glenn’s parents live in a beautiful part of new jersey called newton. it is rural and lovely, lots of farmland. this was the longest stop on our trip; including our side trips to the beach and lancaster, we stayed there for ten days.
kendra, june, eddie, hazel.
the cousins get along so well; it’s really sweet. here they are at dairy queen.
glenn got his skills from his dad.
their property is regularly visited by bears, deer, and bunnies.
this is sweet little baby nora, kerry’s (glenn’s sister) youngest. i am entirely smitten with her.
this is the entire smith clan, minus scott’s (glenn’s brother) wife, tiff.
at the end of our visit, glenn and i left the girls with his parents (poppy & apple) overnight and went to lancaster, pennsylvania to see the felice brothers. (thanks for everything, guys!)
we drove through amish country, with towns with names like hecktown, intercourse, virginville, buttzville (sorry, i feel like a middle school boy sharing this with you, but it was pretty funny.)
it was a free show in a huge park.
maybe you think i am too old to be following bands around the country and making gifts for them. i hope not. (remember this and this?) the truth is, music is an enormous part of who i am. it always has been. it has nothing to do with being any kind of groupy of course. (in fact, i always say something like “my husband says they take some getting used to” if glenn himself is not with me so they do not think i am coming on to them.) it has everything to do with wanting to somehow show my appreciation to the musicians whose music means so very much to me, the music that is the soundtrack of my life. you already know that the music that i love is a huge inspiration in my work. i wouldn’t be me without my music and i love to make a tiny connection with the folks who make it. does that make sense?
it was a great show! what i really loved about them was that they are very raw and very real. (it is said that their first album was recorded in a chicken coop.) they were traveling in a rusty old winnebago that did not look like it would run. ian’s guitar looked like he got it from a pawn shop, and jimmy’s accordion was missing keys. their stage presence is not polished and rehearsed. but they were so dang incredible; they have so much soul.
we are now on the last leg of our journey. we did stick to our original plan and went the southern route. i will share photos with you very soon. we have had such an amazing time and there will definitely be a bit of sadness upon returning home. but at the same time, i am simply dying to get out to my brand new studio and make some of the pieces that i have been sketching in my book throughout this whole excursion! and i can’t wait to see the animals, and our friends that we have been missing…
