Vacation at Home

Five-Day Labor Day Weekend

Friends asked me if I was going anywhere this weekend. No! Why would I want to go anywhere on a holiday weekend when I can be on vacation at home? I love our sweet home better than any hotel or bed and breakfast. I’m sitting in front of the fire (yes, in August!) with Pablo and Toby with absolutely nothing on the calendar today except a massage at the Foot Spa and of course, writing to you.  I am feeling gloriously unhurried.

We finished our ‘art book’ of our Paris trip yesterday. I cannot begin to describe to you how much joy it has brought me to continue our vacation through re-creating it with this art project. 

We bought a lovely blue linen book with colorful page inserts – deep blues, greens, burgundies and even pink polka dots!  We were going for a retro-look, using actual materials instead of electronics.  So satisfying!

We spread it all out on the kitchen table; my blog, Rob’s sketches and all of our pictures and began to recreate each of those magical days. 

Look up at the Sky

Here is our book with Rob’s sketch of the graffiti found in unexpected places all over Paris; Look up at the Sky.That night we had a taste of Paris in our very own home town.  We started at a French bistro in downtown Berkeley called La Note. I wore one of my new Paris dresses to celebrate the occasion.

Me in my Paris dress at La Note

 

Then we were off to the Freight to see Eric Bibb and His String Band. I had been looking forward to this concert all week. I humbly thank Joe and Mary, our good friends and excellent musicians, for turning me on to this guy.

We got there early and secured two seats, slightly off-center in the second row. I love being up close. I love seeing the musicians’ faces, watching them focus and signal to each other, then smile and get into the vibe of it all, making magic with each other and captivating us in their rootsy/bluesy spell.

They really were that good. They must have had ten plus instruments between the four of them; several guitars, fiddle, harmonica, (smokin’ harmonica), banjo, accordion and a guy came out on the last couple of songs playing a swishy, percussion type instrument, (box drum?)

And guess who else was there? Maria Muldaur! Eric called her out of the audience and she strutted up to the stage, belting out a blues number with her deep, sexy, luscious voice and signature curly black hair. Oh, Lordy, can than woman move!  

He greeted Alice Walker from the audience, too, and we saw Wavy Gravy introducing his wife to Eric after the show. We were deep in the biography of Berkeley and I felt like we were all a part of the history somehow; part of keeping this wild, haunting music alive.

No pictures, so sorry, but flash photography was strictly prohibited.  How I wish we would have thought to have taken my picture with Eric and band after the show!

Oh, well, it was a memorable evening that will stay in my heart, picture or no picture.  What a wonderful experience of vacation at home.