Jungles and Bikerides

This is the section of map on my wall that I've been obsessing over. Was checking out places to stay in Costa Rica this morning... a little bungalow on the Caribbean. Jungle paths, butterflies, monkeys, fruit everywhere. Know when you feel the kind of longing that kicks you in the kidneys? Yeah.

Still, looking forward to getting out into our own Rainforest today. There's something so inviting about a canopy of trees when rain is falling steadily. Even though the trees are there, right over head, somehow the world feels taller, the sky farther away. That suffocating rooftop of cloud unravels into slips of languorous mist, the trunks stretch upward endlessly, the soft branches bend down and the ferns and grasses drip with fullness of life. I love the comfort of all that lush green and I love the feeling that nobody else will be out there. It reminds me of being in grade 6 or 7 - there was a small glade of trees in the far corner of the schoolgrounds, and I would hang out there in the rain during recess, often alone. There's a feeling of protection and wise old acceptance about the trees that I can't quite describe.

Before the rain started yesterday, I had a bloody fantastic bike ride - quite a long ride for me. I'm kind of slow on the bike, and I walk up the steepest hills, but I love going at my own pace and taking all the time I like to look at things. And I often sing, especially going downhill. How great would it be to cover a whole countryside, bit by bit, on a bike? City cycling is a different matter and I'm afraid I have no interest in trying that any time soon. But I have started fantasizing about doing a cross-country bike tour, maybe in England. My mind always does this. I just get so excited about things, and so overrun with inspiration, that one successful curry dish has me musing about opening a restaurant, and one happy hour painting a bedroom makes me want to build a house. But anyhow, realistic or not realistic, it is nice to fantasize. I probably make 2% of my fantasies into reality... but mathematically speaking, more fantasies means more realities. And I have huge faith and trust in possibility.

I wonder if everyone has the same experience that doing physical stuff outdoors can create a huge charge of creative energy? Not just ideas, but the sense that anything can be done. I've been a bit stuck for my letters to musicians, but as I was pushing the bike up a big nasty hill yesterday, I suddenly knew what to write. So I hopped off, whipped out a notebook, and sat in some soft weeds at the edge of the woods to begin. "Dear Leonard..." Easy as that. So my job today is to write 3 more letters and get the envelopes all prepared. I don't know if I can do 4 a week, but if I can, then I'll have most of them ready by the time I have the cds to send with them.

I forgot to mention that the mixing is finished for the album. Hoo-ray! Now I can get on with the mastering, and the pressing. I think that for now, I will only print a very small run, but of really beautiful and high-quality packages. I'll have enough to shop around with and sell at some shows, but I'll hold off having a big 'release' until I have a better sense of label prospects. I'm going to start playing with my band again in October, and line up some shows. Can't wait.

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