News and other signs of Summer

First, I must start with the time-honoured ceremonial apology for the long gap in missives from me. In “the old days” we used to just live our lives without any thought of sharing the details any further than a phone conversation with a friend who would pretend to be interested. Technology has brought us the minutia of millions of peoples’ day-to-day lives with embarrassingly mundane detail. Every time I sit down to write you, I struggle with not wanting to be part of all that noise. So between that and the fact that life seems to be relentlessly consuming, the newsletter stubbornly resists taking its rightful place at the top of the To Do list..

But summer is now officially here, marking the start of my busiest ever (though that claim is based on a questionable premise that I can remember any of the previous summers) and given the gaps in my newsletters, I’d better give you the lay of the land for whole the season. However, that’s the trivial self-serving significance of this summer. The real one is our unprecedented hot weather which, coupled with negligible snow packs for our water supply give it a somewhat Titanic-like majesty. But as we continue to la-tee-da our way into the mystic, I will happily share all things present and future in Shari’s little world.

It was a adventure filled spring of writing trips to Vancouver Island and shows in the Kootenays as well as quite a bit of time in Vancouver. For me Vancouver time translates into lots of cycling time.I fell in love with cycling on my 18th birthday when I got my first bike, a “Raliegh Super Course”, and it’s the recreational passion in my life that has never waned. Riding a bike fills me with unbridled joy, and based on the countenance of fellow cyclists, I’m not alone. I get my best ideas, best lyrics, and an incomparable sense of well being while riding. On the downside, other than risking ones life moment to moment, (though that can be surprisingly envigorating) it also means a more acute awareness of the proliferation of parked vehicles idling and poorly aimed sprinklers pouring thousands of gallons of precious water down the sidewalks and storm drains, and other Bad Habits of the First World. (My editor, daughter Julia, here to celebrate her 25th birthday, recommended I not go into my usual rant on the subject in this newsletter suggesting I have already done so in the past. So I'll spare you my rant.) 

BTU (with Barney Bentall & Tom Taylor) has been finishing a new album, engineered by Julia and partner James. It’s sounding better than any of us imagined – we’re so happy with it. (You can bet you'll be hearing about it when it's ready!) Then there’s practicing, writing, learning new songs, mixed with walks and riding and working on the house and in the garden, endless time-sucking career administration, and occasional TV induced catatonia for escape. (Just documentaries and art films of course!) All peppered with yakking with friends – catching up on what the kids are doing, what the grandchildren are doing, how the dog is doing, who is splitting up, who has left whom for whom, who has cancer, and who just died. Life is relentless. And sad. And beautiful. Really not crazy about the death part though...

Lots to be grateful for and pleased to finally be getting this off to you. 

Happy trails my friend and stay in touch!

Shari