A week ago today was the start of the flute festivities! It was one of the best long weekends ever!
The Native Rhythms Festival began on Friday, the 13th, but the two day school was on the 11th & 12th. Clint Goss and Vera Sharnov ran the two sessions and are engaging as teachers! Everyone was involved in funny warm-up exercises, which took any anxiety and melted it away!
During the classes, we learned techniques for varying your playing, correct breathing, the anatomy and history of Native American style flutes, and focused on melody and harmony and rhythm. We played as a group, as well as solo, duets, and trios. And we incorporated rhythm (drums and shakers) into our playing. I loved stepping out of my comfort zone to play!
The classes included newbies to experienced players and I greatly appreciated advice offered to me by some of the more experienced players. The camaraderie among all of the students was awesome! We ran into one another all weekend!
The Festival itself was a Friday to Sunday event. There were many vendors featuring Native American items, lots of flute and drum makers, food vendors, and more! All day and evening, each day, featured flute musicians on stage. Seating was on a big grassy area and although hot, a breeze helped make it tolerable. The performers were super talented and entertaining. Ed Winddancer told stories of the Native American culture while drummers drummed and dancers performed. So fantastic!
Workshops were offered on Saturday and Sunday and I took five! Excellent instructors who are, in their own right, very talented. One workshop was on percussion and I borrowed a djembe from Nelson Rios and drummed along with everyone else. It was exciting to make such rhythmic music! Loved it! Jonny Lipford taught us about managing volume and the technique of vibrato. Painted Raven (a flute & guitar duo) taught us about how to play with accompanying guitar or other instruments. And more and more great stuff!! Overall, I learned so much!
Mostly I played my A flute, but pulled my F# out for one class! And I am beyond excited about an E minor I bought from Sea Symphony during the Festival. It's a deep and soft voice! A beautiful instrument!
Michael and I both volunteered and that was fun too!
Welcome to Florida! We crossed over from Georgia just now and stopped at the Welcome Center. We picked up info on birding and other nature pursuits to enjoy while we're here. Birds, butterflies, flowers...a lot to see!
Stayed at another Wal-Mart last night, this time outside of Savannah, Georgia. A busy spot with many other RV's there. Safety in numbers! Plus it's free!
Heading towards Melbourne and our campsite for the next six nights. A break from Wal-Mart -- yes!!
Flute school for me tomorrow. Yay!
Temps rising from 55 this morning to 68 now, outside of Jacksonville. We're excited to know that it will be sunny this week, but warm, in the 80's.
AAfter a full month's hiatus in NJ, we're on the road again! We had a terrific family visit and loved staying with my mother-in-law! Michael spent a lot of time tuning up our car, and after driving over 360 miles yesterday, she's running like a dream!
We left NJ and reached Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina around 6pm last night, free "camping" at Wal-Mart. We are back on the road this morning, heading to Savannah, Georgia for tonight. Hope to drive around a bit to check out Savannah before hitting the road again tomorrow for Melbourne, Florida.
I am attending a Flute school in Melbourne, Wednesday and Thursday, and then we'll be at the Native Rhythms Festival for the weekend! Can't wait! Between the festival and volunteering, we will be busy!
Lots of rain as we drive today. But, we're happy campers!
Let's work backwards! We made it to NJ Friday and stayed in North Jersey with our friend, Pam.
We traveled from Michigan's upper peninsula after attending a big teardrop gathering in Necedah, WI, hosted by Camp-inn, the maker of our teardrop.
About 60 or so teardrops participated in the gathering, held September 25 - 27, at Castle Rock campground in Mauston, WI. It was very social, and we met many people, and enjoyed checking out other trailers. A big pot luck dinner was held Saturday night and our contribution was a live cooking station where we made Native American style fry bread. It was a hit! We served it with a choice of salt or a honey butter spread! We got to meet even more people!
We also visited the beautiful Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and walked trails there. Great birding! Whooping and Sandhill cranes, bald eagles, and more!
We left WI and headed into Michigan and the upper peninsula. We traveled through the lower part of the UP, so we missed some waterfalls and other beautiful spots. (But we always save something for next time! ). However, we did like what we saw. We drove on route 2 along Lake Michigan and visited the "big town" of Escabada. From here we found a great campground called Big Knob State Forest (Boulder City) along with a free camping area in Hiawatha National Forest.
In Michigan, I bought a very cool wool hat made in MI. Designed by "Stormy" Kromer back in 1903, it has lots of character!
From Michigan, we headed into western Ohio and Pennsylvania. There we enjoyed beautiful scenery, rolling hills and trees bursting with autumn colors!
So, here we are in southern New Jersey! We'll be here with family for about 2 weeks or so. Then we head south down the east coast toward Florida for a Native American Flute School and Festival and Thanksgiving. In December, we're heading west along the Gulf Coast to spend the winter in a snow-free zone!!
Life is indeed great and we acknowledge our good fortune to be able to experience the USA every day!
