Lark camp, first full day
Even though this is a five day trip, we only really get three days here. Already it feels like it's almost time to go home, and it's only the first actual day.
Yesterday was almost all day driving, we arrived in Mendocino at about 2:pm, and had been told that under no circumstances could we be let into the camp before 3 pm. Oh, what a pity to have to walk around in Mendocino for an hour. The camp is about 20 miles out of town,the last 8 or so on a dirt road. I was noticing the unusual gray color of the ferns by the side of the road until I realized there're just covered with dust. It is VERY dusty here because of the drought, though I suppose as a camper it's better than if it was the usual rainforest. Then there would be mud. 
Anyway, we finally got tour cabins about 4 pm, took us until 5 or so to get all our stuff (enough for a three month safari in Africa, including taking enough medicines to cure Ebola) into the cabins and move the car far away. Then we walked down to the main teaching area to get our meal tickets. There was some snafu and they really weren't ready to sell them, but we stood around to be first in line for dinner so they'd have to help us in order for anyone else to get to eat. (Most people bought meal tickets in advance, but we signed up too late to be allowed to buy any ahead of time. )
I'm happy to report that there were no critters although at one point when I was in bed I thought I heard something. Turned out it was my jeans and sleeping bag, which I'm using more as a quilt, sliding off the bed. When I woke up around 3 a.m. I noticed both were on the floor.
Today the fun began. I took a class this morning on playing the bodhran, which I have discovered is pronounced bor OHN. Mine is a pretty poor excuse for one anyway,but is particularly ad here because it's cool and a bit humid, and coming from warm, dry Sacramento, it is very flabby. Most good ones have tuners so you can loosen or tighten them, but I am to going to invest in a better one. I had hoped someone would have a stick to sell, because I just play mine with my hand. I ol earned some techniques today, but without a practice stick,it's not going to help me too much here. I like the teacher, though.
The second class I took was irish music for Anglo concertina. 
I've been looking forward to buying a new concertina, and I did realize in this class that I don't particularly want to play Irish music because it's a very specialized technique,and the Anglo concertina, as opposed to the English concertina, is the one that works like a harmonica -- push in for C, out for D. Probably more concentration than ill ever be able to muster. I probably won't go back to that class, either. I think tomorrow I will take Lisa lyn's class on the music business.
The other two classes I took this afternoon were one from Lisa -- beginning and intermediate harp, which was very beginning,but good info for teaching beginners, and intermediate to advanced for Ayreh Frankfurter. That class was wonderful. We discussed how to harmonize a piece in several different ways and also got some interesting chord arrangements to just learn and stick in wherever you want them to make you sound more professional. 
Our final scheduled event of each day was a big session of multiple instruments of Swedish music, which was really a lot of fun. That music is so lively and exciting. Aryeh was teaching that one as well and playing nickelarpa. After dinner Elizabeth and I sat out on the porch and played for awhile.
It was very cold this morning,and I was cold, even though I was wearing a shirt, a wool sweater, a fleece jacket and gloves. By about two in the afternoon I was able to take the jacket off, but by 5 I was ready to put it back on.
Earlier in the day I needed to get my harp over to the area where the lessons are. I debated walking over with it-- it's about the equivalent of 5 or 6 blocks, but decided to take the bus instead.i hadn't realized how far apart the camps were. I brought my hurdy gurdy because I wanted to take the French music class, but it's more or less the same time as the harp class, in camp 2,and if you catch the bus just right, it's about a half hour ride. If you don't, or if it's too full, you have to wait bother half hour. So the hurdy gurdy will remain in the room unplayed unless something changes.
My harp and harp case are absolutely covered with dust. I wore a hole in one of my socks yesterday, and may use it as a dust cloth for the harp. My harp gets a lot of attention here, because many of these musicians have never seen a carbon fiber harp in person,though most have heard of them. And even though they know cf harps are light, they don't really believe how light they are until they try to pick it up.
Sunday - it is so cold here, and ALL OF THE CLASSES ARE OUTSIDE! Whose lunatic idea was that? I am freezing all the time. Today I wore a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, my heavy jeans, my fleece jacket and my wool scarf, plus my winter gloves. And still, by the time the 9:30 a.m. drum class was over I could do a drum roll just by shivering. So I went for a two mile walk just to warm up. A long walk isn't really the best use of your time here, because there are so many interesting classes and just listening to jamming musicians.
Today I went to the "Getting your Music Out Ito the World" class, which had a lot of good stuff about marketing yourself and especially about busking. Our beginner harp class is pretty beginner, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. She throws in a few things for the more advanced players. Also, because these are a bunch of musicians, even though many of them are first timers at the harp, by the end of our second day today they could play the first part of Ode to Joy, Frere Jacques, Joy to the World, and Somewhere over the Rainbow with two hands.
