Ninja-ing in Woodstock, Back-ing to the Garden....we begin. Talk to me. (Patreon)

Good Morning my loves.

I would like to open today with a song by Joni for you.

Greetings from the origin spot: Woodstock, NY, where I am posting this as the birds return for the season. It's officially spring (as of the 20th! I just googled).

Long story short: I wanna start doing some free, spontaneous patron-only ninja gigs/gatherings in pop-up spots around Woodstock. 

Who can come and how much notice do you need? Please answer in the poll, and leave a comment if the poll didn't quite capture your answer.

........

Woodstock, 1969

Long story:

I cannot thank you all enough for your comments on yesterday's piece of writing (Lube and Churchbells). I did a couple litte livestream-readings of the best chunk of the piece yesterday online, this facebook reading really teared me up if you wanna go watch it. Reading about you, and how you are doing, and why this hit you, and even what you were doing and drinking while you read/watched it..it just made me so happy. I am finding my little bells all around you. Me and you, the cow and church bells.

I live in a place known for being both a church and a cow bell.

Woodstock, New York, a place about which I have very complicated feelings, for many reasons. I'm gonna work through it all, and tell you all about it, but I need your help.

On that note, I post this poll.

I want to get together (and feel all right) with the patron community, and I don't want it to be a big deal, and I don't want to have to plan too much, or book venues and sell tickets.

I want these patron events/gatherings to be free, but I need to gauge HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT COME, so I can figure how and where to do them.

I may also do some of these events for just the $5/$10 patrons, to have some of them tinier, and some of them bigger.

I'd like to just squat in some local spaces (Woodstock has plenty), or even meet outside (somewhere there's a lotta parking) if the day is nice.

I want to be able to gather in a small-ish group, talk, eat, drink, meet you, spend some times, strum a Ukulele, meet your kids, pet your dogs, tell you what I'm up to...you know. 

Be together in a place. Hang. Hug. Heal.

Now....I am not in the thick of the city, I'm in the WOODS, people.

Woodstock is here:

If you want to come from NY, it’s about a 2 hour drive. From Boston it’s more like 3. And from Boston and NY, there are busses. If you take the train from NY penn to Rhinecliff, it’s about a 30 minute cab ride or carpool from the station.

I tried to use my imagination to put every possible answer in the poll, but I know I can never think of everything. So I'm reading comments, just tell me about you, where you are, and what it would mean to get here.

I mean, in 1969, 500,000 people got here.

I know you can all get here eventually if you need to. There's only 10,000 of you.

But I know there are people from the area - from all around upstate, Albany, and even from Northampton, NYC, Boston, and all that. You might like a random reason to drive to Woodstock, NY. It's gorgeous here, and I need to stick close to home for many reasons.

Let's do this.

The first gathering may be as soon as this coming week. As soon as I announce anything, I’ll also make a thread on the shadowbox so people can rideshare, find crash space and friends, and share info and plans.

This will be - a promise you - an ongoing, rolling affair.

This is also what the patreon is FOR.

Talk to me. I'm readin'.

XX

A

Well, I came upon a child of God

He was walking along the road

And I asked him, Tell me, where are you going

This he told me

Said, I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm

Gonna join in a rock and roll band

Got to get back to the land and set my soul free

We are stardust, we are golden

We are billion year old carbon

And we got to get ourselves back to the garden

Well, then can I roam beside you?

I have come to lose the smog,

And I feel myself a cog in somethin' turning

And maybe it's the time of year

Yes and maybe it's the time of man

And I don't know who I am

But life is for learning

We are stardust, we are golden

We are billion year old carbon

And we got to get ourselves back to the garden

We are stardust, we are golden

We are billion year old carbon

And we got to get ourselves back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock

We were half a million strong

And everywhere was a song and a celebration

And I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes

Riding shotgun in the sky,

Turning into butterflies

Above our nation

We are stardust, we are golden

We are caught in the devils bargain

And we got to get ourselves back to the garden