bkdelong

Earlier today my wife headed off to a friend's house and I had planned to read up on a new tarot book I bought this week (Kirky had bought me my first tarot deck - a Rider-Waite, for my recent birthday). However I was flipping through the channels and noticed PBS' "Frontier House" was on. I had caught a short bit last night before heading out to dinner and was intrigued by this MetaFilter thread. So I told myself I'd just watch a little bit. Well, that "little bit" quickly turned into the full 6-hours of the series broadcast on my local PBS station. It was amazing. At first, I bought into the hype from MeFi that this was just another Survivor set in the year 1880. But it wasn't - it was so much more, a life-changing experience for all involved.

It got to the point where between infrequent commercials I was cleaning up and preparing dinner. As the hours passed by, my life seemed to take on more meaning. The show really made me realize the things I take for granted and made me long for my Boy Scout days of camping trips or playing in the gulleys and creeks of our old 10 acres worth of Southern Maryland land. For the first time in a while we've discussed camping and I think it's high time we go on a trip together - I think it would be fun and a very inexpensive way to get away from the rush of every-day life.

I've also been making a point to practice guitar one hour a day or so. Actually, I've been shooting for one hour a day in the evenings but I've only been doing that once a week. My mother and I along with a friend-couple from Maine went to the New England Folk Festival a few weeks back. WOW - it was amazing. Dancing, singing, raucous merry-making and off-the-cuff musicianship and jamming. I had a wonderful time and even picked up some other birthday gifts: a new pair of bones and the strumstick - a cool backback-size guitar that Jennifer Kimball plays. It uses 3 dulcimer strings and no matter what your fingering, you always play a major chord.

Anyway, back to the original topic. If you have a chance, buy, rent or watch the full 6 hours of "Frontier House". You won't regret it - especially if you hold the earth and the core joys of life dear as I do.

[BrainStream] (Permanent link to this entry)