Murphy and Monsoon Season

My posts here have been slow, I know.  But a couple things have been occupying my time, and it’s not about to let-up anytime soon.

As anticipated, our friend Noshene moved into our old house in Tucson a couple weeks ago as our very first tenant.  It was great to have some rental income so quickly and Noshene appreciated having a familiar house to move into.  As I mentioned last time, she had sold all of her furniture back in Boston so she’s busy surfing craig’s List for deals.  I must say, she has already found some great ones.

But, almost as sure as Murphy was an optimist, something had to happen to spoil the smoothness of the transition.  After seven uneventful monsoon seasons, without a single leak in that house, last Thursday night (July 2nd) I got a call from Noshene about 10 PM.  “The ceiling is leaking in the living room!” 

Tucson’s first strong monsoon rain storm had left its mark.  After having our friend and handy-man Brian take a quick look, I drove down on Sunday to see the branch on the roof for myself.  That’s when I discovered it was not only ON the roof, it was IN the roof!  The tip of a tall Eucalyptus tree, far across the street, had lost about 6-feet of the end of a branch.  The wind had apparently snapped the 2-inch diameter branch and set it flying like a huge lawn dart across the road and down into my roof.  I could see how, after impaling the roof, it must have flopped over, thereby prying up the plywood sheathing under the punctured shingles.  I removed it and revealed a hole about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide.  I found some spare shingles I had left in the storage room, and some roofing nails, and covered the hole temporarily.  The roof repair estimates start coming in tomorrow.  The Insurance agent is standing by (hoping it doesn’t exceed my deductible).

Meanwhile, here in Casa Grande, the rain did what I expected and turned my back yard into a mud pit.  Rocket, our dog, looked like he was wearing brown moon-boots as he returned from the yard.  Now I can really appreciate the tile floors.  I will likely get around to spreading crushed stone after the rains have ended, but hey, better late than never.

My studio?  It’s still a mess.  Other organization has taken priority.  Soon, I keep telling myself, soon. 

 ///Darrell 

 Darrell Elmer Rodgers                                

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

Moving done, now Unpacking

You never know how much stuff you have, until you move it!

We’ve just started to emerge from our canyon of boxes.  What has slowed us down is needing to spend every spare moment we can at the old house to get it ready for our renter’s arrival.  She’s a friend who is moving from Boston to Tucson to work with the University Medical Center (she’s a doctor).  She called me up the other day and announced she had sold ALL of her furniture.  Why didn’t I think of that?

Well, actually, it’s not the furniture that’s demanding attention.  it’s all the “incidental stuff” that got boxed up and moved.  It was stacked up to our eyeballs but we could not see what was actually in there.  So while we’re opening these little mystery gifts, we run into situations where we need something, but can’t find it. 

“Did you see my ___?”  “Did we unpack it yet?”  “Check the box that had the ____ in it.”

And so it goes.  But, Monday night I finally got enough space cleared in my studio (shown to the left BEFORE the clearing) to get out my Rickenbacker 360, plug in to a small amp, and play.  What a relief.

Once our friend gets moved into the old place on Friday, I can start to focus more attention on the new house.  As the days pass I wil judiciously decide what to keep and what to toss.  In a perfect world, I would have made those decision BEFORE packing it all up! 

The next big looming task here is the yard.  It’s a field of mud.  Well, it’s dirt now that will become mud once the “monsoons” arrive in Arizona. (They are really just summer rains but the humidity jumps up and makes the desert feel like the mid-west.)  Perhaps I will get around to ordering a couple dozen tons of gravel-size stone to cover the whole thing.  Of course, since the builder (or perhaps the previous owner) decided the back yard needed only a 4-foot wide gate, it will have to be dumped beside the house.  I will have to invest in a wheel-barrow and spend the time and sweat to move it all manually into the back yard, during the high humidity, Oh joy.

