Snowy Breasted Pearl

Have you had a mammogram recently? http://www.breastcancer.org/ has information about breast cancer, screening, research and treatment. I had my snowy pearls examined this morning as part of this year's health screening... in addition to blood work to check my cholesterol levels and blood glucose. I'm fortunate to be a healthy middle aged woman, and to have access to health care. Not everyone is as lucky.
This weekend we will be participating in a 24 hour fiddle marathon in conjunction with the Relay for Life. A group of dedicated fiddlers will be combining efforts to play tunes for a full day, starting from 10:00am on Saturday the 5th until 10:00am the 6th. There is still plenty of room for more fiddlers and more backup musicians (guitar, mandolin, keyboard etc) Contact thordude@surfbest.net for more information. This is a very worthy cause! We will be helping to organize a dance Saturday evening as part of this event, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm... Come and listen to tunes anytime during the day, dance in the evening, or sponsor a fiddler. We all appreciate all types of support.
For anyone wondering, a mammogram is not painful. There is some discomfort and pressure, but it isn't anything horrid... and it is quick. My entire visit from checking in until I left the building was less than a half hour... the actual mammography only lasted a few minutes. If you've resisted having yours done, for whatever reason, I recommend you JUST DO IT... for yourself, for those you love, and those who love you.
Snowy Breasted Pearl is a nice tune from the New England Fiddler's Repertoire.

Church Street...

... in Dexter was the location of the Central Maine Fiddle Workshop with Greg Boardman! We got our packet of tunes and the CD a few weeks ago, so had time to get familiar with playing the tunes. These workshops are great... organized with tunes for beginners, intermediate and advanced players. Everyone gets the same tunes, but each group is the focus for one of the three hours. Advanced players start~ they sit in the "inner circle" with Greg and play the tunes, learning tips and techniques to make each one really special. Then, after a short break, the second hour starts with the intermediate players taking those inner seats... and you guessed it, the final hour is the beginner's turn. Everyone plays the tunes, including those sitting in the chairs outside the focus group, so we all get ideas for playing the tunes. After the three hour workshop, the newly learned tunes are played at a short contradance held at the same place... practical application of new information!

We got to try out a few new things when we played at the Norlands last night for their live-in program's Barn Dance, which was actually held in the kitchen because of the cool temperatures in the barn. It's so much fun watching young people learn to contradance, square dance, and circle folk dance for the first time. And it's always fun for us to play music for people!

Sugarloaf Schoolhouse

fiddlehedz & friendz played tonight in the town of Kingfield at a community contradance. The organizer here is Kathy T, we met her and her family at a caller's workshop earlier this year. This was a totally fun evening... we did some car pooling from our house to Farmington where we had dinner at another band member's house... then continued on to Kingfield to the school where the dance was held. Though not well attended, we did have a good time learning some new tunes on the fly, as well as playing some tunes & sets that we've been practicing for quite a few weeks now. It was great to set up the sound system and to get the whole program ready to go, coordinating with the callers. We are getting more and more comfortable as a band, being able to try out new tunes that a caller wants, and saying "yeah, we can do this!". Everyone had a fabulous time! It's nice to have a committed group of band musicians who are willing to spend an evening out playing music for very little (if any) monetary gain... and that's what it's really all about, providing music for community dances!

Sugarloaf Schoolhouse comes from Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes.

Rakes of Mallow

We're home after a long day of traveling! We had the opportunity to give up our seats on the flight out of Sacramento and get booked on a different flight... we ended up with great travel vouchers to use on another trip! The change got us into Manchester NH a little earlier than originally planned, but we still had to wait for the luggage... so it was about 3:30am Wednesday when we got into Augusta. Instead of going home and driving back, I decided to have R drop me off at the office since I had to be at work for 6:30 anyway. This gave me time to shower and nap... I was pretty tired at the end of the day! I thought I'd get home and crash hard but...
... the sight of a grassy yard clear of snow inspired me to start raking! Wednesday has typically been my low energy afternoon/evening and I don't get a lot of stuff done around the house, so I was pretty surprised to have this burst of energy! We made a little campfire, raked the yard between the kitchen and the garden, and cleaned out the perennials in front of the greenhouse (finding some beautiful crocus in bloom)... Richard made hamburgers which we ate outside in the quiet of our yard. After dinner we took a walk out around the property, listening for bird sounds and enjoying the fresh air.

