Happy autumn, everyone!

After a long, hot, and dry summer, things are finally starting to get back to normal here. The nights are cool, the days are just warm enough, and the colors are glorious. Fall is my favorite time of year–I always wish it would last just a little longer than it does.

It’s actually very quiet on my music schedule right now. Debbie broke her leg a couple of weeks ago and so my time has been spent taking care of her and all of the housework. We’re getting a routine figured out, but it still takes a lot of time. I still try to find a little time for music these days.

The “Nature Walk” album is on hold right now, as you might expect. But I’m thinking about song ideas and still searching for good background sounds. I sometimes feel frustrated because I want to spend time on creative endeavors, but life keeps getting in the way. I know that’s the way things are, and all there is to do is keep plugging away.

One project I’m excited about is a commission to do some music for sidlings, an online novel written by my long-time friend & partner in crime Dee Elms. We aren’t sure if the music will just be an added part of the site, background music for certain sections, or even accompaniment to parts of the story being read aloud. In any case, this is something mostly new for me and I am looking forward to giving it a try.

In other creative news, I bit the bullet and sent the first draft of the story behind “Felis Astros” to some folks for review. I sit in front of people and play original music and feel mostly comfortable, but sending my writing out was a bit scary at first. I got some nice feedback and some excellent advice for the second draft, which I hope to find time to work on very soon.

While I was at the Lopez Island Jugglefest last month, I got an idea for a new story about Olivia, a free-range chicken who has adopted the folks we stay with up there. This is new because there’s no music involved yet, just the story. Again, it’s all about finding the time to work on it. Where’s that lottery jackpot when you really need it?

As with everything else, my video series is on hold right now but I have a number of guests and topics lined up for when we can make it all happen. I am hoping we can film a couple of them before the end of the year, and then hopefully get several more done in early 2016.

I’ve just been booked for a charity gala at the Gateway Elks Lodge on November 7th, and on December 11th I will be playing with the as-yet unnamed band in Make Music PDX. For those who haven’t been following my weekly posts about this group, we are down to 3 members from the original 8. I don’t know how many instruments I’ll be playing yet or if the show will include various solo & duet numbers as well as full group songs, but it will be interesting. I’ve been playing drums with this group and will probably do less of that now that we’re just a trio, but I’m hoping to get to keep going with them on a number or two.

Click here to see the complete schedule

The class schedule is pretty light right now because Debbie is mostly confined to the living room and it’s getting too cold at night to have folks in the Tiki Hut, but I had a really good group for Improv 101 last night and there’s the usual Beginning Guitar Workshop on the first Thursday of each month. I’ll be adding more classes as my time and our living room open up.

Coming soon in the blog: More from Make Music PDX, post-season baseball, and at least one other random topic. Stay tuned!

Until next time, walk gently & keep listening…