East Grove Blues

Over the last few weeks at home it seems that I have been fed a bit of creativity. I never complain when these hit, I just try to use them as best that I can. In fact they generally make me really happy. It is like a piece of me needs to just come out and see what is going on. “Hello world, look at me!!!”

It has led to a couple of songs! This seems to happen. I will have a really intense period of writing and then a quiet spell for months or up to a year. I have to give my friend Ryan credit for the first song. He was trying to make fun of me, but I took what he said and ran with. Ten minutes later a had a song written and ready to go. I have been polishing it today. Hopefully I can get it memorized soon.

The second song came last night. I had both a really good day and a really bad day. It is strange how that can happen. Anyway, I was playing music with dad and I was messing around in drop D. I just started thinking about Salem and the Underground Railroad and I felt compelled to do a song about it. The next thing I knew I was free styling lyrics. Afterward I wrote down what I could remember but I probably lost have of my good lines. I have been working on it today and it is now a playable song. I will probably do some more finishing touches as time goes by but I am fairly pleased with it at the moment.

My favorite songs are the ones that I rarely have to work on. They just come out spontaneously.  They feel natural while the other ones feel forced when ever I try to play them. I don’t know if people could tell the difference or not, but I sure can.

My my last day of work has come and gone, and while I am sad to say good bye to my students and fellow teachers, I am very happy to be done with teaching for the moment. Teaching is a lot of fun, but it is also exhausting. I came away almost everyday drained and tired. That means that I put my all into what I was doing, which made me a fairly decent teacher I believe, but I didn’t have enough time to recuperate. By the end of the week I would wake and drag myself out of bed. Not because I hated what I was doing, but because I was still tired and wanted more sleep.

Some people are gifted with boundless energy. Some people can feed of the energy of others. I draw my energy from myself. I can get a boost from an energetic class, but only while I am around the kids. As soon as it ends I crash. On friday I got out of class and shamelessly fell asleep in a chair in the teacher’s room. A lot of time all I need is that nap. When I woke up a half hour later I was ready to go and play again. I just needed that time to recharge.

It has been a great time. I have learned that I do love to teach, but I want to do it on my own terms and by my own schedule. I somehow need to figure out how I can teach Yoga part time and work with trees on the farm. If I can do that than I could perhaps have found a little heaven on earth. So that is what I am working on right now.

Today is my last day of teaching Yoga here in Japan. I asked my students if they wanted to have a party or do yoga. They all said they wanted to do Yoga. That made me ridiculously happy. It seems most everyone’s favorite pose is happy baby pose. I could speculate as to why that is, but I will let your imagination fill it in. It will be hard to say good bye to my Yoga students. I feel bad leaving them without a teacher. I hope they continue on their own or move over to the Tai Style Yoga class on friday.

Wednesday will be hard as well. It is my last music night in Miyako. I have had a great time playing with the Ramblers and my voice has noticeably improved over the last year. I am starting to find my own voice, the one that is unique to everyone. I will keep singing until I have it down and being the lead singer in a band has been invaluable to me. In some ways it will be the hardest to say good bye to the Ramblers. They are like family to me.

The band that I play in is a lot of fun. We play mostly Bluegrass which is fine, though sometimes I wish we would branch out a little more. I played a lot of gigs since becoming a member, but mostly during the summer months when there was a lot of festivals going on. For a while we haven’t been playing, which was nice because I like to have breaks! Anyway, winter is here and so are the gigs. I am playing two Christmas concerts before I return home. (To play any number of different times on my vacation)

Anyway, before the Christmas season started the leader of the band signed us up for a concert at Countries Cafe. (The owner biked across America by himself) I like going to Countries, if only to speak English and listen to really good music. He holds a lot of concerts, but they are usually late affairs that I am asleep for. This time it started at four and we were the first ones to go. When I was told the name of the concert it didn’t really occur to me what it was. Mostly I just figured it was some random English put together. I should have guessed better. Riot Anthem was exactly as it sounds.

