Bluebird

Scores of reasons to think about the Bluegrass this week:  the NCAA tournament, the spring meet at Keeneland, and notes from cousins and friends who call Kentucky home. 

One note about a bus ride brought back an acoustic memory of my ride on a Blue Bird bus.  In fourth grade my family moved from the parish boundaries of St. Athanasius Church to a more pastoral area by the apple orchards on Fegenbush Lane.  We weren’t the only family to make that move, and the parish elders did some "gerrymandering" to retain some of the flock.  That redistricting necessitated some long bus rides to and from school.  In 1976, my rides were on a Blue Bird bus. This video about the making of Blue Bird buses says no two of the corporation's buses are alike (really?), but mine was special because there was an awesome stereo on board. The bus driver, a gentle soul with curly hair and sparkling blue eyes, really liked the song “Bluebird,” and I heard it daily on his Blue Bird bus.

Hadn’t really thought of that song in a while, but it flew into my heart with some others this week.  Happy surprise. Those who know me know I prefer Mick and Keef to Paul and Linda. Yet Paul and Linda's lyrics inspired more work on my piece of creative writing about anam cara. John O’Donohue writes about this special soul friend connection in his book Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom: “Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people.”  My friend Scrappy Jud Newcomb touches on this connection in his song “Space Between,” (“What the fearless heart has seen/It lives in the space between/ The once and future king and queen”), and that song makes me think of another Celtic term, thin place, a portal to access a magical realm.  Although finding thin places, let alone parking spaces, can be a strain in today’s world of cement, bards can still point the way. 

The bards Paul and Linda inspired me to write more about the magic of love in my novel manuscript yesterday, ironically just in time for some Cardinals to turn Kentucky blue (bluebirds!) for the NCAA games. The final game might transport some Kentuckians to Bluegrass bliss. Ultimately, the soul friend holds the key for the journey beyond the Bluegrass.

Late at night when the wind is still/

I’ll come flying through your door/

And you’ll know what love is for

-“Bluebird,” Paul and Linda McCartney

April Fools

Yesterday I was doing a little spring cleaning and dusted off My Acoustic Memory. In observation of this great national holiday, April 1^st, Rufus Wainwright rings in “April Fools” for us on the MAM blog.

Today as I look at my copy of Rufus’s eponymous CD, I don’t find any newspaper clippings or other souvenirs stuffed in the jewel to remind me how it landed in my collection.  My favorite Houston station KPFT played lots of Loudon Wainwright, and they likely plugged Rufus.

In 1998, the year of the CD’s release, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Sir Elton John, who apparently calls Rufus the “greatest songwriter on Earth” per this Amazon reference. That same year I saw Rufus and his sister Martha at a little acoustic venue on Richmond Road in Houston.  I distinctly recall having my toes stepped on by too many teenagers who arrived late but intent to stand right in front of a young Rufus.  Beck and I had arrived early, in spite of stopping by Taqueria La Tapatia, as was the custom when traveling down Richmond Road, usually on the way to the Menil Collection.

I didn’t like Martha’s vocals so much that night but find them interesting on this recent video of the song “April Fools.” The lyrics on some of the other songs of the CD like “Imaginary Love” keep Elton John from playing the fool with his bold claim.

Cause every kind of love, or at least my kind of love/

Must be an imaginary love to start with /

Guess that can explain the rain, waiting walking game/

Schubert broke my brain to start with

The CD sat in my teenage daughter’s room for years in Chapel Hill, Loudon’s hometown.  I was surprised to find it on my shelf today but certainly happy to have it in my possession on April Fools.

But in the stars and closer to home in any planet/

It ain’t hard for me and dear JoJo to see/

That you will believe in love/

And all that it’s supposed to be

-Rufus Wainwright, “April Fools”