Raking is an activity that feeds my soul. It is a purely selfish activity that I do for myself because I get such a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that my little corner of the world is tended and cared for... and that helps me feel grounded and inspired to tend other areas of my life too.

Rakes of Mallow can be found in the New England Fiddler's Repertoire.

Redwoods and Macrame?

Today started with a trip to Berkeley in search of a hippie style store with macrame, pottery, beads, and other assorted hand made items. Not happening. I'm not really a shopper, and I don't have a lot of interest in browsing through stores... but I was thinking it'd be a pretty fun thing to find some hand-fired pottery or something as a useful souvenir. Anyway, nothing of the sort has presented itself, so I suppose it isn't a necessary purchase.
There have been redwood trees around, lots of different areas. These trees are majestic and beautiful. After leaving Berkeley, we headed west and had lunch in Sausalito, then drove south along Route 1 through San Francisco and down the coastline. The cliffs and beaches are lovely. We headed inland through curving roads lined with redwoods, and then eventually back to Bryan's place in Danville. This will be our last evening here before heading back home.
I'm looking forward to being back in "my nest" even though I do have to work for a few days before a busy weekend. I envision having/ creating time to garden, rake, play tunes in the sunshine, walk in the woods, and dream of living off the land :) Maybe even make some quilts, macrame and beads of my own to sell at farmer's markets in between playing some nice tunes!

A Walk in the Park

The weather continues to cooperate with the outdoor line-up of activities. Las Trampas is a Regional Wilderness, located just west of Danville, CA. Easy to access, and beautiful to experience, Las Trampas is only one of the amazingly undeveloped tracts of land separating the pockets of population. The ostrich live on a farm just south of the park entrance we used.
The hills are steep in places, but in general this was quite a nice walk. Bryan's house-mates went along with us... including Oscar, Anna, and the newest canine, a foster dog named Jake.

Here you can see Oscar sporting his new "wet suit", fabricated from a black trash bag. Why, oh why were we dressing him up for a doggie fashion show? Oscar had explored a little too far on his own during the hike, finding a nice fresh patch of cow poop that he just HAD to roll around in... ewughhhhhh... Anyway, because we all rode together in one vehicle (yes, that's right, three dogs, two men and three women in a Subaru station wagon) it was imperative, yes IMPERATIVE that we get Oscar as clean as possible. He didn't like the cold shower, and he seemed slightly humiliated in being dressed in black plastic, but he handled it like a man and remained cooperative though slightly sullen. He got a nice oatmeal bath when we got home and is none-the-worse-for-the-wear :)
It was nice to be outside and feel the sunshine & fresh air.

Winery Tour & Dancing

This morning we went to the Farmer's Market in Danville... the produce is amazingly fresh and affordable... a nice way to start the day.
The Blackhawk Auto Museum was our next adventure. There was a Soap Box Derby in progress, so we got to see a bit of those races in addition to beautiful luxury race cars. There was an art exhibit of automobile related items which we liked at least as much as the cars themselves.
Bryan and I went south into the Livermore area on a wine tasting venture to three different wineries. We learned a bit about the grapes, and tried many a taste of some very fine wines... two bottles were purchased which we will be sharing with the household tomorrow. Today's photo was taken at one of the vineyards using my new cell phone... thus the reason for the odd appearance.
After dinner Richard, Bryan and I drove into San Francisco for an evening of contradancing. We had SO much fun! Today is my and Richard's anniversary and it was a perfect way to celebrate since that is one thing that brought us together over the years. Bryan is a really good dancer, I had a good time watching him, and especially dancing with him. We've had a really fun day, and the weather actually held out until we drove into the city this evening.

Wax Museum

Here are wax figures representing the Wizard of Oz. Some of the displays were harder to identify, but most of them were really pretty good. This was one of our favorite displays.

San Francisco!

Here we are in San Francisco. We rode the BART into the city, and walked down to Fisherman's Wharf where we picked up our GoCards. These cards, once purchased, get you into a whole list of places. Some of the things we did on the card today included a narrated boat tour of the bay, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien tour, entrance to the Wax Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. There were other things too, but they didn't all work out, time wise.

This photo was taken from the boat as we passed under the Golden Gate bridge. The narrative was really interesting, we learned a lot about the bay, the bridge, and the skyline of the city.

