Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday October 24, 2009 – Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II, Day 1

11:00am

Up for the sitting in the chapel/ballroom. Breakfast. A morning of Housecraft. The property is in generally very good shape; certainly a little better every time we are here. The new (though not so “new” anymore, I guess) caretaker seems to really care, and so the facility continues to incrementally improve. Still, we need to go over the space from stem to stern so that it is at Guitar Craft standards (one of the reasons they like us here – I very much doubt there is any other group that reliably leaves the place in better condition than they found it). I was on Saint George duty for the first part of the morning, and then back to promotion duties for Thursday’s show, taking one glorious break for 20 minutes on Frank’s table.

5:25pm

The property is in very good shape. Total Level T, top to bottom and front to back. The ballroom is ready for us. The kitchen is up and running. All is good. The flood of arrivals has begun. Robert arrived around noon with Jaxie and Ingrid. Patrick is here. Tom is here. Fernie is here. The gang’s all here.

Lunch was soup. Very good. A recipe that Travis learned from Patty, which has served us very well. Spoke with Robert about logistics for the show on Thursday. Promotion may now begin. The show will be announced to the course at large at the end of the inaugural meeting.

Afternoon of putting the show out for the public to see: facebook postings and events, myspace, twitter, the Tuning the Air mailing list, my mailing list, you name it. I wonder how many people here with internet capability on their phones will have already learned about it by the time the meeting begins.

Nearly everyone has arrived, and no disasters or incidents. A couple more with later flights, but everyone should be here by suppertime. And then, the fun begins.

7:20pm

Supper running a tad late. It’s a tradition. Came back to the staff compound and worked on a guitar exercise for 15 minutes. First time I’ve picked up a guitar since I arrived. Felt strange. Familiar, but peculiar.

Working on formulating my aim. I have a sense of its essence, but haven’t quite found a way to articulate it that carries the spirit of the thing.

10:50pm

The course is on. No longer the “Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II Preparation” retreat, course, or anything else. Now, it is the Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists II.