Yay for serendipity and spring!!

So... Saturday after yet ANOTHER Bowl For Kids' Sake event... Paul's buddy Phil had asked whether we wanted to go along while he took the kidders fishing at a friend's place. I decided I am getting WAY too burned out on BFKS and work... and just need to start saying "yes" to things exactly like this that are NOT in my day planner and do not have expectations of productivity or time management attached to them. I need to just live life a little... on my own terms... and give a little nod to the things that actually make me happy. We followed Phil WAY out into the boonies. Paul and I looked at each other when we were on the kind of narrow little gravel road going through the woods with trees right up to the edge (and no poles/wires), and we agreed that THIS was our favorite kind of road to travel. We could live in a place like that. We pulled back a long winding muddy drive and parked beside a log cabin with a litter of about six or eight barking puppies on the porch. Phil got the kidders (age 4 and 6) all set up with fishing rods at the pond and we just enjoyed the quiet setting and the funny comments from the kids. After a while, Phil's buddy came out and we went up to chat. He invited us in, commenting that "Martha Stewart doesn't live here." As we walked through the door, it was all I could do to not just start rambling about how cool this place was!! I've never walked into a place that just seemed more like the "dream home" of my imagination. This cabin was small and very rustic, with a spiral staircase and lush hanging baskets of plants. There were lots of books around... a Native American patterned rug on the floor, a pretty lace curtain in the kitchen window, and I have NEVER in my life seen as many guitars and "ethnic" stringed instruments in one place!!!!! Turns out, this guy is a luthier... which is a term I haven't heard since School of Music days. We started talking about folk music and folkalley.com... and I said that in my car I haved lately been listening to a Russian bluegrass group called Kukuruza. He was interested and I said that I would love to see or hear a balalaika. He went into another room and came out with... you guessed it!!! A balalaika!

Then he brought out an oud with amazing inlaid designs, a sitar, a gorgeous lute, a yueqin from China, and showed me countless other instruments that I learned about in college classes... I recognized the kora that he had on his mantle as an African harp! He had some really ancient instruments as well. I was SO excited! I think this could be someone to go play music with. As we were driving out the lane, I told Paul, "I think we made a friend today!" :)