Last Tuesday, I joined up with Armen, Kevin and Brian, and we went up to Auberry.  The library there, which is a creative, buzzing hub of cultural activity, sponsors a monthly concert series, and we were the lucky band for this month.

We were shuttled to the high school, where we quickly set up and performed a little set for the jazz band. The music teachers in Auberry must be doing a great job because the students were a wonderful audience and asked super important questions.  A few of them asked if they could come up and look over the shoulders of the instrumentalists during our last tune; a brilliant idea and it was so cool to watch the wheels turning as they soaked it all in.

When the jazz band students left for their next class, the orchestra and some choir students came in, and we did another mini set with Q & A.  I really wish we could have stayed longer...  it felt wrong to just go running out, but we had to get over to the middle school.

There, we did a mini set and Q & A again for their band.  SUCH good questions and enthusiastic faces.  Again, the time was too short, but we all felt the rush of inspiration that comes from reaching across a generation and seeing yourself as somehow, strangely-but-truly, the "older, wiser ones."  Wow.  And I know that each of us saw ourselves in the faces and bodies of those kids, when we ourselves were much younger and just beginning to think of ourselves as musicians.

Next, Loren took us to an amazing restaurant, Don Fernando's.  WOW. WOWOWOWOWOW.  That's all I can think to say.  Good talk, good company, lots of small moaning sounds as we took bites of food, and I will definitely make the drive to go and eat there again, bringing lots of friends along with me. (By the way, Loren, my leftovers were left in the fridge at the library, just as you somehow predicted they would be....)

Tummies now full, we  went back to the library to await the evening concert for the public.  We contemplated the bean bag chairs, but instead perused books, chatted with Ann, the librarian, made up the set-list, and sipped teas and such.

The concert was well-attended and the audience was warm and appreciative.  All in all, it was a great day.  And all of it was funded and arranged by the Friends of the Auberry Library, who also put on regular events such as speakers, chess lessons, outdoor concerts, theatre performances, etc.  This little library and its wonderous staff are golden; they are creating a place for the community to gather and be enriched in many ways.  It was inspiring to see it all working, and to be invited to be a part of it for a day.