Feliz Navidad

 

Bobs Ridge - Pilot Wilderness

 

Rambling along the Riverbank

We've been delighting in a couple of days at Thredbo, with time to walk along the river, amongst rocks and trees, to savour the company, the sights, sounds and smells of the bush and her creatures.

Tree Art 1 - A long and winding path

Tree Art 2 - Sinking deep

Tree Art 3 - Bark Painting

Tree Art 4 - Playing with colour

Tree Art 5 - My Island Home

The elders

and the ancestors.

Hide and seek...

Nearly trod on this guy! He was sunning himself by the path when Sarah strode by nonchalantly (or to be honest, obliviously!!).

Thanks be for this time and place.

 

The trees of the wood shall clap their hands

One of the pleasures of walking to work is that I pass through the natural bush reserve on the top of O'Connor Ridge. I'm getting to know some of the trees, in a sense, 'by name' and I love sharing in their presence. These two venerable trunks are like an elephant's feet.

These guys are always 'in conference'.

Sometimes they go dancing.

And are happy to be together in this place.

Tenderly, they let go of the old ...

and make room for the new.

This guy looks as if he has something to say. Can I wait long enough to hear?

 

The Big Gig

Earlier this year, Tassie-based singer-songwriter and friend John Coleman invited our little band to play a few songs as part of An Evening with John Coleman and Friends planned for Canberra on October 31.

Here's the concert blurb: A John Coleman concert is a musical journey through universal experiences of love, loss, whimsy and joy. Over four decades John has recorded numerous original songs. His most recent (twelfth) album Amber and the Flow is a collection of master crafted Tasmanian story songs. In this concert, John will share new creations as well as diving into the back catalogue to sing songs that have meant much to him over the years. Along the way, John will be joined on stage by mate Al Campbell from his band ‘The Lovely Boats’ and supported by a short set from Canberra-based troubadours Bene.dict.us’ 

Here's what Sarah wrote about John in her endorsement of the event: ‘John Coleman is like a minstrel wooing us deeper into the poignant mystery of life and love. John’s music is balm for the soul and bread for the journey.'

And here's a few pics of the evening...

The man and his guitar, John Coleman. 

John and Al Campbell (on bass). Al also did a magnificent job with the PA along with some help and some gear from Chris. 

Later in the evening, Al further gifted us with couple of his own beautiful songs.

And here's us - Jack, tucked away in the back on drums and harmonies, Ricardo Vox, Christoph on bass and harmonies and me on guitar. Alas, our keyboard player was o/s travelling (we hope you're having a good time, Paulo).

We played a few of our own songs and a couple of covers. 

And we had a ball - singing, strumming, rocking, raging!! 'Still crazy after all these years'

It's a delight to make music with these guys.

To close out the evening we joined with John and Al for a final collaborative set. 

We started gently with a beautiful song of John's, Trust Me (words Noel Davis).

Rocked it up a bit with one of mine, Peace Like a River.

And wrapped up with Mike Scott's insistent and majestic anthem, Bring 'Em All In.

Bring 'em, indeed!!

Thanks so much John for bringing us in on this wonderful evening of music and BRING IT ON again!!

♩♩♩