This Time Of Year

A time I love I guess is all I need to say.

I Met Carlene Carter

So, there's this most awesome place only 6 miles from here. The Earlville Opera House. I'm not even gonna go into how awesome this place is or the history. Just google it. Right now I'm writing this in the middle of the night totally burned out from living out of knapsacks, baskets and bags on the road in-between here and the ADKS. Bill and I went into full force cleaning mode and got the Country Side...the house that grows dirt...clean. Today he was a moper. I guess the overnighter at camp Stillwater wasn't enough to satisfy his ADK craving. But I'm done. I need to settle and focus. On what I don't know. So after having the successful eye surgery, my life's most recent miracle. I decided to treat myself to a show at the Earlville Opera House. I got on the phone and as luck would have it, there was an open seat in the front row for 40 bucks. All mine to sit and see Carlene Carter! Claudia Peck turned me on to Carlene back in the 80's when Carlene was this hot blond, kick ass, country pop singer. She really did put some cunt in country. So in-between Cat Stevens, Joni and the Johnny Cash records my father would play (only on Sundays) I found that I loved the rock a billy stuff, Carlene would play and loved the outrightestnest of her lyrics so un Jonie-like and covered several of her songs. They were and still are good bar drinking songs.. To Drunk To Remember, Cry Cry Cry, Foggy Mountain Top and another one about Sandy...I was a huge fan. So, there I was in one of those diagonal front of the shop parking spaces, way to early for the show only because I was bored stiff and needed to get out of the house...Talking to my old friend Val in San Diego to hear the news of Moira..who isn't well and is planning a visit east in late September. After this conversation I get a text from my other old friend Jen saying she's drinking cold beers and listening to Carlene Carter on Pandora. I tried to coax Jen into coming to the show earlier, but Jen doesn't leave her house after her long day of work and has a real hard time doing anything fun anymore...whatever. So right after I read her text of drinking cold beers an listening to Carlene, I look up and out of the the double doors of the EOH walks Carlene Carter lighting a cigarette! A Beautiful woman with skinny legs and gorgeous brown hair! I was like...Well there she is. She was looking across the street over to the Earlville park where her man Joe was. He waved her over and exhaling a puff of smoke, across the empty street she went. So I grabbed my nikon, waited a few minutes...I didn't want to appear to eager, and followed. I can't remember exactly what I said but it was something stupid like.."As I live in breathe in the Earlville park...Could this be Carlene Carter!" I'm a huge fan. I told her. She laughed and grabbed me giving me a hug and asked me if I was going to her show in which I replied...Front row girlfriend. We bonded. Steve Blias suddenly was there a announced that dinner was served upstairs and invited me to join. I had a lovely few minutes with Carlene and her man Joe talking of on the road hotel nightmare accommodations..(mine being at Hotel Indigo in Nashville...Carlene didn't seem to have a whole lot of regard for Nashville..) After dinner I checked out the new blue stone patio, helped with some flower arranging in the cafe then carried the Carlene Carter girl denim jacket up to her dressing room. A roadie. OH and somewhere after I got the text from Jen drinking cold beer etc..I texted back..."Well, I just happened to be having dinner with Carlene Carter!" Anyway...Carlene was wonderful and has the potential to be an even greater wonderful. She put on a show with her stories of Big John and mother Junie. She shared many memories of her Carter family experiences, the helicopter landing in her front yard where Chris Kristopherson stepped out, mowing the front yard for a dollar and why she married 4 times because Junie said she had to marry before she could sleep with the man, Her piano playing was beautiful. Her guitar playing on the up and her auto harp made me want to dust off mine. Her voice as strong and vibrant as it was in her earlier days yet she sang with more tenderness, sorrow and knowledge. And Joe. Her man. Her gift...He was wonderful AND funny. Together a great balance. They had a fun, Hee Haw banter going in-between them when he joined her in many of the songs with his most lovely tenor Irish voice. A very special night. Sitting there in my 40 dollar seat...BEING ABLE TO SEE and watching them perform together...It was if I were watching Johnny Cash and his beloved June on that stage. Carlene, Your momma and step dad are clearly with you and watching over you...A blessing to behold. May you carry on.

Not The Rolling Stone...I'm Not Complaining

My 8th CD that I recorded and released last August 2013 with Steven Skollar got a nice review...a year later! Oh well The review was written up by another hard working CNY musician, John Keller. I'm very honored to have made the cover of August's edition of Mohawk Valley Living magazine! A great magazine honoring the heritage and history of the cities and towns of the Mohawk Valley.

An Adirondack Inspired Cat Tower...And A Cataract

Well. Here we have a shot of Larry bathing in the high peeks of the Adirondack inspired, cat tower, seasoning from the fallen maple. Summer has flown by once again. Not one of my better summers...due to a cataract in my left eye which will be removed this Thursday. It will be wonderful to be able to see. Dr. Novak is doing the surgery and will remove the cataract (which feels like I have a nickel shoved into my eye) and replace it with a lens which will allow me to see close up for reading. Next year my right eye will need to be done. I'll have a lens in that eye to see distance. Bionic Mono-vision Pamme. The cataract. A gift from the stupid tattoo I got on my ankle 4 years ago. I had an allergic reaction to the red ink giving me a skin infection. I was on prednisone then on a sulfur drug which I had another allergic reaction to causing the doctors to put me on more prednisone...Anyway the prednisone sped up the growth of the cataract that was already there but I wouldn't of gotten it till later in life. My luck! For this surgery though I really can't wait. So I'm on a stay-cation house arrest for a few days doing the eye drops. Life is good.

Chittning Pond ~ Larry And The Frog

It's the little things in life where I find the most happiness. We took some time today to paddle on a peaceful place not so far from here on Rte. 20. Chittning Pond. There were several fisherman there with no luck on their lines, a gaggle of Canadian Geese, a great blue Heron and the most beautiful stands of cat tails surrounding and blowing quite serenely around the pond. A very short kayak. I miss my smaller boat! It felt good to be in her again as she is much lighter than my Delta. We came home to do another job in setting up the pump in the old whiskey barrel in the garden by the house where I got the shots of Larry and the frog. They were very good posers. Lovely day. And now it's time to get a fire in the outside kitchen for shrimp on the barbie. Yes it's the little things.

My Fourth Of July Weekend

A micro burst blew through here on July 3rd. I filmed it and it's on my website at www.pammeswan.com. It lasted about three and a half minutes which was the longest three and a half minutes of my life taking down hundreds if not thousands of trees in the Earlville, Poolville, South Hamilton, Brookfield and Bridgeport area. So much for my Back To Eden Arboretum. So sad. I'm very lucky none of the seven maples...my guardian maples as I call them, I'm very lucky they still stand and didn't fall on my house. As you can see we have a lot of work to do. The cats love their new tree play ground and I can live with out this maple. My lilacs now will have more sun for blooming. I'm sick about losing the ancient pines in the back. My land will never be as picturesque as it once was ever again. I'm heartbroken. But damn...I'm been through it all so I can get through this.

An American Tragedy

After visiting the American Tragedy exhibit at the Fenimore over in Cooperstown, and visiting the gift shop. I found the book I've been meaning to buy for years and simply forgot about it. Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. For the last week and a half I once again threw my self into the world of Chester aka Clyde and Grace aka Roberta. It's amazing to me even though I know this sad story very well how intrenched I became yet again. I just finished the book and again find my myself in a very peculiar sense of sorrow one being very hard to shake. Dreiser wrote a master piece to be sure.