Day 6 - Bringing It All Together

Allie Working Out the Last Songs

This is it.  The last full day at the Folk School.  My mounting sadness over the foreseeable end to my wonder week was well tempered by the anticipation of the final night's concert in front of the whole school.  Tonight we would perform two songs for everyone while they gathered to show off their own hard work.  Understandably, the final day was taken up mostly by repeated playing of our two main tunes and polishing up the little rough spots that remain.  At the same time I noticed we were speaking more of our real lives, discussing what we were going to do next and where we were all headed.  Some of us were headed home, some to continue on to other adventures, but all of us had clearly had a great time at the school and with David.

For my part I found myself nursing my growing blister (still can't believe I played enough to get one) and milking David for any last tidbits of information.  For his part he was free handed in giving out CDs with songs on them and the tabs to help us play them.  We closed out the day smelling the wonderful things the cooking class below us was preparing for the showcase.  I found myself gravitating again and again to the wonderful porch and the amazing view I would, in all likelihood, never see again.

A Blacksmith Hurrying to Finish On Time

And then it was time.  We hurried ourselves up to the main hall to prepare and sample the work of all the other classes.  The food was amazing (you can never trust the musicians around food and since it seems just about everyone at the school is some sort of musician, you can imagine how fast the food went).  The metal work was astonishing - every natural form you could think of all hammered out of metal.  The waterpaints were evocative and well representative of the growing spring outside.  The wood turnings were graceful, glowing gently in the overhead lights.  There was even more pottery and jewelry to gawk at, handmade papers and cards, and the most amazing shaker side tables - all miraculously finished in the wee hours of the morning.

Out By The Blacksmith Shop

And then it was time.  We arranged ourselves on the stage and played quickly through both Cripple Creek and Old Joe Clark.  Save for a bit of a tuning gaffe in the beginning, I think I acquitted myself well and we all received a hearty round of applause for our efforts.  Before I knew it, it was all over.  We had performed, everyone else had shown off their work, and we were all off for our last meal together as a group.  I knew from talking to other people that many of us wouldn't be sticking around for breakfast in the morning, so there were a lot of goodbyes and emails addresses exchanged.  People I had spent my whole week with began to drift away and we all began to close down and return to real life.  It was sad, but in a way still very satisfying.  The school will go on, the students will keep coming and going like the tides, but my time here was nearly done.  I hope to come back, but I can't imagine how.  For now, I am eternally grateful and so proud to be a part of such a select group of artists and tinkerers.