Here's a picture of Alcatraz. It was pretty creepy to think of people being incarcerated there, and how desperate they must have felt. Today was beautiful... sunny and fairly warm, but this rock has to be damp and cold almost all the time just because it's in the middle of this windy bay.

We walked down Lombard Street, walked up to Coit Tower, went up to the top and looked around the city. At the end of our day in San Fran, we had a snack and a drink at a nice place down by the ferry terminal, then headed back home. A fine time was had by all.

Mount Diablo

Mount Diablo State Park was our tour destination of the day. This park is literally in Bryan's back yard, the park entrance is only about 10 minutes away but the drive to the summit actually took quite a while. It's a pretty steep ascent, with hairpin turns and sheer dropoffs, speed limit posted at 15 mph, and believe me that was fast enough! Richard was a good sport and didn' t mind letting me drive... I felt better when I had control of the wheel. The observation tower at the top give a 360' view of all the surrounding area, and the museum was quite interesting. One of my favorite things there was a continuing diorama, with a list of flora and fauna to find... not as easy as it sounds even for adults! We walked around the top, ate our lunch, and then on the way down we stopped at "Rock City". This was quite fun, as you'll notice in the second photo. There were all these rocks with little cave like features... it seemed like it would be a great place to bring kids, though you'd want to keep a good eye on them because it is pretty easy to explore to distraction and lose your bearings! Also, you have to be really careful when you're getting out of your cave or you're likely to bonk your head on the top of your cave, this is a personal recommendation learned from experience!
Tomorrow we go into San Francisco via the BART, and use our Go-Cards! Keep posted for more stories and photos tomorrow!

Easy Day

Today we took it easy... no heavy tourist activity! We took our time getting ready for the day and played some tunes before heading out. We walked the Iron Horse Trail, which is similar to the Kennebec Rail Trail back home... an old railroad bed that has been maintained and paved to provide recreational space for walkers, joggers, bikers etc. It's about 2 miles between here and downtown Danville, and the weather was perfect for being outside... sunny and warm! We had lunch at Marsala, a great Indian restaurant, and then walked back to the house. The rest of the afternoon I spent outside reading, enjoying the fresh air. Bryan is on a kick-ball team with his house mates and a bunch of other people, and they had a double header scheduled, so we went to cheer them on. They won their first game, and barely lost the second. It was a lot of fun watching and yelling, and generally being the entire spectator section :)

Tuesday April 17th

Today found these travelers exploring the areas north of San Francisco. We drove through some of the most beautiful country, breathtakingly beautiful. There are farmlands, hills, and spectacular views. After driving north and west, we then came down Route 1 along the San Andreas fault, and also west out to the National Seashore. Before heading home, we drove along the coastline which was jagged with switchbacks and lack of shoulder... and to the Muir Woods to see these amazing redwood trees. Our travel day concluded with a drive across the Golden Gate and Bay bridges before arriving home to fix dinner. Let me just say, we are happy but oh so tired! Hopefully you'll get more details at a later post, but for now just know that we'll have lots of photos to share when we get home!

Baggage Claim

You probably won't see many names of fiddle tunes as post titles this week, as my database is in Maine and we're here in California! The post in the middle is comprised of luggage! This photo was taken at the Sacramento airport baggage claim area, and caught my attention right away because it was fun and unexpected! Our flights were uneventful, weather was great once we got out of Manchester, and this morning the fog is breaking and I can see blue skies opening up. We have many possible options for today, but are allowing ourselves a slow start and plenty of coffee. It's great to see B and the pups :)

Southwest Bridge

The big day's finally here,

And though the weather's drear...

The friendly skies 'bove which we'll rise

Are sure to be sunny and clear!

Check back throughout the week for stories of adventure, excitement and general mayhem of which I have been waiting, seeking, and generally looking forward to!

Southwest Bridge is in the Portland Collection.

Flight of the Bird

Today there was a program at L.L. Beans called Eyes on the Owls. This is part of a week-long series of events presented for children during vacation week. Jen and Jason planned to bring Avery, he LOVES owls! So, I invited myself and met them there... it was a great learning experience. Avery was very attentive, and well-behaved during the 45 minute presentation.

The birds are not allowed to fly indoors... the couple presenting the program have several owls in residence, are fully licensed, and use the birds in educational programs similar to the one we attended today. The woman wore heavy gloves when handling the owls, and had them tethered to her waist so they would not be able to get free.

The snowy owl is quite impressive for it's white feathers and it's size. We learned that each owl makes it's own hoot song, and we got to practice hooting to each different kind of owl.

