This week we made the trek across the wilds of Pennsylvania to see the Geologic Concert in beautiful Bethlehem. Although the drive wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had, seeing a concert that we had been looking forward to for months with my wife and son was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. In celebration, today’s poem by Carl Sandburg ties into music and the city I grew up around, if not in.

Today is one of those times that the words don’t flow as easy as they normally do. Usually, I think of a topic and start writing. Not today. I’ve sit and looked at a blank screen for the last half hour, knowing what I want to say but not knowing how to say it so that I don’t look like a complete ass. Or more of a complete ass than normal.

I have this memory from childhood where I’m laying in bed with a bad case of the flu; Mom was working a weird nursing shift so she was sleeping on the couch, and Dad was at work. So I was pretty much on my own, miserable and unable to sleep. To pass the time, I read through a Time-Life book on the Space Race. This light blue book with an image of a launching Saturn V on the cover was the start of what has become a lifelong fascination with space exploration.

The last few weeks have consisted of very little beyond music in our household. Although he will deny it in the strongest way, the youngest son is frantically scrambling to get ready for the upcoming OMEA Solo/Ensemble music competition. Unfortunately, he’s been gifted with my rare ability for procrastination that can sometimes override his very natural talent. Like his father, however, most times he does manage to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and peak at just the right time.

The youngest son and I watched Saving Private Ryan the other day. No matter how many times I see the movie, it still resonates with me due to it’s treatment of war. Far too often, movies and television shows whitewash over the nasty bits and try and make war into this glorious and glamorous adventure. I’ve read, listened to, and watched enough first-hand accounts to unequivocally state that it’s not, and this movie graphically shows why.