red yurt ramblers

an exciting morning! we had an ashtanga yoga session for lev, it felt great to really get into the body straight off. and we finally switched chores so i got to come back and have breakfast at the house and hang out for a bit (i was doing the morning watering before). its one of my favorite parts of this life, and living with folks: randomly hanging out over a meal, being goofy and relaxed.

and, i talked to the executive director for Isabella Freedman about the contra-dance; he was totally supportive and said i could have the money i need to pay the caller. what a rush! the full band is guitar, mando, fiddle, autoharp and african drum--tonight was our first rehearsal. i was definitely feeling trepidatiouys today and the last few days, having no idea how much work we'd have ahead of us or how we'd sound. i should have known that bringing together such awesome, deep, wonderful people could only result in awesome, deep, wonderful music; it totally rocked my world! casey is solid and funky on the mando, riffin on chords and rockin the melodies. jonathon is steady and soothing on the drum, just like his personality and energy. josh jams out on the guitar. eilan is still a bit timid on the auto-harp...and also still very closed to me; this makes me sad but hopefully it'll shift with time. the auto harp adds a very sweet sound though. the band's sound is full, rich, and vibrant. i'm still flying a bit from our rehearsal, and at the way its all coming together so beautifully.

i had kind of a break down in our evening limmud, just feeling sad and alone. like i'm always grasping and i just want someone to hold me and love me. it felt good to cry and naf hung out with me a bit, that helped. .. it feels good to be in touch with it. and of course it is balanced with periods of feeling solid and connected.