After the program ended, we walked to the back entrance so we could see the BIG BOOT. When we got to the back lobby, we found L.L. Bear saying hello to all the children (and adults).

It was a fun way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon!

Flight of the Bird is in Along the River.

Packo's Jig

The suitcase is out, the laundry is done, the list has been made... now it's time to PACK THE BAGS! This is part of the excitement of going on vacation... trying to anticipate how much to take, and how much can be left behind! It's always a challenge to travel light enough to have fun, but take enough along so I don't need to go out to a nice restaurant in Teva's and the one skirt I've worn four times already, hahahaha :)

The word from the new resident of California is to bring warm clothes for when we go out on the bay (we're planning to do a boat tour) and also enough summer clothes because it's hot inland!

I've decided to check one major piece of luggage. When I'm going on a short weekend trip, I don't always do this because I don't want to be stranded without clothes & essentials, or be delayed at baggage claim. But, this trip is long enough that if the suitcase gets "lost" it can be delivered the next day... and I'll bring a change of clothes along in my carry-on. And what am I using as a carry on? My fiddle will accompany me, safely stored in an overhead compartment. And I have a good sized "pocketbook" which in reality is a business sized multi-compartment bag that can hold the following:

One Change of C lothes

My Current Novel "Before You Know Kindness" by Chris Bohjalian

Mind expanding reading material, currently contradance organizing

Notebook, Pens, Sketch Pencil

Cell Phone

Planner/Calendar/Address Book/Phone List

Wallet

Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Q-Tips, Bottle of Water, Healthy Snack

These things are essential to a day of traveling by airplane. The other things are less tangible but equally (if not more) important, and those are:

Patience

Attitude of Gratitude

Generous Listening

Find the Good in Every Situation

Be Ready for Adventure

It has been quite a while since I've traveled by air, and I'm so excited to be making this journey to see B in his new life. We have so many fun ideas for activities to do together... things he has been waiting to experience with family, things he has found and wants to share... mostly just doing it all together with a spirit of wonder and adventure! Faithful readers will be happy to know we'll be able to post photos and travel stories throughout the coming week.

Packo's Jig can be found in the Lighthouse Collection.

Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday Jen!

The theme of the day is... GROVER... hooray! I think Avery might have something to do with the adult birthday themes this year in that household, but hey, what's a birthday celebration without the support and encouragement of your favorite two year old?

When I was looking for an image of Grover to use on this post, I found this one of Super Grover, and I immediately thought of Jen... Super Mom :) Not in the "I need everything to look perfect like a magazine" sort of super mom... but in the "I love this child so much" practical, aware, informed, happy, engaged, playful, structured, make-every-day-special kind of super mom. Avery is a very lucky little boy, and I'm a very proud mom/grammah.

Happy Birthday Jen :)

On a Hot Piano

Jen and Avery came for the day... how much fun! SK joined us in the afternoon to add in the festivities. The best thing about having them here for the day is that we get the sit down one-on-one visiting like we would do if it were a quick-stop-to-say-hello and ALSO get the talk-about-life-while-we-do-other-stuff like making meals, doing dishes or folding laundry. Avery clearly has our attention, and his two-year-old-ness takes over now and then when he DEMANDS a little more :) hahaha... He's such a good little boy though, learning good manners, talking easily with everyone, happy to sing and tell stories. He's also very interested in the wide array of musical instruments we have. He likes to pluck the bass as he walks by, he likes to shake the egg when we're singing, he even tried the fiddle last week. Today, he spent time at the piano. He's getting so he uses two hands, and even though he doesn't know the keys, if you listen you'll hear a sort of rhythm developing... okay, I joked about it today as being like jazz, but seriously, I watch him playing and see his head kind of going back & forth, and his shoulders moving in a rhythmic sort of way. Maybe my imagination, but I think he really has music in him just waiting to get out... it's fun to encourage that!

On a Hot Piano comes from Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes.

Old Joe

Our jam group played at the Cohen Community Center again (you may remember we played there last month). This program was mostly French/Canadian and Old-Time tunes and sets and it was a lot of fun. We started out with just me on fiddle, Richard on bass, and Wayne on guitar... we were expecting a couple of other musicians to join us. In an instant, we decided the show must go on, and we'd do our best... FABULOUS DECISION! I have had some hestitation in being the lead & only melody player, because I don't have enough self-confidence. Being thrown into the situation without fore-warning, I found myself just getting ready and doing it, and it went GREAT :) The three of us sounded so good. Our other two musicians did join us, and that was also very good. So good that we've been invited back by the audience as well as the management at the center... we return on June 29th to play for lunch again from 11:30-12:30!

