Picnic music: Craig Wickham

Wednesday I attended the 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Picnic in the Park music concert. Today the performer was Craig Wickham. He is listed as playing "Acoustic Americana". That about sums it up. Sometimes "Americana" music is another word for folk. Not in Craig's case. I wouldn't say he is a folk artist. He covered songs from Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" to Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic". The common thread between the songs were a strong guitar presence in the songs and a passion for the guitar work.

Playing with Craig were two other guitarists. One always played electric guitar and the other switched back and forth between electric and acoustic guitar. These guys were all great guitarists. They did a great version of "Into the Mystic" and that is not easy to do with just guitars.

I wish the audience was more enthusiastic but again the audience was mainly moms and babies and kids and people from the nursing homes. Three or so nursing home buses were in the parking lot when I rode up. Yes, I was 11 minutes late - and here I thought I would be close to being on time for once.

One picnic table had room and I sat down. A very young woman had two babies and she was feeding one when I sat down, with the other baby sleeping on the picnic table. Later her brother came back and I chatted with them. The 2 month baby boy was his and the 4 month baby girl was hers. They both seemed devoted parents - but, oh so young. They both looked to be barely 20. They weren't natives of the Valley and were staying at the Samaratin House which is for poor people with no place to live.

Later a woman closer to my age asked if there was room for her to sit at our table. She - like the young man - had bought a box of oriental noodles for lunch and wanted to sit and eat. Then another woman asked me if she could also sit at our table. She was also in my age range. She had been sitting on the ground with friends near our table and they had left.

Out of the blue the second woman told us she is expecting a miniature mule any day now. This led into a discussion of miniature mules and horses which she also has. She then told us she has a bed and breakfast near Lake Blaine that could house 11 people. She had just opened it six or so months ago. She got photos to show me and the others but the photos seemed to be mainly of her family. She does have attractive daughters.

The bed and breakfast talk led the young man to ask her if she wanted a king size bed. He had one but it was too large for where he is staying. They exchanged numbers as she was interested in buying it or trading it for one of her smaller beds.

The first woman is in Kalispell for a five day teacher's workshop. I've forgotten the acronym but it is something to do with kids in crisis. The workshop organizers run a ranch 40 miles out of town for troubled kids. This woman is a high school math and science teacher from Twin Falls, Idaho. While she likes where she lives she really likes the Flathead Valley. "The mountains are so close."

We had an interesting talk about her workshop, where she was staying (The Kalispell Grand Hotel - what use to be a bordello in the old, old days), her kids (one is majoring in physics with a minor in the Russian language), where she lived, Kalispell, Walmart, Costco, and bicycling. She had brought her bicycle along and had ridden it around town some.

What causes attraction? On paper this woman seemed like a good fit to me as we had similar interests and outlook. But there was no attraction on my part. She looked nice, but also looked old. I must be shallow.

After she finished her lunch and returned to her workshop I moved around between several benches, partly because the crowd was thinning out, partly to get a better and closer view, and partly to move from shade to less shady areas. There was a breeze and sometimes when sitting in the shade it was on the edge of feeling cool.

I also remembered playing some of my Van Morrison CDs for my former girlfriend. I am not sure if she remembers as I believe something, or someone, or both, was on her mind at that time.

Into the Mystic

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it
I don't have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home
And when thst fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I don't have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic
Come on girl...

Here is a youtube video of someone covering the song. The images with the sun are neat.