And that's another fun thing. We went to a singing session tonight. I think most of the singers were from a class for people who are shy but want to sing in a session. They were all good, and the really cool thing was that when they would get to familiar parts of songs, you'd sort of hear some humming, and then you'd hear a couple of people singing along, and then it would just develop into beautiful four part harmony with a lot of beautiful voices. It's like nowhere I've ever been just for that alone. I realize that's the only thing I miss about being in a church is that connection I feel in a group of people singing. And this was even better, because I think it was mostly a bunch of heathens singing. So there was a real connection.
Our harp class with Aryeh is the best of all. We are working on making arrangements by learning simple bass patterns that we intend to practice until they are second nature and we can throw them in anywhere, and then we go through a chordless lead sheet and put in the chords three times. The first time is the white bread version, the second time is more interesting, but not totally unexpected chords, (like deceptive cadences and brief forays into minor chords, and the third time through is no holds barred. We didn't finish that segment in class, so it was homework, but since our class is at 4, and then we do Swedish music for an hour and then we have dinner, and then we party, I didn't have time to do mine, so I'll have to do it in the morning.
Monday. Last night I finally figured out how to keep my sleeping bag from sliding off the bed, which it does several times during the night. I have made up the bed with sheets and have my afghan on next to the sheets and the open sleeping bag on top. I wake up several times in the night because the slippery bag has slid off onto the floor, and I'm cold. Last night I pinned the bag to the bottom of the bed with a safety pin, and it worked like a charm. I slept all through the night. It makes it a tiny bit too short, but that's okay. And of course, in bed in the unheated cabin is the only time I'm warm all day.
I can't believe the camp is almost over for us. Today is our last day in the afternoon harp classes, boo hoo, and probably the only thing I'll be able to go to tomorrow is the freezing drum class, where I take my floppy, untunable drum, borrow someone else's stick, and make a sound not much more interesting than playing on a magazine.
This morning I dressed in a turtleneck, a light wool sweater, a heavy wool sweater, wool scarf, jacket, fingerless gloves under my regular winter gloves, jeans, and my fleece sweatpants over my jeans. In other words, the only clothes left in my suitcase are the ones I'm wearing home. Reminds me of when Zoe and I were in Amsterdam. Only colder. I can only imagine how miserable it would be in a regular year when it's not so dry. I've talked to several people who were here last year and they say it was really cold then. I can't imagine it being any colder. But that is my only complaint. And it's nothing the promoters can do anything about.
This morning I went to the bodhran class and banged around for another hour and a half. But today I sat at the fire before class and warmed up the drum head so it wasn't all mushy. Didn't really improve my playing all that much, though. I had a schedule to meet today, because Aryeh had assigned us to work out an arrangement of Eleanor Plunkett that didn't use the common chords and incorporated some of the licks he have us for left hand. I worked it out pretty well, sat up on the edge of the woods 
near the restroom and he came by and told me it was a beautiful arrangement. Of course when we got to class I couldn't get through more than a measure without stopping, because I had made too many changes and incorporated too many new things, and couldn't put them all together without having written some of them down. Oh, well. This has been the best arranging class ever, because we talked about how to put an arrangement together, i.e. "hymnal" version, slightly more different chords version, bridge that may be relatively unrelated, then simple first part of the piece again, relaxing, drawing into the finish, and then wow 'me with something special at the end. Always end with excitement. I wish I were here the rest of the week, because I'd love to continue this class. We also had a nice nuts and bolts recording/marketing class today. I did manage to take off my jacket for almost two hours today, due to the fact I had all those other layers on. Tomorrow I'll be complaining about the heat again.
Lisa Lyn said she would help us Elizabeth and me, because we are the two advanced students in her class, tomorrow morning with some tricks of the trade before we have to leave. I think they're pretty firm about wanting to see your taillights going down the road by noon if you are a half camper. If I come for a half camp again -- because even though I like the energy, I couldn't be this cold for 10 days without going crazy, I'd come back for the second half rather than the first.
Tonight we walked to camp three, which is about a mile or so. I can't believe how dark it is here. No lights at all. Not even moonlight because the trees are so dense. And quiet. Anyway, we went to a belly dance, middle eastern music program. Mostly the music. The dumbek player was amazing. We got back at 12:30. My roommates were already in bed when we left. If I've met them at camp, I haven't recognized them. They get up after I do and go to bed before I do, and of we ever see each other in the cabin it's too dark to see what they look like. However, one of them asked me about playing at the farmers market. Now, the only place I've mentioned that here is in the marketing class we took. Which means she was in the class (and there were only five or six people in the class and I knew 2 of them, but obviously I failed to recognize her. ).
Tuesday we had some time to just play harps for awhile, so that was fun, but we also had to pack up our tons of stuff and leave, which wasn't. I will definitely go to this camp again. I'll bring more warm clothes, though.
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