The sets we put together for today were a blast to play... great rhythm, great tunes. There was a lot of foot stomping, hand clapping, and water glass tapping going on which made it even more fun for us... it's always good to have your audience engaged!

Old Joe comes from the Portland Collection.

Generous Gesture

My friend T-Madd at Club-E is enrolled in the Landmark Forum's leadership program. T is amazing in her quest for understanding relationships, and helping people achieve their goals. On Tuesday, she shared with all of us at Club-E her thought of the day, and that was to have Generous Listening for everyone... she challenged us to watch her, to take note of how she may or may not be generous in her listening. Now, I really only see T-Madd in passing, we work in different areas of the office, and the high volume/fast paced atmosphere only allow for brief interactions during the work day... so I can't firsthand say whether she employed generous listening or not. What she did do however, is put the seed of thought in my own mind, and it helped me to really stop and listen to what was being said around me... to not be as reactive as I might usually be. This didn't make me a perfect listerner, but it did give me a new awareness of how I could "be" if I were more generous in my listening to people, and that means letting go of my ego, being less reactive in my responses, and sometimes leaving my own opinions and ideas unspoken in the back of my mind... knowing that some day, there will be someone listening generously when I need to share!

Generous Gesture comes from the Lighthouse Collection.

Easter Elchies

Happy Easter! For some, a religious holiday, for others it is more commercialized. For most, it's a time of taking stock, making amends, and rebirth of soul, body, and energies.

Easter Elchies is from Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes.

Bunch of Chickens

There is controversy about getting chickens, ducks, or bunnies at Easter... some sales are prohibited until after the 1st of May to be sure these little creatures are purchased and raised for the right reasons. They're cute when they're little, but grow up to be adult animals that are, well, not so cute anymore. I've been tempted in the past, our local Farmer's Union often times has young chicks for sale and it's hard to keep walking past the box of peeping little chicks... but I've managed so far not to bring any home. We have been talking about getting some animals, but still feel like our lifestyle is way to hectic to allow room for a dog or similiar high-maintenance companion. I'm pretty sure we won't be getting any animals this year, but I'm gathering information for a time in the future when I'm home more and able to take care of animals the way they deserve... with tender loving attention!

I did think of getting a couple of chicks for Avery, I'm sure he would LOVE them, but I declined because I also LOVE my daughter who would probably NOT like having more animals in the household :)

Happy Easter!

Bunch of Chickens is from the Phillips Collection of Traditional American Fiddle Tunes.

Galopede

Tonight's dance at the Turner Elementary School was great! Ellen did a nice job organizing the event, and calling tonight's dances. Children and adults all had a good time.
Richard called a dance tonight too... he did a great job teaching a few new moves, and keeping everyone on task as they danced. It was fun watching him out on the dance floor, I think he had a good time, what do you think?
We had a lot of fun playing tunes. It takes some thought to put tunes together with particular dances. The goal is to use a tune that accentuates the dance moves, and that the dancers will then be able to really appreciate the music. There's a lot more to learn, but it's nice to have evenings like this where things seemed to flow well together.

Galopede is the name of a dance as well as the name of a tune... the tune can be found in the Fiddler's Fakebook and the New England Fiddler's Repertoire.

Swinging Fiddles

Tonight fiddlehedz & friendz will be playing contradance tunes for a benefit dance in Turner... proceeds will go toward the Playground Fund... you probably remember it being mentioned in a recent post. We've been practicing some dance sets, and individual tunes and are looking forward to a fun evening playing music with friends. Ellen Stevens, a fellow fiddler, has organized this dance and will be calling most of the evening. Richard is doing the sound, and will call a dance or two himself. I'm hoping to take some photographs to share.

Swinging Fiddles comes from the Fiddler's Fakebook.

