a musical moment in time

for at least the last ten years
my friend chris kachian and i
have gotten together at some point
in the summer to do some serious being
and we have every summer
played a theme and variation
on the little ditty

gee it's great to be outing
gee it's great to be scouting
running jumping biking playing
ain't it great to be outing

i think it is his creation

to the point now where it has become
thematic of our ritual
the ritual of friendship
marked by a little nonesense verse
which we state and interpret
with every bit as much
creativity as any jazz ensemble
or an actual composer
working with the form of "theme and variation"

when chris dropped me off at the airport
tuesday night
i had some sadness
coming back to an uncertain situation
after having made a dreamlike venture
into the place and with the people i have come to know
in central minnesota

by the time i got to gate G20 where my flight was
to begin
i was tired and anxious
but my guitar was on my back and
i no sooner noted that the only sound
in the place was the din of the voices
people sitting and waiting for flights
and the occasional public address
announcing flights
and warning us of unsafe activity
than i thought
i'm going to play some music here

so i pulled out my faithful loprinzi
and played six or seven tunes
just loud enough to enter into the sound of the voices
not overwhelm them
but then a silence ensued
people closest to me started to listen
so there was a buffer
a young woman probably college age
gave me constant eyeball encouragement

and i just let the twang of the guitar
and my voice carry out into the room

a young man sitting right before me
stood and bowed as the little concert ended
a gesture of remarkable honor
the young woman came up to me with brilliant face
and shook my hand and declared that it was wonderful
as i stood in line waiting to board
a young man who looked fairly shy
conjured up the courage to come right up to me
and stuttered but was able finally to say
that was amazing you really play that thing
it's a twelve string... right?
no just a sixer...i said

i figure i was caught on camera

but it was spontaneous folk music

and i was payed for my work
by a few fellow pilgrims who took note

play where ever you can, transform the world
with live music