At Home, in the Blues

   And then we went to the Doheny Blues Festival.The weather was warm, and the music was hot. We baked in the sun all day, H getting a ridiculous farmer's tan. I slathered on the SPF 50. We lounged in beach chairs, relaxing with 10k other people. Luckily, H found us a spot right on the edge of the last section where people were setting chairs down. We ate BBQ, funnel cake, and tacos, and drank lots of beer and wine.At one point, waiting for the Tedeschi Trucks Band to go on, I feel asleep on a blanket we put out. The sun was just sliding behind a tree, and the shade felt warm and cool at the same time. I was tipsy from wine, belly full of tacos, and I just felt this delicious feeling of...SummerandLoveandPeaceBlue music has my heart-strings more than other music seems to move me.I discovered Susan Tedeschi when I was about 15 yrs old - a neighbor bought me her CD saying I sounded like her. Well, I was flattered, because this woman could sing. And I wish I'd kept hold of that thread through music college, because I think of how much more singing I could've done if I'd chased after this line of music.Those memories bring me back to being 16 yrs old, at music camp, and so in love with life (and a boy). How at home I felt, surrounded by people playing music, holding hands with this guy who looked past my eyes and into my soul, and away from my family for the first time.I remember being in a vocal workshop and us all going around improv-ing these blue lyrics over some changes. And I remember feeling this instance in my body, and letting it come out my mouth, almost too late where I'd missed my cue... but I hadn't. And after that exercise, the assistant teacher came over and complimented me on my timing, on my voice.I'd really had something.But the next few years proved to be challenging, and music went off my map, or maybe I went off it's. I remember a few years later, one teacher said she didn't know if I "couldn't hear the right notes, of if you just have terrible pitch". Contradictory feedback, eh? And the second came at $1000+ / credit. (shaking my head - like wtf?)Regardless, being back in the sun and grass, hearing those guitars come charging through the afternoon heat, and Susan's voice flooding my ears - it felt good to be back there.Wherever that is.