Guitar Circle

I've just come home from this guitar circle. I did not want to leave, but since my body wakes up early regardless of what the rest of me wants, I did the sensible thing.

Sitting there, absorbing excellent songs performed by excellent people, I realized I was surrounded by snips of other cultures. In the songs were references to Ireland, lyrics that originiated as Turkish Poetry, and a Middle Eastern-tinged tune called "Minaret." One guy did an astonishing acapella version of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

I had to clip my nails with a device made in China before I started playing (it's been a while, and long nails do not make for good chords). The friend I brought with me wore a ring she bought in Ireland; it depicts the archetypal peat cottage of her ancestors.

The host brought out a Kilim rug, thin and beautifully rich in earthy tones, to mellow the garage floor. Judging from the parts on tables and the Sharpie-written label on a box, he's in the process of restoring a Norton motorcycle.

And to round out the international elements, there was homemade absinthe and African moonshine available.

Just another night in the American midwest.