That was what I sang to myself as rain drummed on my tent all night. And was it cold! When I got up, I went for the layered look...as did everyone else.
On my way to breakfast--a scrambled eggs morning!--I ran into Deirdre who had done such a fantastic job singing back-up for C.C. Carter at the Acoustic Stage on Tuesday. As always, she was modest and loving. Happily I was able to join her and her friends at breakfast.
After getting a picture of a tractor driver with white bunny ears perched atop her head, I scooted toward the One World tent to find out where Colleen and Linda's "Singing In Sacred Circle" workshop had been moved because of the rain. I heard them before I saw them: they were in the Over 40s tent beside the Community Center. I scooted in and settled down for a glorious three hours of singing. Words cannot describe what happens when womyn open their hearts and let their voices soar together with no judgement or expectations. Not even rain can dampen that spirit.
We finished at noon and I scooted over to the DART kitchen tent for lunch. The rains had returned after a brief--but welcome--glimpse of sun and it seemed to be getting colder by the minute. But the cucumber & tomato salad and potato salad tasted delicious, and I enjoyed sitting with Esther from Manitoba and learning about her life.
She and her husband--with the help of his brother--farm 1000s of acres of assorted grains on land that belonged to her husband's father and grandfather. Esther loves her job as the director of an Adult Learning Center and sings with the choir in the Ukranian Orthodox church where she and her husband were married about 25 years ago. They have a son in his early 20s and a teenaged daughter still in high school. Esther is a strong feminist and progressive politically even though no one in town shares her views. When I asked how large a town it is, Esther smiled and said, "Last time I counted there were 29 of us." This is her third festival and she drives 27 hours by herself to get here. She doesn't see anything heroic in that as folks out on the prairie are used to traveling long distances to do what they want to do.
Having the opportunity to hear the life stories of womyn on the Land is one of Michigan's greatest gifts, especially stories that are different from my own.
While we talked the rains came pouring down. But we were dry under the tent so just took our time and talked together like we had all the time in the world...which we did. Sometime between 1:30-2 PM, we decided to go on to our next activities. I think Esther was going down to Crafts, but all I wanted to do was go back to my tent, snuggle into my sleeping bag and try to get warm and dry. Although I had lots of rain gear, I'd not brought good footwear for such wet weather. One pair of Birkies and one pair of leather clogs were not adequate for Fest 2004. My feet stayed cold and wet which made me somewhat cranky.
I napped for a couple of hours, got up, put on my next-to-last pair of dry socks and scooted over to the Craftswomyn's Bazaar in search of warm, dry reinforcements. At Willow Moon's booth, I bought three more pairs of tie-dyed socks. One of Cedar's workers kindly who took the time to help me put another pair of socks over the ones I was already wearing. This was definitely two-sock weather.
By then the sun was trying to shine. As I scooted over to the DART firepit to warm up, I saw Valerie, a member of our staff, celebrating its appearance by divesting herself of her rain gear and stripping down to her bare essence. She looked like the goddess she is.
On my way to dinner, I stopped in to visit Precious, one of our best loved elders. She was cooking chicken and ribs for Cee Cee and herself, and, of course, offered me some. Even though I'm a longtime vegetarian, I must say that hot fragrant food looked mighty tempting! But on tonight's menu were Indian Curry, Basmati rice and steamed broccili--all of which sounded hot and delicious. And so it was.
At 6:30 PM I scooted over to the Community Center to meet Hailey, her mother Summer, her aunt Heather Artemis and some of her friends. I'd been invited to help celebrate Hailey's coming into her womonhood and was honored to be included. I've watched Hailey and her older sister Nicole grow over the years; they are wonderful young womyn. We gave Hailey our gifts--a ring from her aunt, an earth necklace from her friend, and a full-bodied goddess from me--and were pleased by her positive responses.
What happened next was a surprise to me, although Summer and Hailey knew it was coming. Two young womyn came up to us and Summer introduced them to me. Then Kristine, one of the young womyn, told me how she'd loved the photo I'd posted on my Festi-Photo Album 2003 of my face after it had been painted by Jayne. She then brought out a pencil drawing she'd done of me from that photo, and gave it to me. What a loving gift. And what a talented artist!
Now it was 7:15 PM, time for me to get my warmest clothing together and make my way down to my Night Stage Security workshift. On the way, I took a picture of my sisters huddled around the DART firepit. IMHO (In my humble opinion) we always have the BEST fire on the Land.
