I may have mentioned before that some of my best childhood memories involve sitting around singing, learning songs, and my parents playing their guitars. My dad could make his guitar talk like it was actually speaking. I've never quite figured out how he did that (not that I can play guitar), but I'm thinking I should ask him if he still can. He would do his thing on his guitar, and we'd have to guess what he said.
My brother moved to Denver a few months back, and is renting this fabulous apartment (condo? whatever) with a brick wall. There's other stuff too (and he's actually furnished/decorated it quite well -- you'd never guess he's straight), but the brick wall was my favorite part. He had everyone up for a house concert the same night I got there with Joe Uvegas whose guitar skills and voice have made many a girl (ahem, person) swoon. But mostly, he's just so fun, and plays lots of songs that folks know so we could all sing along.
I see my family a few times a year -- last year, my mom and her husband John (below) came out to the end of the NCAC (as did my sister Karen), I see my dad occasionally when we visit my grandparents at the same time, but I only see several of them a couple of times a year. There's really nothing that compares to looking around a room and seeing the people that I love look so happy and content and like they are in the right place.John singing and my mom looking so relaxed and happy:
My sister Kristin (left) curling up with her husband-to-be Kevin listening to the music.
The center of this shot is my brother's lovely girlfriend and left of center is a woman my family has known since probably about 5-10 years before she was born. Her family lives in Wisconsin, and she moved to Denver several years back. Kind of fun to see midwest 'family' show up at a Denver party.
My dad wrestled Joe's guitar away from him and took up singing. You can bet it was a Beatles song. I can't remember which -- Black Bird maybe?
Joe interspersed some Christmas Carols in his show to get folks in the holiday mood -- one of these was "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," to which no one could really remember all the words. So my dad got up to sing his version:
Dad and Joe U Christmas Carols from H M R on Vimeo.
This one was Simon and Garfunkel, I'm pretty sure of it. Kristin, my sister, has an uncanny ability to remember song lyrics. You can see he's looking over at her right there, probably hoping she'll fill in the gaps.
You're really going to have to trust me on this one, because it does not start off well. Also, there are a few uncomfortable spots where they lose their footing. But overall, I very much enjoyed this song, and they all sound great together. As above, you kind of have to listen past the people who were directly behind me and talking up a storm. The louder the music, the louder they talked, which made the music go louder, etc etc.Joe, J-Bird, and Kris singing:
Seven Bridges Joe U JBird Kris from H M R on Vimeo.
D2 with his welcome-face. This was the first day -- I'd gotten Devma a hula-hoop and she was practicing that while D2 and I tossed the ball I'd brought for him around (yes -- I did attempt to buy their affection. I only had 4 days). He warmed up pretty well when I started making faces at him.
A boy and his Pop:
So, my darling [little] brother took my camera at some point while I was helping with the post-dinner clean-up. He took about 30 photos. I've pasted some of them below. The first one is very cute - D2 with big smiles for Anna (J-Bird's girlfriend).
And then there are about 15 that are variations of this:
Or this:
Here's a little coffee-after-dinner set-up. I actually took this one, though it does have the markings of his photos. I thought it looked like the makings of a pleasant post-dinner evening.
And here's J-Bird standing over my mom's famous Pumpkin Torte. The most amazing dessert ever. Next to her cheesecake. And chocolate mousse. Okay . . . it's right up there, though. My brother could probably eat the whole 9x13 pan on his own given the opportunity.
Before I went to bed that night, I snuck into Devma's room where it was totally dark (except for her tiny, dim nightlight, which seems to comfort her, so I try not to point out that it's not really lighting the night much) and took this photo of her totally passed out. The only reason you can see her is the flash. Luckily, she sleeps like my sister, who sleeps like she's dead, and didn't even stir.
On my last day in CO, I took Devma to school, about which she was quite pleased. But then I had to leave, which caused torrents of tears. I told her I would take a photo of the both of us before she got out and I would send it to her. For some reason, that appeased her. I also brought her to school late, which allowed us to get out if the car and run to the school office. It's been a while since I've been in an elementary school office. As we were running, she said, "I don't run far, like you do." I wish people had not told her, when she was in running club, that her runs (.25 miles) do not compare to mine (who knows how many miles). I think it's good for her to focus on the great accomplishment of running rather than the rather disappointing comparisons (it is for me, anyway).
And a few photos with D2 before I left.
This one is some stage of his kissing my cheek. My mom got better photos, but I like this one too.
And then I was off to Denver to leave on a jet plane, with transportation provided, yet again, by my brother. We had a fantastic conversation on the ride to the airport and I was disappointed there wasn't more traffic.So . . . there you have it. A little trip made into a dern good one by some great people. Thanks, all!
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1 comment:
Cute pictures!
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