Snack

I don't like to be

Surprised by seeds when I am

Eating Clementines.

Gardening is hard

No place to put the clippers

In my blue nightgown.

Twice I saw the moon

Beaming through the window shades

In the dark of night.

Jazz Fest 2009

The hostess nearly refuses to seat me- It's 4:00 on a Thursday during Jazz Fest and I finally have a few minutes to hear some music.  

"Are you having dinner?," she asks.

"No," I say. 

She lets a look of exasperation come into her eyes.  

"Well, I can seat you for about an hour," she says.

"I only have 25 minutes," I reply.

She tells the waiter "Drink only," behind my back as she adjusts the velcro on the side of the tent in anticipation of the oncoming storm.  After a few moments she finishes and turns as if just now noticing that she has been standing where she told me to sit and says, "Just in case."

In a few minutes the waiter appears and with no greeting says "What would you like?"  

I say, "Ricard pastis, please."

A few more minutes go by and now the waiter reappears with my drink and makes a point of saying, "Is that all you're having?"  

"Yes," I say.  He removes the silverware with a flourish.

There are ten empty tables where I have been seated.

Juliet McVicker is playing.  The band has played two numbers-showing good versatility- before three women take the stage.  The women have a good blend and sing with confidence.  Their parts swirl and float out as the rain and thunder approach.  

Two more tables have been seated.  It's 4:25 and a trumpet player joins the band, maybe it is Jennifer Hartswick, adding just the right sound.  The band solos around and the women sing "Jeepers Creepers".  Then they launch into a sassy version of "Don't You Feel My Leg," a Maria Muldaur hit from the seventies.

So despite the service and the fact that I am now two minutes over the time I had to be here, I find myself smiling, and the band smiles back- all of us appreciating music in the rain at Leunig's during Jazz Fest.