Sacramento, Here I Come!
A week-and-a-half between event and updating...not bad, in my book.
So I was invited to go to the Sacramento Jazz Festival over Memorial Day weekend. I was telling Corey that I’d never been to the great capital of our state and he said, wanna go? The next morning I had myself a reservation at the Sacramento International Hostel, a private room all to myself (because, really, what if I got stuck with a snorer? There’s no bathtub to slam downstairs to and resentfully sleep in).
We drove up Friday, listening to fantastic ’20’s music and novelty songs, psyching ourselves up for the festival. We checked in to the hostel, an old Victorian mansion that’s been restored. Then we hit the festival in earnest. Corey plays incredible cornet for the High Sierra Jazz Band. The whole band is incredible—highly talented musicians and loaded with personality!! They play Dixieland jazz, the way it’s supposed to be done. They played 10 sets the entire weekend—a jazz festival favorite! We spent the entire weekend hearing unbelievable music, walking all over the city at a good clip, eating, socializing (I met the band members, the band wives, a bunch of his friends and buddies, and his sister, brother-in-law and his sister’s brother-in-law—got that? All of whom were The Nicest People In The World. No, really. I looked them up. Under The Nicest People In The World. All of their pictures were there.). I adored Old Town, with its cobblestoned streets and with its buildings being so authentically from back in the day. And trees! It’s the City of Trees (it said so on the water tower coming into town), and everyone who knows me knows I’m a dryad (well, if not, you SHOULD), so I was loving myself some green.
And...there was dancing. I was shy at first, the dance floors being out in the open (the open!) where everyone could see you dance (people!). But Corey helped me with a little perspective and on Sunday afternoon, I picked a small venue with not many people, with the dance floor kind of more in the back, away from everyone, and I took off my glasses (so no one could see me, if I couldn’t see them, naturally) and I DANCED! Danced like I was by myself and no one was watching! And god, did I have FUN doing it!! There was a boy who joined me, and I had to explain that I didn’t know how to do it with anyone else, and that there was no rhyme, no reason, to what I was doing, and he probably wouldn’t be able to follow along, but he seemed to have a good time. And it opened the flood gates. I didn’t care WHO saw me after that! Victory was mine! I danced for much of the rest of the time afterwards. During The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra’s set (they did “Don’t Bring Lulu”—twice!), Corey joined me—we did some swing dancing (which I’m proud to say I have improved upon, since last year at Sweet and Hot!), and he showed me the foxtrot, and then we did some solo stuff where we mirrored each other. Yes!! Dancing is so, so very sweet!!
After the festival, on our way home on Monday, we stopped and flew his radio-controlled glider—he showed me how to do it, and with dual controls, he was able to take over if I was about to fly the glider over into no man’s land (which I almost did about 50 times in the process of learning). It was SO fun!! He was having a lot of fun showing it to me, too; he really was a like a kid in his joy, which I loved observing. It’s a bit easier learning to control a real hang glider, though, because you’re moving your body to control it and feeling the results of what the glider is doing in your body, as opposed to visually perceiving it with the radio-controlled one. You have to really use your mind to figure out where it’s going. I have realized, solely from Corey’s showing hang gliding and RC gliding to me, that I adore flying. I just adore it!! Of course, loving flying on airplanes and looking forward to the thrill of takeoffs should have tipped me off, but these things...these things have crystallized it...
And I had a ball--the entire weekend, I just had a ball!! We both did. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
Here’s to many, many more jazz festivals in our future!!
So I was invited to go to the Sacramento Jazz Festival over Memorial Day weekend. I was telling Corey that I’d never been to the great capital of our state and he said, wanna go? The next morning I had myself a reservation at the Sacramento International Hostel, a private room all to myself (because, really, what if I got stuck with a snorer? There’s no bathtub to slam downstairs to and resentfully sleep in).
We drove up Friday, listening to fantastic ’20’s music and novelty songs, psyching ourselves up for the festival. We checked in to the hostel, an old Victorian mansion that’s been restored. Then we hit the festival in earnest. Corey plays incredible cornet for the High Sierra Jazz Band. The whole band is incredible—highly talented musicians and loaded with personality!! They play Dixieland jazz, the way it’s supposed to be done. They played 10 sets the entire weekend—a jazz festival favorite! We spent the entire weekend hearing unbelievable music, walking all over the city at a good clip, eating, socializing (I met the band members, the band wives, a bunch of his friends and buddies, and his sister, brother-in-law and his sister’s brother-in-law—got that? All of whom were The Nicest People In The World. No, really. I looked them up. Under The Nicest People In The World. All of their pictures were there.). I adored Old Town, with its cobblestoned streets and with its buildings being so authentically from back in the day. And trees! It’s the City of Trees (it said so on the water tower coming into town), and everyone who knows me knows I’m a dryad (well, if not, you SHOULD), so I was loving myself some green.
And...there was dancing. I was shy at first, the dance floors being out in the open (the open!) where everyone could see you dance (people!). But Corey helped me with a little perspective and on Sunday afternoon, I picked a small venue with not many people, with the dance floor kind of more in the back, away from everyone, and I took off my glasses (so no one could see me, if I couldn’t see them, naturally) and I DANCED! Danced like I was by myself and no one was watching! And god, did I have FUN doing it!! There was a boy who joined me, and I had to explain that I didn’t know how to do it with anyone else, and that there was no rhyme, no reason, to what I was doing, and he probably wouldn’t be able to follow along, but he seemed to have a good time. And it opened the flood gates. I didn’t care WHO saw me after that! Victory was mine! I danced for much of the rest of the time afterwards. During The Royal Society Jazz Orchestra’s set (they did “Don’t Bring Lulu”—twice!), Corey joined me—we did some swing dancing (which I’m proud to say I have improved upon, since last year at Sweet and Hot!), and he showed me the foxtrot, and then we did some solo stuff where we mirrored each other. Yes!! Dancing is so, so very sweet!!
After the festival, on our way home on Monday, we stopped and flew his radio-controlled glider—he showed me how to do it, and with dual controls, he was able to take over if I was about to fly the glider over into no man’s land (which I almost did about 50 times in the process of learning). It was SO fun!! He was having a lot of fun showing it to me, too; he really was a like a kid in his joy, which I loved observing. It’s a bit easier learning to control a real hang glider, though, because you’re moving your body to control it and feeling the results of what the glider is doing in your body, as opposed to visually perceiving it with the radio-controlled one. You have to really use your mind to figure out where it’s going. I have realized, solely from Corey’s showing hang gliding and RC gliding to me, that I adore flying. I just adore it!! Of course, loving flying on airplanes and looking forward to the thrill of takeoffs should have tipped me off, but these things...these things have crystallized it...
And I had a ball--the entire weekend, I just had a ball!! We both did. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
Here’s to many, many more jazz festivals in our future!!
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