Winter

Well then - quite the drama thanks to the earth's jaunty little angle in its spin around the sun! The up side is I've had more exercise in the past three weeks shoveling snow than I have in my entire life. Okay, maybe the thrill was gone as of today as I was cleaning storm drains, but it sure made for a memorable Christmas. Julia and I did LOTS of sledding, including all the way down to the cove on Christmas eve to pick up the turkey. For a California girl like me, the novelty of the white stuff never really wears off. Even after a load off the - surprisingly slippery new metal roof - crushed my Adirondack chairs, I was still enchanted.

Having Julia home was fantastic. Our favourite part (other than sledding) was recording her violin parts on the new CD. That's the first time we've worked together in that capacity and it was mighty rewarding to hear what she added to the songs. We couldn't wait to dive in every day. Her playing has taken another leap with the work she's been doing at McGill.

The shows with Barney Bentall and Tom Taylor have been WAY too much fun and we're very keen to do more, which we will in April and May. Engineer Anthony Maki recorded our 'second annual' concert on Bowen and we're thinking we'll release it once we get a chance to mix it.

Other than that it's been darn quiet here. Between the weather and recording I'm hunkered at home more than I have been in years - or maybe EVER. It's the most time I've spent alone since I lived by myself on Saltspring in the late 70's and early 80's, BF (before family). I may be enjoying it a bit TOO much! Being free to do whatever I want, whenever I want - walk the dog at 1:00 in the morning, eat dinner whenever I feel like it, sing at the top of my lungs in any room in the house at all hours -- wait, I sound like I'M the kid!

I've also been trying to purge my house of a lifetime of crap I've saved. I came across a large bag of letters I found at my mother's after she died that I hadn't yet looked through. I've discovered the bag held every letter I'd sent her from when I first left home at 18 until phone calls and e-mailing took over in the late 90's. Minute details of my career, relationships, and daily trivia for almost 30 years of my adult life. Of course, it's all filtered by what I chose to share with my mother, but still - an adventure to read - and I was so grateful to her for saving them all. It also made me realize how regrettable it is that the archiving of our lives through letters is no longer a feature of our culture.

If you're in Vancouver, the Bluebird North is coming up this Tuesday. Other than that, I'll be writing, recording; playing the Tongue on the Post Festival with UHF in Medicine Hat AB at the end of January; preparing for a big concert at the Stanley Theatre on April 18th with the Universal Gospel Choir in support of the Callenish Society, who provides retreats for people living with cancer; and getting ready for more shows with Barney and Tom. The schedule on my site will have the details shortly.

Please keep in touch my friends. In my little quiet world here with the dog, it's wonderful to hear from a human.

Happy trails,

Shari