The Pratie Heads: fiddling at the barbecue

Yesterday's gig was casual. Foster's Restaurant has a narrow lawn covered with picnic tables sandwiched between the building and a busy street. We sat up under the lovely portico and played to a small audience which included the Moomin Light family (it's so much fun to meet blog friends) and a few more internet acquaintances as well as real-life friends and strangers.

This was our trial run on leaving the music stand at home. We went cold turkey on charts and played 2-1/2 hours of music by heart. These last few days have felt like cramming for an exam - we're getting ready for the Celtic Festival and Highland Games at Bethabara Park on May 13.

There were a few flubs but by and large, the synapses are still firing!

I think Bob and I are playing better than we ever did, and we're playing for the joy of it.

Long ago, we took everything so personally - did they play our music on the radio? Did we make "Best Bets" in the local paper? Did enough people come to the show?

Now we both seem to be on the same wavelength: being able to do this is the goal, is the blessing. If other people enjoy it, of course that's great - but maybe we're mostly making this magic for each other.

There was a time in the late 80s when I had trouble with my hand and thought I would never play again - so the good fiddling years since then have been a gift. This is a corollary to "every day above ground is a good day."

And besides that - they fed us chorizo sausages with green salsa and a wonderful jicama slaw! How could this not be an excellent thing!?

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