///Darrell

 

 

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

Catching Up

It’s been a while since I’ve posted , but I’ve been busy.  Deb and I are about to move to a much larger house in Casa Grande, AZ  (yes, a large house in “Large House”).  The place has been empty for well over a year and a half, except for spiders, dust, and one break-in that left some damage.  So for the past few weekends, I’ve been cleaning, fixing and painting.  We’ve set a moving date of next Friday, and there’s still much to do.  But I think we’ll be far enough along to live in the place as we tackle the remaining items on the growing “to-do” list. 

The cool part for me is that I will have a “studio”!!    No more rearranging furniture in order to have room to record.   And I can leave things “set-up” over night.  And, perhaps best of all, an upright bass (and its player) will fit in the room quite easily along with me and the equipment!  Cool!  (do you hear me Rick Heyman?)

Of course, the move is not the only chore that will preceed setting up my studio.  I have the old house to clean and paint and rent-out (or sell).  But eventually, sometime this summer, I will be able to get back to recording more of my songs.  “Plain & Simple” has only half of the secular tunes I’ve written and “Each One Teach One” doesn’t contain all the Baha’i-oriented material either.  Additionally, I have some new song ideas that have been itching to get out.  So there’s much more music to record.

Meanwhile, we continue to shuttle back and forth between Casa Grande and Tucson, spending most of our weekends working on the new place.  And Rocket, the wonder-dog, comes along for the ride. (check out the way his eyes reflect turquoie light in the photo) 

Unfortunately, we learned something distressing about Rocket last night.  We made the mistake of leaving him in the house for two hours while we attended to other things.  When we returned we discivered the rascal had panicked and ripped apart the window blinds beside the front door in an attempt to get out I suppose.  I guess he doesn’t yet regard the new place as “his” yet. 

 

 

///Darrell 

 

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

My Late Report on the Tucson Folk Festival

By the time it was over, Sunday night 3 May, I felt as though I had crammed 2 weeks worth of activity into 2 and a half days. Having now caught my breath, I have to say, it was fun. A lot of work, sure, but fun work nonetheless.

My good friend, singer-songwriter Alan James from Del Dios, CA, arrived at our house on Friday. It was good to see him again. We quickly went to work rehearsing so that I could do an adequate job of backing him up on his Saturday performance. My favorite part was playing slide guitar for his “Midnight Rambler” song.

Rick Heyman and I had rehearsed enough we felt. But just to make things interesting, Rich injured his right hand just a couple days before the festival. But he assured me he could play that upright bass. (Playing through the pain! What a trooper!)

Friday night we went down to “Old Town Artisans” for the kick-off party. There were performances scheduled all evening long, hosted by friend and TKMA Vice President Steve Decker. Steve also performed that night with a couple singer-songwriters from the Phoenix area. My favorite song of the night was “Mystery Dance” by Tom Woolsey. But all the performers were quite good. I even heard and saw a saw player! No kidding. “Lon Austin and The Mexican Beaded Lizard Band” has a saw player. I asked him, and was told, “crosscut, definitely crosscut”.

Saturday afternoon Alan and I connected with Steve Decker to discuss our roles as Emcees for the “Acoustic Showcase” – a new venture for the folk festival. It was a performance area set up in the lobby of the Tucson Art Museum that ran like a weekend-long “open mic” with performers signing up in advance. I got assigned to host the first segment of the weekend and was quite pleased when the first performer, a young singer-songwriter from up-state New York, who had been in Tucson only for about 2 months, stepped up and did a stellar job. The Acoustic Showcase was a success that weekend and it was the only indoor, air-conditioned venue at the festival!

Alan performed at 5PM on Saturday. I did my best to not screw him up and I think it came out pretty well. At least that was the feedback from the crowd.

Saturday night, we were treated to a fantastic show by Todd Snider. If you ever get the chance to see him perform, don’t miss it. Afterward, as though we were young again, Alan and I headed out to Eb Eberleins house for the mid-festival party (about 11 PM). There were a bunch of really good musicians there and the jamming went on until the wee hours.