Gravely Slow

That's how my day started! We'd heard the weather forecast for snow, but who ever knows how much will fall? Our plow guy called last night to say he wasn't planning to plow, but to call if we needed him. So, we got up to clean off my truck so I could get to work... but found a LOT more snow than we anticipated. We shoveled quite a bit, and tried getting the truck in a position where I could drive it out, but there was just SO much snow! We called the plow guy, but he was stuck in mud (which is why he didn't want to plow in the first place and I don't blame him), so we just asked that he come when he could, no pressure to hurry... and I called my office to say I'd be late... which NEVER happens. We walked out to the end of our road (about 1/10 of a mile beyond the driveway) to shovel out where the town trucks plow by, thinking I might be able to get a running start and just drive through the snow if it were clear at that end. But, it was going to be way too much. No one had been through our road, there were no tire tracks to work into, and there was mud underneath. So, I stayed put until we got plowed out around 8:30. Club-E was VERY understanding, and I did get there just as soon as I could. The up-side is that while we were waiting to be plowed out, we got to play some music and drink some coffee together, which does not happen for us on my work days... this was an unexpected pleasure, for which I am cosmically happy and thankful :) So, the Gravely Slow start ended up being a nice way to begin my day!

Gravely Slow comes from the Lighthouse Collection.

Bird's Nest

Last year we had a couple of birds nesting in the yard. A phoebe took up residence over window ledge on the north side of the house, tucked underneath the eave... that nest remains. A robin nested in an old apple tree, but we haven't seen signs of that nest since last year. I like watching the birds, and trying to identify them by their markings & colors, and songs. I don't know much about nesting habits, and which birds reclaim their spot from previous years. This will be our second spring here, I'll be watching to see who returns!

Bird's Nest comes from the Fiddle Music of PEI.

Mad Dan

When was the last time someone was mad at you? When was the last time you were mad at someone? It seems like it is almost always a result of mis-communication and a lack of understanding. So, when you realize there is a rift between you and someone you care about, what do you do? Do you talk it out and reach for co-understanding, and mutually assume responsibility for your roles in the debacle? Or, is it better to sit back and listen to someone vent, letting them believe everything that they think, without giving them the opportunity to listen to your perspective... not making anyone right or wrong, but just realizing that no one acted viciously or thoughtlessly, no intention on hurting anyone else?

There's a lot of debate here at home on this issue. I agree there are times to sit back and listen, and not offer explanations that sound like defensive reasons why you acted or behaved in a particular way. That's fine when you have a very small investment in the relationship. What about the times when you do have an investment, a commitment, to a person or a relationship? What if you acted, perhaps badly in retrospect, in what seemed an appropriate manner given the circumstances? Who really decides when it matters if you share what happened or not? Does it strengthen the relationship when you sit back, politely nodding your head and agreeing that the other party has been emotionally injured? I've tried it both ways. I've tried sitting back and assuming responsibility for the slight I have inadvertently caused someone without offering why I behaved a certian way, and it has not made my relationship with that person any better, or worse. I've tried explaining my perspective and thought process leading up to a behavior or action, and that hasn't made a situation better or worse either. So, in the long run, it seems better to let things lie where they are... and then they wonder why I am careful around them... and I can't tell them because they don't want to hear it.

Was Mad Dan just irritated and angry? Or is Mad Dan mentally ill?

Ashley's Swing

The Down East Country Dance Festival is over for this year, and it was a HUGE success by our estimation. This is one event that Maine folk dancers & musicians look forward to all year long, and that helps get us through the dreary end-of-the-winter-almost-spring weather and yard conditions! fiddlehedz & friendz gave a well-received performance, playing polkas at a workshop presented by our friends Sandy and Jim. The jam group now looks forward to playing for a contradance this coming Friday in Turner, and that means practicing dance sets!

Did you say you want more information on the contradance? Well, here it is...

Friday April 6th from 7:00pm-9:00pm

Turner Elementary School, 91 Mathews Way in Turner

$5 Adult/ $3 Students/ $20 Family Maximum

All welcome, no partner needed, all dances taught.

fiddlehedz & friendz will be playing tunes, and our fiddling friend Ellen Stevens will call the dances.

Proceeds will benefit the Turner Community Playground Fund. I don't know what sort of equipment schools look for... I like the idea of something that is environmentally friendly, non-plastic, doesn't fade & peel over time, and is safe for kids. Wood seems great but then I think about treating it with preservative and kids getting splinters. So, what does an eco-conscious playground committee use for criteria in selecting new equipment?

Ashley's Swing comes from Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes. I don't know if Jerry Holland was thinking of playground swings when he wrote this tune, or if he was thinking of Ashley MacIsaac, but I thought of playground equipment when I saw the title!