When I got down to the Night Stage, Diane had already assigned three womyn to check wristbands at the Performers' Gate--my usual job--so she asked where I'd like to work. I requested the Tower area, and she said that would be fine. That's how I got the best seat in the "house" for the Opening Ceremonies! Not only did I have a good view of the stage, but I had the fun of watching the Wise Fool New Mexico stiltwalkers prepare to perform. They stood right in front of me until it was time for them to go on.
With the help of some serious magic, the rains held off until after the Opening Ceremonies were completed. Thank you, Falcon River. And I offer special thanks to Ruth Barrett, Ubaka Hill, Alix Olson, Pamela Means, Magdalen Hsu-Li, Rhiannon, Judith Castleberry, Aleah Long and all the womyn who brought their spiritual, political and creative powers together to offer us what we need to continue working for regime change at home and peace and justice in our world. For that was the gift and challenge set before us on that wet, cold field on Wednesday night. Blessed be.
As cold rain continued
to fall throughout Wednesday night, I sunk to the low point of
my festival week. No matter how many socks I put on, my feet wouldn't
warm up, and I still felt chilled from having sat out in the pouring
rain during Alix Olson and Pamela Means' set on the Night Stage.
For the first time in my 11 festivals, I considered going home
early. But after considering it, I rejected it. No, I would just
do everything in my power to stay warm and dry on Thursday.
It was still drizzling when I awoke, but I bundled up wearing every dry piece of clothing I could find, and scooted off to breakfast. After eating granola, blueberries and yogurt, I started my hunt to find where they'd located our Singing In Sacred Song workshop today. At the One World tent I was told that we were meeting in our usual spot out in the woods at Workshop Area #15. This would be the first time we'd sung beside the Grandmother Oak where we'd buried our beloved Kay Gardner's ashes last August. As I scooted into the grove where my sisters were already in song, the skies brightened. Soon we saw the sun and cheers circled the Land.
It was quite emotional to sing where Kay had led the womyn in song for so many years. When Coco and others wept, we held them in our arms and in our songs. Our children and our children's children reminded us of the wonder of new life rising up from the ashes of the old. And the sun warmed our hearts and our bodies.
If you look at my pictures from Thursday, you'll see that most womyn kept their rain gear handy. It was a day of alternating rain, clouds and sun, with the brightest, warmest moments coming in the morning as we sang in Kay's grove under her Grandmother Oak.
I was ten minutes late for my 12:30 PM appointment with Laurie, whom I'd met at Tuesday's ritual. If you recall, we'd made a date for her to interview me for her Ph.D. dissertation on womyn's experience of the Divine. We sat together under a tree near the DART kitchen tent as I ate my lunch--yummy Waldorf salad and Three bean salad--and she shared the five questions she wanted me to answer. The ones that stick with me were: 1) Please speak about how you describe and image the Divine; 2) What has been the spiritual journey that has brought you to this place; and 3) How do you see womyn's experiences and definitions of the Divine impacting the world community. As I reflected on and answered her questions, I experienced profound integration and deep healing. Her questions opened doors that had been closed for years. As so often happens at Festival, I was given what I needed before I knew enough to ask for it.
When we were finished, I scooted over to the Day Stage just in time to see Wise Fool New Mexico and LAVA present what they called "Circus Teasers." I then scooted around taking pictures and seeing friends. One of my "tasks" was to begin making signs for the Pink Parade that 11 year-old Hailey and I were organizing for Saturday. The womyn in the Community Center gave me scrap paper, and my friend Nicky found a pink magic marker in the Teen Tent. I sat outside their tent and made three signs--"Pink Power", "Think Pink" and "Perfectly Pink." As I worked, I heard wonderful giggles and screams as Jayne facilitated body painting among the girls.
Soon it was time for the 2nd annual Butch Strut. And did they ever STRUT!!!
I followed the Butches along Lois Lane, taking pictures for posterity, and then scooted over to the DART kitchen tent for dinner. Tonight was a favorite with festi-womyn--burritos with lots of fixins' and Spanish rice. In line I was happy to meet up with Wondella and we joined some old friends of hers on the grass nearby. Wondella has been to ALL 29 festivals, is from my part of Michigan, a wonderful drummer and a gentle soul. I always value time spent with her.
After a leisurely meal, I scooted around taking pictures of a typical dinnertime on the Land. An archivist's "job" is never done.