‘The Ramblers’ opened a Japanese punk concert with classics like ‘Somebody touched me’, ‘Keep on the Sunny Side’ and ‘Will the Circle be Unbroken’. I have to say it was the best gig I have been to to date. All the people were musicians and they truly enjoyed our playing. It may not have been what they normally listened to, but they had fun nonetheless. I have never had people sing the songs back to me after I leave the stage. It was a lot better than playing for a bunch of old Japanese people that don’t really have any idea what’s going on. I had a lot of fun the entire afternoon. I want to play more for people my own age!

I ended up leaving shortly after our set. I spent the entire afternoon listening to very loud punk rock being practiced and by the time I was done playing myself my head was ringing. My head hurt and my ears took an hour to get back to normal. I don’t know why folks have to listen to music so loudly. I like punk music, and it helped to pump me up for the show, but after a couple of hours I was plain tired. Next time I am bringing ear plugs.

So I decided on a title for my blog. (For now at least)

It comes from a song from Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Its called ‘Walk on’ and its about being a lonely traveler and wander around until you walk your way back home. I really need to learn the song so I can play it.

I just finished this song about a half hour ago. It is the combination of new and old lyrics from unfinished songs and a new melody that is really cool and is super fun to play. The first part of the lyrics were written right before coming home from the Peace Corps and now I have a newer set right as I am setting out once again. I find that very amusing. This is also two songs in as many months which is like a writing spree for me.

G                             D                           G
I’ve seen the world, I’ve seen its pain, I’ve seen its woe
My Iowa home, my heart cries out, for my return

G
Going home, going home
No more I’ll wander, no more I’ll roam
D                     G
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, Take me home

Rolling hills, and ancient trees, the prettiest land I’ve ever seen
Winding cricks, and green farm fields, I’m going back where life is real

Going home, going home
No more I’ll wander, no more I’ll roam
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, Take me home

G
I can run, I can hide, In the end I will find
I can run, I can hide, in the end I will find
D                     G
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, Take me home

I can run, I can hide, In the end I will find
I can run, I can hide, in the end I will find
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, take me home
Timber Road, Take me home

Its just a 2 chord wander, but there is a lot of melody on the banjo that doesn’t translate well into this forum. I also use strange G and D chords. The G is just d and g and the D is just a and d. It makes it sound really cool.

I started writing down my dreams a couple of months ago. I got a lot of surprises out that. I’ll write more on it later, but one of the biggest was a song. Its a haunting melody with a two finger picking pattern. Very simple, but perfect for the song. I wrote most of this song one night at a party while everyone was drinking except me.

Am  C        F               Am
I do fear these things I see
And I do run from what they mean
I’m not sure just what they are
But I do know I won’t get far

Am
I won’t get far, I won’t get far

Banjo Interlude

The dream that I have just forgot
Is the one that I must not
It holds the key to how I’ll die
For I know that time is nie

That time is nie, that time is nie

Hence the need for me to try
To figure out how I’ll survive
My friends have gone the way of ghosts
And that is what I fear the most

I fear the most, I fear the most

Banjo interlude

How can I now find my way
On these paths of everyday
They say to me that fate is blind
But I now know my fate is mine

My fate is mine, my fate is mine

I wrote this when I first got to Japan. It is not an actual experience, though I like to joke about it. This is the song when I learned how to Clawhammer. I also don’t write to many humorous songs, so I am rather proud of this one.

G
I don’t even know your name
Bb             C     Bb            C
Calling for me, calling for me
What am I supposed to say
Calling for me, calling for me
I can’t even run away
Calling for me, calling for me
When your there inside my bed
Calling for me, calling for me

G
I woke up this morning
Next to someone
I just met
That I suspect
That I have done
What I’ll regret

Banjo Solo

I don’t even know your name
Calling for me, calling for me
What am I supposed to say
Calling for me, calling for me
I can’t even run away
Calling for me, calling for me
When your there inside my bed
Calling for me, calling for me

Banjo Solo

I explained how I felt about coming home, but now I’d like to explain what led me to the feeling.

Japan has been good to me. I have had a good job with great kids. I live in a great place, nestled in the mountains next to a bubbling river. I am only a short drive from the Pacific Ocean and some of the greatest seascapes that I have ever seen. The weather is almost exactly like home, but perhaps is a bit wetter. I have lots of friends and I am usually doing one activity or another. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The thing is though, even though I am doing all these things, there are a few that stick out that I would like to be able to do more of.

