Here we are once in again in Saunderstown Rhode Island, down by the bay. Laying low and getting some rest after the Rhythm and Roots festival in Charlestown, Rhode Island for the Labor Day weekend. People ask when we’re going home, and to tell the truth I don’t really know what home is right now, I do say that home is where the heart is and right now my heart is right here in Saunderstown.
The Rhythm and Roots festival is sort of a reunion for Southwest Louisiana musicians. There are about a dozen bands from the Lafayette area and many have been scattered throughout the world for the summer. There’s also the dancers, community and part time Louisiana residents that represent the Louisiana reverse diaspora, especially in force at the Rhythm and Roots.
The Revelers have been busy to say the least. Less than a week ago we were in Denmark at the Tønder festival along with a cast of characters from Ireland, Scotland, England, and The U.S . Of course no Danish festival would be complete without a “Louisiana” stage complete with dance instructor from home, Danish interpretations of Cajun/Creole food and a Mardi Gras theme.
Tomorrow we’re off to Remus, Michigan for the Wheatland festival and we’ll hit Buffalo on the way.I wish I had more time to go into more detail about the last few weeks,because they have been memorable,and oh so special. I would love to go into descriptions of all the wonderful music we’ve shared,the late nights of revelry ,and especially the special connections we’ve made with people in our short but intense times together,
You see people who live the sort of life we do have a kind of understanding of the bittersweet brevity and beauty of these interactions,the stolen moments are always the sweetest. There’s the shared sunrise just a couple hours before you have to leave for your flight to take you to another hemisphere, with just enough time to get back to your room and pack before getting to the airport. That knowledge that it could be years before we meet again,we come and go like ripples on a stream,only getting a taste of a place,a person,or an experience before once again being shot out of a cannon and hurled to another one.
We often leave a piece of ourselves behind.There’s a piece of my heart in Galway, Hamburg, Saunderstown and definitely in Lafayette. I feel as though it’s well taken care of by the ones we’ve shared those special moments with. My heart has been left behind at hundreds of places,with the ones who mean so much to me and when I return I know I’ll be home again, in that case the whole world is our home.
So leave the light on in the window we’re on our way, and we should be in time for supper.
– Chas