The Old Lady had a conversation about how great it is to be, well, an old lady.

Another old lady mentioned that, once you have six or seven decades under your belt, you have a clearer perspective on all of your stories. While your stories are happening you are too involved to see The Big Picture. When you look back over the entire trajectory of your life The Big Picture clarifies and all the patterns of your path can be seen, all those seemingly random threads coming together to make images out of the warp and woof of your life.

Then a younger person pointed out that the older you are, the more “life in prison” becomes an acceptable risk.

Gee, thanks… I think.

Kato Estill performed at Fox Mountain the very first time The Old Lady camped there, and has returned throughout the years. On the recent evening pictured above, Kato killed it!

Her guitar is mellow and melodic, supported by a band that both shines and allows Kato to shine.

Her voice is the voice of a mature woman, one who has been a lot of places and seen a lot of stuff and turned it all, good and bad, into powerful songs.

Check out her music at https://www.youtube.com/user/katoestill but you need to hear Kato LIVE and preferably on a small stage in the woods…

LISTEN to The Old Lady!

Whoosh!

The Old Lady has recovered sufficiently from a whirlwind weekend of live music and is ready to tell you the tale.

Barb Carbon has been around for a while and The Old Lady knew she could rock… but it wasn’t until the release party for Barb’s debut solo album The Fighter that she saw clearly Barb the Rock Star. Backed up by a fine band of more than a dozen instruments Barb grabbed the stage and the audience and refused to let go of either one.  

If you missed this fine performance The Old Lady sympathizes, and recommends that you order your own copy of The Fighter on the web at https://barbcarbon.com/home#store

Tomorrow… Part Two!

“Adventure,” opined The Old Lady, “is where you find it.

“It might be in a carport, where a tiny oak snake is tucked in between buckets.

“Could be in the backyard near that carport, which overlooks a flooded field studded with spooky oak trees.

“If you look for adventure you will find it, wherever you find yourself.

“That which you truly expect will find you.”

LISTEN to The Old Lady!

“It’s odd,” pondered The Old Lady, “the things that we notice, and to which we attach significance.

”Today I looked down while driving and noticed that the odometer had hit 250,000. My immediate reaction was, pull over! Take a picture!

“And after I’d done so I thought, ‘Why?’

“Why do certain events in time and space seem significant only at certain milestones? Why is 250,000 miles more interesting than 249,999? Why is my birthday more important than a Tuesday? Why did we spend so much more on fireworks for the Bicentennial than we did the year after?

“What makes it all the odder is that it’s just numbers, artificially imposed measuring systems. None of it really means anything.”

And then The Old Lady toddled off to post the photo on Facebook.

“It’s not just the bands…” reflected The Old Lady…

“It’s not just the FREE admission…

“And it’s CERTAINLY not the August heat…

“What I love best about WAKE UP FEST is family. I love seeing Jimi Davies, the promoter, playing guitar with his little sisters and brother in their band RAINBOW SALLY AND THE SUICIDE SNAILS. I love that even though the show was running late because of a storm and electrical problems Jimi let Sally the lead singer, Jada on ukulele, and brother Mylan on drums perform as long as they wanted. I love that the hard-core, tattooed, spaced-out crowd rushed the stage and treated RAINBOW SALLY AND THE SUICIDE SNAILS like the rock stars that they are.

“I love that folks bought Sally’s hand-made merch… and wore it proudly!”

SUPPORT LOCAL MUSICIANS… THE YOUNGER THE BETTER!

LISTEN TO The Old Lady!

“My, how the time flies,” observed the Old Lady over her spectacles, “WAKE UP FEST 2019 is upon us!”

The fun starts Friday afternoon and runs straight through Sunday morning at the Valdosta Wake Compound (look for the sign just west of I-75 exit 13).

“Too many bands to list!” cried The Old Lady as she packed her drinking water, sunscreen, and sun hat. “Listen up, young’uns, drinking beer is fine as long as you DRINK WATER TOO, I am still traumatized from the night a young man passed out while playing a set because he was dehydrated, it was not only upsetting but it cut the set short.

“Y’all please DRINK WATER and PROTECT YOURSELVES FROM THE SUN!

“And by the way… have fun!”

LISTEN to The Old Lady!

“Let us consider Les Lions d’Atlanta,” mused The Old Lady.

“The lion is a symbol of pride, strength, and nobility, which is probably why architect John Portman commissioned the two bronze sculptures to express his concept of old Henry Grady’s “New South”… who’s Henry Grady? Google him, children; don’t they teach Georgia History anymore? Where is Mrs Barksdale, now that we need her?” (here The Old Lady throws her hands up in mock despair).

Les Lions are apparently male and female.

The Old Lady was amused to note that while the female rests in regal repose…

… the male kind of looks like a big weenie dog who has just eaten his dinner.

As far as a symbol of the city in its current globally diverse incarnation goes, The Old Lady prefers that Lions of Atlanta that is a Cameroonian amateur soccer club.

Art is a mirror, reflecting our several faces and forms so that we may see them more clearly.

The image may be distorted…

… or clearly enhanced…

… but close examination always rewards the seeker with fresh perspectives.

Everybody in the city is simultaneously shooting and starring in their own movie.

Many are running their own soundtrack, earbuds locked in place to protect their private music from ambient noise.

The Old Lady’s soundtrack IS that ambient noise, chords built of screeching rails and honking traffic and wailing sirens… but occasionally, found sounds of less discordance…

… like the bearded dude with a backpack who sat down at a colorful paint-splashed piano and filled the transit station with liquid notes…

… or The Dianas, who sang thousand-year-old songs to the modernistic steel and glass structures surrounding the Arts Piazza.

“Free range music,” sighed The Old Lady as she settled into a chair. “A fine addition to my personal soundtrack.”