Music is one. I play once a week with a Blue Grass band from Miyako. I was surprised and very pleased to join and be able to play so often with other people. It has been a great experience. I have gotten a lot better at the banjo and guitar. I have written several new songs and have a few more in the works. I have learned so much from the group. I want to play more and I want to learn more. As much as I get from them I, I still have problems asking how to do things, and that frustrates me. I know I can learn a lot more, but it would be a lot easier at home. I would like to be near a music scene that is alive and full of people closer to my own age. I like blue grass, but my playing style is more related to folk than to anything else. I don’t want to have to drive forty minutes to be able to see or play anything with other people.

Another activity is Yoga. I love Yoga. It is the glue that keeps all my other activities together and focused. It helps with everything; from running, biking or swimming. (Not including my everyday life.)I have been doing it for over a year and a half and I can both see and feel the change that my body has gone through. Recently I have been lucky enough to be able to both teach and have a teacher. This has improved my Yoga tremendously. Having a teacher has really shown me how much I can improve and where I need to improve. I love doing Yoga by myself, but I work myself a lot harder when there are other people around. I push myself to new levels. I really want to start focusing more on my Yoga. I enjoy doing it and I enjoy teaching it and I want that to be a larger part of my life than it is now. I am starting to do that now, but I know I could do so much more. I want to be around an area that has more days that I can take Yoga with a group. I also want to be around people who can explain to me things in my own language and where I can do likewise. I honestly don’t have the desire to get my Japanese to that level. Language is not something I have ever been good at. (This is true for English as well as any of the others that I have tried to learn.)

Ever since the Peace Corps my diet has changed a lot. I used to be a meat and dairy man. Now I rarely eat either, if at all. I would like to cut out meat all together. (For reasons I will post later.) I can’t do that here. I eat at school and I think it would be too rude for me to say to the Board of Education that I no longer want to eat the food they provide. I get weird looks as it is when I don’t drink the milk. Living on my own, with out a provided lunch would go a long ways towards accomplishing my goals.

To be honest I would like to be close to my family more. I have lived most of the last four years away from home. I think I would like to be closer to everyone. I can do that and still be far enough to not go to crazy. No one is getting any younger and I would like to be around more to help out when I can. I can’t do that at all when I live in a different country. It doesn’t mean I will stop traveling, but it does mean that I might take a break for a bit and reassess my options.

I know that it is a little strange to leave a decent paying job that I enjoy, but when my gut tells me its time to go I always listen. It knows better than I do and it has never lead me astray. It just feels like the right thing to do. I have put here just a few of the many reasons. These just stick out a bit more than the others.

I wrote this right before coming to Japan. I have to give Dad credit for coming up with the melody. I heard it and lyrics just came pouring out of me. I love it when music just comes out on its own. All I have to do is polish it a bit.

C                                         F
Well I don’t know, but I’ve been told
C                                                   G
I’m supposed to work until I’m old
C                                                 F
But I tell you sir, that’s not my way
C                  G                         C
I’d rather play music everyday

Chorus:
Cause music is my life to me
It’s the only thing that sets me free
Try to put me in a cage
I’d die to young of old age

They’d try to take my life from me
They’d send me to a factory
I’d run away ’cause I don’t care
I’d take the rail and I’d take the air

Chorus

I’ll play it here and I’ll play it there
I’ll play it just about anywhere
I’ll play it near and I’ll play it far
On a stage or in a bar

Chorus

I don’t know, but I’ll tell you true
I don’t know where I’m going too
But this I know, the wind will blow
And where I’ll end up only god can know

Chorus

This one was written at the same time as the previous song.

D     A6                           G                                        G6                D
I, have been around, laughing through tears, at all that I found
And I know, that there’s no place, left in this world, for people like me

Try, try as I might, I can’t seem to find, what could set me free
So I guess, I’ll wander some more, finding more friends, but never a cure

I, Have been around, laughing through tears, at all that I found
And I, can’t seem to be, what seemingly pleases, everyone but me

Those lies, I can not take, no no I refuse, I will not break
So I guess, I’ll wander some more, finding more friends, but never a  cure

I, Have been around, laughing through tears, at all that I found
And I guess, I’ll wander some more, finding more friends, but never a cure