At 6 PM I scooted down to the Night Stage field to save a spot for Sooz and Judy, my friends from home, and me. I wanted to sit right in front of the sound/lights tower so I could stand and dance without blocking anyone's view. There's DART seating off to stage right, but the view of the stage leaves something to be desired and the loudspeaker blares in our ears. I've found I prefer to find my own seating. Sooz was down there already, saving our places. I always enjoyed our encounters, however brief.
Back at DART there was a true festi-moment in progress. Deb was being taught how to walk and act "butch." After seeing her struggles--it does NOT look butch to tuck your hands between your legs when you laugh!--I called Tractor/Shuttle Mamma Deb over to give her some lessons. Beside us, the firepit was--as always this Fest--crowded with womyn trying to stay warm. And in a few minutes, Cat showed up to "pink" our DART intern, Lauren's, hair. She must have used up a lot of her precious Manic Panic hair dye during the week, pinking everyone who asked. Thank you, dear Cat.
Soon it was time for the Night Stage concert. I was anticipating tonight because the jazz/blues guitarist, Mimi Fox, was performing. That womon blows me away! And she was FANTASTIC on this cool dry Michigan night. Sini Anderson was a great MC and we even had a beautiful sunset that promised good weather tomorrow. I stood and danced through much of the concert. Although I'd never seen her before, Jill Sobule utterly delighted me. And her interpreter, Pam Parham, had us peeng in our pants with her outrageous signing! I even stayed around and danced to the punk band, Erase Errata.
For the first time this fest, I wasn't sleepy after Night Stage ended at 11:30 PM, so I scooted over to the Community Center for some snacks and to see the Open Mic at the August Night Cafe. While there I met my friend Julia who was going to perform. What crackerjack performances we saw that night! The bellydancer had everyone swooning and the performance poets and singer/songwriters rocked. It was great!
About 1:30 AM I put my delightfully tired body to bed and fell asleep right away, thanking my lucky stars that I hadn't chickened out and gone home. At Fest 2004 I learned: 1) to bring my moon boots and more warm clothes from now on (watch it be 100 degrees for the 30th!); and 2) that even the toughest weather couldn't ruin the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.
I awoke to the welcome
sight of sun in the treetops. Our first sunny morning this year!
Even so, it was still chilly so I dressed in layers, starting
with my purple sleeveless dress with "sing" printed
on the front and back. I'd brought lots of sleeveless dresses
that would show off the new biceps I'd been cultivating at the
gym, but they had been unseen as yet. I sensed today would be
the day.
I pulled into the DART breakfast tent just before the 10 AM cut-off time, but the scrambled eggs with mushrooms and onions were still hot and delicious. I sat at a table with my new neighbors, Alma and Joyce. They'd arrived yesterday afternoon and had set up their tent next door to mine. This was Joyce's first fest and Alma's third. We had lots to talk about, including the fact thatJoyce and I share a diagnosis of MS. For me, Fest is an opportunity to get to know other womyn who live with disabling conditions of one kind or another. Since I have chosen to mainstream myself at home, living in DART every August gives me a sense that I have sisters across the globe who deal with challenges similar to mine. I mean where else can you make jokes about your sphincter muscles and know they'll be understood? Besides it's kinda nice not to hear about how "inspiring" you are. DART womyn know we each do whatever it takes to live as fully as possible, no matter what our medical condition. There's nothing inspiring about that; it's simply our best option.
After my late breakfast, I caught a ride on Doris the DART shuttle out to the pay phones to call my sweetie. Over the years we've worked it out that I call once during festi-week to check in. Happily, the Land is not cell phone friendly and I hope it NEVER is, but that means making a call is a bit of a project, especially if you camp in DART Downtown. I was disappointed not to catch Eddie in his office or at home, but I left him a long message telling him all about Fest so far...even about my new pink mohawk. After almost four decades together, he is used to my not-so-normal ways and actually gets a huge kick out of some of my sillier choices. I knew he'd appreciate this one. Thanks to our fabulous DART shuttle drivers, I was able to catch a ride back downtown without a wait. The ride back was lots of fun because I sat at the front of the van and "insisted" that each rider give me a kiss getting on and another when they got off. Later in the day I heard that one of the womyn had used me as an excuse when she'd showed up late to her workshift. "Patricia caused a traffic jam by kissing everyone and I couldn't get here on time!"
By the time I got back to DART Downtown it was noon, time for the Day Stage concerts to get under way. And I wanted to stand up and DANCE! I was missing my laps in the pool and working out at the gym, and was counting on staying fit through dancing. My favorite exercise of all. And I didn't have long to wait.
