Far away & a wish

Wow, I checked flights to see if I could make the services Thursday.  With pre and post flight travel and processing it would be a minimum of 12 to 14 hours each way, and last minute flights aren't inexpensive. 

The last time I was in Woodstock was in 2008 for two days during July in the middle of the week, with my now ex-wife. We were on our way to Denmark and then Greenland.   I'd asked the folks where we stayed at the Millstream Hotel about the Rambles but of course they didn't match our travel schedule. 

Home.  Woodstock didn't really feel like home when I was there last, which makes sense when you figure I'd lived away for more than 30 years.  It was familiar and it felt good, but it was no longer home.  A lot of NYC accents too!  And people who consistently pronounce vowels.  Here in the NW, folks pronounce merry, marry, and Mary the same... with the vowel pronounced between the merry and Mary, but much closer to merry.  Context usually works well enough to differentiate them, but placenames can be a problem. 

And food, even cheap restaurants offer gourmet meals back in NY compared to what I've grown accustomed to eating here.  But still not home.  The rest of my family moved out here.  My dad died here in the late 90s of cancer -- he was 71 when he passed.   Now my mom, my sister and I are all. 

One association with home that I have been grieving has been part fantasy and part idealized reality.  A "down home" kind of home that I always longed for and heard about in songs and saw in Norman Rockwell kind of paintings.  And my dad was a square dance caller originally from NYC who took me to the mountains of West Virginia and called an impromptu dance there after the locals challenged him to show he could do what he told them he could.  He could, and they were impressed.  He sounded like the real deal.  He sounded a lot like Levon. 

I don't expect to make it back Thursday, if any of Levon's friends or family happen across this, please know how sorry I am for your loss, I can only hope that you ride through this with the love and support of one another, and that you share the power of each other's strength, and the compassion borne of sharing each other's weakness.  My little prayer for you all.