All the Ron

I received a note from my friend, Ron, in Nashville announcing that he'll be DJing tomorrow (Sat, 9 Jun) night at the Swan Ball, a big funds-raiser for Cheekwood Botanical Garden and a huge event on Nashville's social calendar. Ron is very excited about this, with just cause. Not only is he bringing dance music to one of the hoitiest of Nashville's hoity-toity events, he's also going to be experimenting with his new VJ set-up, which includes some experimental equipment that will let him more easily beat-mix videos in the way that DJs mix songs. (Not just DJing -- VJing!) It should be quite fab. Did I mention that Jay Leno and Earth, Wind, and Fire will be appearing at the Ball, too?

Check out Ron's, Cheekwood's, and Swan Ball's Web sites, linked above, and read the story about Ron in All the Rage, the weekly happenings rag published by The Tennessean (their equivalent of Winston-Salem's Relish).

So, Ron, will I soon have to adjust my bookmarks to point to vjron.com instead of djron.com? :J

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Update: Since the 2007 Swan Ball has come and gone, Ron has posted some photos of the VJ booth at the event. Enjoy!

Granny's Song

Music is often a significant component of my family get-togethers, as a look at some of the photos in my Flickr account will tell you. My Pops plays fiddle and there are also guitar, piano, and harmonica players among us. (I have nothing about which to brag in this regard, as I've never attempted to develop any musical talents.) A recent family get-together was no exception and included a song that's becoming a standard at such events, Granny's Song by Sheila Kay Adams, a North Carolina story-teller and folk musician. I have reproduced here the lyrics with their author's permission to do so. Believe me; there are few dry eyes by the final chords of this song! :J

Granny's Song

In my mind I see her there,
on the porch sitting in her chair,
with her arms thrown wide to welcome me,
as I walked up the road past her cherry tree.

And with blue-veined hands she taught me how
to plant new corn, milk the cow
and she taught me songs of ancient lore
about kings and queens and love and war.

Chorus:
So Granny get your stick and come walk with me
we'll go digging ginseng in our dreams.
And we'll climb the hillsides over home
as we close our eyes and set our thoughts to roam.
And my heart, my soul, my spirit flies
as I walk with Granny one more time.

"Granny loves you," she says to me,
and "the very best of life is free"
as we rolled our britches to our knees
to wade in the stream beneath the buckeye trees.

And what priceless gifts she gave to me;
the love, the songs, were all for free.
The thoughts I carry in my heart
she helped to plant there from the start.

Repeat Chorus

Well, she reached back down through all those years
and touched my heart and calmed my fears.
She is my Granny and my best friend;
my love for her will never end.

And she takes my little ones on her knee.
She tells them tales she once told me.
With a gentle touch she wipes their brow
as she says, "come walk with Granny now."

Repeat Chorus