sunday: a day of no rest for the wicked

i left my house at 7:30 this morning, picked up an insane artist lady, and drove an hour north along the lake to the Illinois Beach State Park, where we spent the next 6 hours wandering around in a marshy, mosquito-infested field looking for some of the most beautiful pink flowers i have ever seen.Calopogon tuberosus, the grass-pink orchid. (taken by me, today)
Tough to spot when it's not in flower - its single leaf looks a hell of a lot like a blade of grass.
i've said it a thousand times already ... but again, i love my job.
we also saw many other ridiculously beautiful species of plants, and heard a couple dozen different species of birds sing, and i even saw a rotting beaver carcass simply crawling with maggots and bedecked with several beautiful butterflies.

then i drove home, showered (much needed! it was hot out!) and immediately left again to go to Tommy Nevin's irish pub, where i had heard there are irish seisuns every sunday. I was not disappointed! There were about 10 people playing when i got there. i walked in and sat down at the (not crowded - Sunday at 4 pm, after all) bar to get a pint. I sat there for about 5 minutes waiting, while the bartender helped people at the other end of the bar and generally ignored me. i was sitting next to an adorable old man drinking scotch on the rocks, and he started chatting to me, saying, i hope you weren't thirsty. finally, the bartender came over and i ordered my beer. when he brought it back, the old man insisted on paying for me, saying that i had to wait too long, so he'd pay for me.
then the bartender agreed with him, and bought my drink.
not too bad a way to start out the afternoon.
then the guy heading the seisun saw me at the bar with my bodhran and waved me over to the circle.
the music was great, and the people were great. many geriatrics, and a few 40-somethings. we played for an hour or so, and then this young (not even legal to drink) kid walks in with a bodhran. This is James, who has been playing with them for 3 years. He's a decent drummer, and has an angelic singing voice. he's also a good conversationalist, and a rock climber. we chat, and trade off on who gets to drum.
his drum is locally made, about 4 inches deep and with depth like a tympani. he also has a totally different style of drumming, so i personally think we could both play simultaneously without overpowering the other musicians. we'll see.
so then, during a break in the music, the guy running the seisun (who usually plays an accordion) stands up and announces to the room that it's tradition that when a guest or someone new joins them, he gets to play the tin whistle and the newbie has to accompany him. he then dives right into a fast (fast!)-paced reel, and plays for 5 minutes straight. he's a good whistle player! and i kept right up with him. we got a *big* round of applause afterward, and man, did it feel good.
this guy also played the "Star Wars" theme in traditional Irish style on the accordion (as a favor to the bartender) - it was remarkably good. and hilarious.

and now, after being home long enough to make dinner and upload my pictures from the day, i'm off to downtown to check out the post-day-pride-parade scene. pete wants to go, and is too afraid to go by himself - i guess he really doesn't want a boyfriend.

and all this while i'm in the middle of a really good book about cowboys, and all i want to do is read it - i keep grabbing time for a few pages here and there. it's called All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. it's a good read.

so, more pretty pictures taken by yours truly will follow at a later time. too much to do, not enough time to do it.
i guess Nevins has sessions not only on Sundays, but Wednesdays as well! cool! i'm pretty psyched. i'll sleep well tonight - 5 hours bent over in the hot sun, followed by two hours drumming ...