered on-stage to sing this amazing song, called Travel Well... Jud on lead, Dave on harmony and Christine and Aidan providing back-up vocals and instrumentation - it was stunning, mentioning Rachel Bissex (bringing the wine!)... and the last verse was about Vic leaving his heart (Reba) behind, and their friends promising to take care of her.

First time performed in public... live at the Labyrinth Cafe - it was already a magical night... but that was the proverbial icing... :-)

On another note, I was with a friend from 7:00 this morning until 7 tonight, taking her to various appointments (doctor and otherwise) throughout the course of the day - what could have been a long, stressful experience was made calm and relaxing... because I brought my book with me, and had the opportunity to read off and on all day, uninterrupted and guilt-free, finally finishing it...

P.S. More SMM here and here...

SONG: Travel Well by Amy Speace, Jagoda, Tom Prasada-Rao and Cary Cooper (lyrics as yet unavailable... but you can listen here...)

BOOK: Eyes Of An Angel: Soul Travel, Spirit Guides, Soul Mates, And The Reality Of Love by Paul Elder

POEM: This Only by Czeslaw Milosz

A valley and above it forests in autumn colors.

A voyager arrives, a map leads him there.

Or perhaps memory. Once long ago in the sun,

When snow first fell, riding this way

He felt joy, strong, without reason,

Joy of the eyes. Everything was the rhythm

Of shifting trees, of a bird in flight,

Of a train on the viaduct, a feast in motion.

He returns years later, has no demands.

He wants only one, most precious thing:

To see, purely and simply, without name,

Without expectations, fears, or hopes,

At the edge where there is no I or not-I.

QUOTE: "It is better to travel well than to arrive" ~ Buddha