The minute God-Des and Tina G took the stage, things started rocking. These young womyn took my breath away with their superb musicianship, politically-aware often in-your-face lyrics, and dynamic stage presence. They were the first hip-hop artists I'd heard who made it possible for their audience to understand every word, and I was glad they did. I didn't want to miss a thing!
I have to say, if I were to pinpoint my performance highlight of Festival 2004, it was at the Day Stage on this mostly sunny Friday afternoon. God-Des and Tina G, Ember Swift and Kinnie Starr--each in her own unique way--showed me the strength and power of this generation that is coming into their own. And I'd add Alix Olson and Pamela Means to that list. These young womyn are not just the hope of our future; they are the hope of the present. Their unflinching ability to see things as they are, their willingness to say/sing it as they see it, and their commitment to be changemakers is just what we need to counteract the horrendous abuses being wrought by the men of my generation. I am honored to learn from these strong young womyn.
But, alas, all was not well in my world during these magnificent performances. As Ember Swift took the stage, I was distracted by a technical problem with my camera. Unfortunately, I had to miss most of her set as I ran around trying to find someone who could help get my camera working again. Finally I had to give up and accept the fact that I might only have photos of the first half of the festival on this year's online photo-journal. Kinnie Starr helped me surrender and let it go. Her set was so warm, full of truth and light, and musically engaging that I forgot about my camera and sat in awe.
After Day Stage, I scooted back over to the Craftswomyn's Bazaar; this time with an eye toward buying something. I wanted a sparkly, sexy, silly new outfit to wear in the Femme Parade that would be happening later this afternoon. I found it almost immediately at a booth that was crawling with young womyn. I trusted them to know what was what. I slipped my regular clothes over my new femme costume and set off to see Jamie Anderson on the Acoustic Stage.
We've worked for years to get Jamie on a Michigan stage and FINALLY succeeded. I'd first seen her perform at the National Womyn's Music Festival in the mid-90s and was utterly taken with her original songs and marvelous stage presence. Over the years I've bellydanced with Jamie, been part of late-night jam sessions with her at Judy Fjell's WoMaMu music camps in Northern California, and had gotten to know her girlfriend Leigh and both their mothers at the NWMF in 2002. She's not only a terrific performer but a dear, sweet womon.
Well, did Jamie ever show Michigan what she can do!!! Her set was superb! And I loved seeing her girlfriend Leigh sitting in the front of the stage taking pictures and fairly popping her buttons with pride.
Several of us--including Jamie--had to dash off after her 4 PM set so we could make it down to Triangle for the start of the Femme Parade. I was scooting as fast as I could go on that bumpy, hilly paved path and the Raffle Goddess Peggy Sue was trotting alongside me wearing her 3" silver pumps. Gawd! How did she do it? My first view of hundreds of femmes dressed in their finest was one I won't soon forget. When we took our place among them, Peggy Sue loaned me her own lipstick and pronounced me perfectly slutty. I was SO proud.
Oh, was it fun to be a femme among the femmes!
At the conclusion of the parade, I happened to meet up with Deanne, a friend from home, and we sat together for dinner. When I told her my sad tale about my camera going snafu, she said, "Do you want to use mine? Remember, I bought one just like yours." And so the Goddess, the Universe, or Whomever, made it possible for me to continue taking pictures for my festi photo-journal. Not only that, but I didn't even need to learn how to use an unfamiliar camera. A bit of Michigan Magic, I'd say.
Soon it was time for me to get ready for my second Night Stage Security workshift. The temperature was dropping dramatically so I put on my warmest layers and scooted down to the Night Stage.This time, Diane placed me at the Performer's Gate to check wristbands. My companion worker was a festi-virgin who was so patient with me. When I do a job like this, there are lots of folks I need to hug, kiss and speak to in the course of the evening. This can be wearing on my sister workers, but not this night. I can't recall your name, but please know how grateful I am to you for your loving ways.
Yes, I missed seeing Hothead
Paisan, but the time I spent with Falcon River that night was
more than worth it. Falcon and I have known one another for the
five years she and Ruth Barrett have been together, but this was
the first time the two of us had ever had a chance to simply sit
and talk. I am still trying to assimilate all that was said that
night. I sense I will be doing so for a long time to come. If
you know Falcon River, you know she doesn't speak unless something
needs to be said. That's why I will be going over and over in
my heart every word she said to me on that cold, starry night.
Thank you, dear Falcon River, for your words and wisdom.