Gratefully, Sunday’s activities didn’t start until 11-AM. I caught some performances and attended a workshop. Alan presented a workshop on stagecraft – he’s good at that. At 6 PM, Rick and I took the stage. We managed to squeeze in five songs of the seven we had rehearsed. It was well received. I want to thank all our friends who came out to see us perform, particularly Larry and Skye Honig who jumped into action and were our “roadies” getting us and our equipment up on the stage. Thanks!! My daughter Rachel and fiancée Cody came down from Phoenix as did Alan’s son Jordan and fiancée April. It was great to see them all.

Sunday Night’s headliner was Eric Anderson. I didn’t stay for the whole show (it ran long due to technical glitches). But Alan, several years my senior mind you, not only stayed, but also attended the after-party at the Hotel Arizona that night. He played Midnight Rambler for Eric Anderson who expressed interest in the song and put Alan in contact with his business manager. As it turns out, back in the 1960’s Alan and Eric performed at some of the same San Francisco Coffee Houses. Eric remembered those gigs and laughed saying they were about the only thing he could remember.

After Alan left on Monday, I felt like I just run a marathon. In a matter of 4 months, I had formed a team with Rick Heyman, recorded an audition demo, gotten selected, recorded ten more songs, hastily produced a new CD, prepared back-up parts for Alan James, and performed at the biggest Folk Festival in Arizona.   Not bad.   Not bad at all.

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

In Memoriam: Darrell Rodgers Sr, my dad

Here it is.  20 years to the day since my father, Darrell E. Rodgers Sr., took his flight into the immortal realm.  20 years later and I still think of him every day.

He was born in 1925, the second son born to Eugene and Mabel Rodgers in a small Pennsylvania coal mining town.  The neighborhood kids would call him “Pinky” because is older brother was already called “Red”.  What else would you call Red’s little brother than “Pinky”?  He joined the Navy in 1943 and served his country during World War II.  He attended college (GWU in Washington, DC) on the GI Bill and became a Civil Engineer and a Land Surveyor. He fathered three children and stayed married to the same woman until his death did them part.

The older I get, the more I marvel at my father’s accomplishments.  No, he was neither rich nor famous, but what he managed to do for his family was special.  He built a business of his own and at one point managed to employ all three of his children, a daughter-in-law and his youngest brother.  He kept us all fed.

More importantly, he taught us Faith.  I’m not talking about blind acceptance of something unseen, I’m talking about a real “conscious knowledge” of what is right.  It’s the kind of faith that gives you the courage to act.

Pink Rodgers was a friend to many people, high and low.  He had millionaire friends (back when a million was a lot of money) and he had poor friends whom he would help with work when he could, and charity when needed.  I remember one Christmas when he and some neighbors spent that winter night not in the warmth of their homes, but traveling around the community in a truck to collect clothing and food for a family whose house had just burned to the ground.  It was family he didn’t know until that night.

He loved wit and humor.  He loved golf.  He loved his granddaughter. He liked to make silly faces at her and with her.  They would go on walks together.  It thrilled me to see them together and made me quite proud because I knew that grandchild was the most special blessing anyone could have given him, and I had done it.  His second granddaughter was only 7 months and a few days old when he died at age 63 of an aortic aneurysm. I’m glad he got to see and hold her, too.  Had he lived, he could have enjoyed two more granddaughters and a red-haired grandson, courtesy of my sister and brother.

As a Baha’i, I believe that life is spiritual in nature, and that spiritual life is eternal and separated from this world by only a veil that is “gossamer-thin”.  I believe he sees and enjoys all his grand kids today.  And in a few months, that first grandchild, my daughter, will marry a fine man and perhaps soon start a family of her own.  Great Grand Children!  Won’t he just enjoy seeing THEM!.  I guess this picture represents the two greatest blessings in my own life: Parents who prayed for me before and after my birth, and Children who will pray for me before and after my death.  Teamed now with a bride who will help me in between, life is pretty well covered.

But today, more than ever, I remember my dad.  After 20 years, I still miss him.

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com