In which it's literally everything everywhere all at once....

 

This coming Monday is the first day of spring. I need to keep reminding myself of that. 

Yeah, this was NOT what I meant when I was wondering if it was possible to sage someplace without setting off the sprinklers. This was yesterday morning. It was still snowing when we went to bed, but thankfully it wasn't quite as wet as it was earlier and enough of it is out of the trees that they're not as bent over anymore. I'm pretty sure throwing a snowball made from that first round would have ended in a capitol murder charge, but now it's just the type of snow that packs. And the Weather Channel had someone in Poughkeepsie. I'm just glad it wasn't Jim Cantore. Because, as much as I love me some Jim Cantore, when he shows up, you KNOW it's about to get real....

Then there was this. Note we are in the 0% area. Now, storms like this are hard to forecast. There's the problem of accumulations being elevation-dependent, bands of snow setting up within the storm, that sort of thing. But given that the next pic is what actually happened....

One of us should have bought a Powerball ticket....
 

But  I digress,,,,

Remember me talking about a road trip a few weeks ago? Well, it finally happened. And yeah, it was quite the happening. In the best way possible. But let me explain....

Originally it was supposed to happen on March 4th. The plan was that Beth, my person, had a civil service exam that morning and from there, we were going to jet (well, metaphorically jet. More like drive) across the Hudson to Woodstock. You see, there's this band called the Bongos who my person loved back in the 80s and still does, as a matter of fact. Their lead singer, Richard Barone, wrote a book about the New York folk scene in the 60s during lockdown, and it's out, and he was coming to Woodstock to talk about it and well, as she put it, her seventeen-year-old self would never, ever have forgiven her 2023 self had she not gone. 

However, March fourth wasn't to be. At least not for that. Unlike the county, Richard had the good sense to reschedule for the eleventh when it turned out that it might be quite nasty that day. She did make the exam, but the roads were quite unpleasant on the drive up, to say the least. Then everyone was made to park in the extreme back parking lot and walk across the street and up about eighty million stairs, So yeah, no fun.

So it rolled around to March 11th and OF COURSE it snowed again. We were going back and forth for a bit on whether or not the roads were going to be okay, but - we decided to go for it. So - we did. And someday one of us really needs to figure out what the HECK they did with the westbound entrance ramp to I-84 in Fishkill. We circled around twice, didn't see it and finally got on the eastbound one and went down an exit to turn around. I swear she's either the reincarnation of the Pathfinder or she can get lost in a driveway and there's no in-between. But anyway, we finally made it across the river and Woodstock-bound, only to discover that hey, there wasn't even any snow at all over across that way! Now that's the way I like it. (And someone really needs to repave the NYS Thruway. I was convinced we had a flat tire, but nope, just about twenty-seven miles worth of bad road.) Over toward Woodstock there was a bit more snow on the ground. It was just icky enough and just too-many-peopley-enough that our original plan to snag a bunch of pics beforehand didn't pan out. We were, however, not disappointed. We stopped in a coffee shop to regroup and grab lunch, drove around for a bit and finally headed back to the church where the whole thing was taking place. I was thinking we'd grab some pics of the place before anyone else got there, but that was not to be, in the coolest way possible. Because when we got there...

"Oh my God, Caroline, I think - oh my God, that's - him...."

Yup, it was indeed the man himself getting his guitar out of the trunk of a car. I didn't think my person's eyes could even get that big. She played it very, very cool, however, before parking behind the building and having a bit of a minor freak-out. 

I do wish we'd gotten a picture of the front of the building though....

We were still kind of early, so we waited a bit in the car. I think I was posting about it on Ye Old Book of Face while my person was wondering just what she'd let herself in for. Because up until now, I think the only famous person she'd ever met was the journalist who broke something she called the Iran-Contra story, Dale Van Atta. She promised she'd explain that to me someday. 

(Beth - And Joe Clark. Remember the movie about that New Jersey principal? "Lean On Me" with Morgan Freeman? That one.)

And so anyway, around twenty of three, we decided to go in. She was thinking that we probably wouldn't run into anyone and we'd find a seat....

And I really need a cellphone of my own to take pics, because when we walked in, Richard Barone was right there, chatting with a couple of other people. He looked around, gave us this gorgeous smile and said "Hi, I'm Richard." I have to hand it to my person, she played it a whole lot cooler than I would have. But here she was, thinking that oh, she might get to say hello to him if she was really lucky, and instead, she ends up chatting with him and several other people while they were setting up. 

Yes, he's absolutely the nicest guy. 

I think my person knows more about music in that sense than I do, but it was really interesting. I know I learned a lot. And got to hear a bunch of great songs, And next time we're up there, I must make a point of getting a pic of myself with the adorable travel doll companion of the lady who owns the Golden Notebook (the shop that arranged everything.) It was even cooler not being the only travel doll there, It meant I didn't need to stay in her bag.

And as much as my person despises pics of herself, I am going to post this one. It's her, of course, me and Richard Barone. I think she'll forgive me, I also think she's still in total fangirl mode four days later.

And honestly, I kind of am, too.... 

So yeah, literally everything all at once, but at least some of it is beyond awesome...