For Christmas, I gave my mom tickets to a couple of shows at the Napa Valley Opera House. Last night was the first one. We went to see Arlo Guthrie and the Guthrie Family Legacy Tour. Mom has seen Arlo several times, including once at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz with my dad, which means that it was at least 20 years ago, if not 40. Anyway, this is her cup of tea, but I didn't know much about him beside's "Alice's Restaurant". His dad, Woody, wrote "This Land is Your Land" and about 1700 other songs. This portion of the Guthrie Family Legacy Tour included Arlo, his son Abe and daughter Saralee, her husband, and a fantastic steel guitar/mandolin player. Arlo's granddaughter, Olivia, joined them on stage for a couple of songs. She's four.
We had a really great time. One thing that struck me was how nice this family seems to be. Nice to the core. I'm sure that they have their faults and their fights, but they seemed so kind to and appreciative of each other and open to good. Gentle. Arlo bought the church building that used to be the place where Alice, of Restaurant fame, lived, and turned it into a community arts center. There was a nurturing air to the way they performed, the way they had passed down the musical gift through four generations. They are a family of storytellers and singers and musicians. Maybe it was the spotlights, but they seemed positively beatific. If that means saintly.
I enjoyed the music, and the talking, and was glad for the visit with Mom. I had gotten her the tickets (the other set is for the Moscow Cats Theatre in a month) to make sure that we had an excuse to visit this year. We have had whole summers go by without seeing each other, and after her quadruple bypass last summer, I don't want that to ever happen again. My mother lives in the same town as my sister, who is a single mother (except that she uses my mother as a second parent) and her four children. She still works full time, leads her own church, and participates in a poetry group, so I see her very little. I'm looking forward to the next show, and might even add in another one later in the summer.
We had a really great time. One thing that struck me was how nice this family seems to be. Nice to the core. I'm sure that they have their faults and their fights, but they seemed so kind to and appreciative of each other and open to good. Gentle. Arlo bought the church building that used to be the place where Alice, of Restaurant fame, lived, and turned it into a community arts center. There was a nurturing air to the way they performed, the way they had passed down the musical gift through four generations. They are a family of storytellers and singers and musicians. Maybe it was the spotlights, but they seemed positively beatific. If that means saintly.
I enjoyed the music, and the talking, and was glad for the visit with Mom. I had gotten her the tickets (the other set is for the Moscow Cats Theatre in a month) to make sure that we had an excuse to visit this year. We have had whole summers go by without seeing each other, and after her quadruple bypass last summer, I don't want that to ever happen again. My mother lives in the same town as my sister, who is a single mother (except that she uses my mother as a second parent) and her four children. She still works full time, leads her own church, and participates in a poetry group, so I see her very little. I'm looking forward to the next show, and might even add in another one later in the summer.
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