There were plenty of signs that the author’s 77 years on the planet were taking its toll. All preparations for the Acoustic Live late Friday guerrilla showcase room stacked up right until the night before leaving, as usual, leaving not enough time to be fully rested. As we set out for Stamford Friday morning – no GPS – my set of printed Google maps were available. Missing, however, were my copied and pasted directions. Exit 6 off Route 95 was a no-brainer, but I made a left turn too soon and had to scramble to get back on track.
We registered, then loaded chairs, display paraphernalia and luggage into the room before the glimmer of exhaustion began to set in. We did most of the decorating before the cocktail party, leaving the rest for early evening. Dan and Phyllis Budne, my Falcon Ridge booth crew, became my NERFA helpers as well. They stepped in, providing much-needed help with finishing touches to the room.
The cocktail party was a rush of catching up with friends from the singer/songwriter circuit: the New York area, New England and beyond (especially Canada). Wine and cheese aided the festive atmosphere, but required more coffee later for counteraction. I do love that rollercoaster of alternating alcoholic buzz and caffeinated energy rush. “Better living through chemistry,” I like to say!
NERFA provided all the thrills of discovery (and rediscovery), as it always does. How does just two-and-a-half days of a folkie red-eye flight cause a week’s worth of jet lag? The answer might be somewhere in the tail end of those 77 years.
