Coast Chronicles: Life all around us

Published 7:40 am Monday, September 5, 2022

Weather report

Do I always start with the weather? This must be a habit left over from a childhood in the Yakima Valley where, whether you were from a farming family or not, everyone knew what was going on with the fruit and the seasons. Yakima is Big Sky country and when storms roll in you see them coming. Or feel it in the air. A cloud in front of the sun can drop the temp instantly. If dry air becomes humid quickly, we all know it’s going to rain.

So here in Nahcotta, I’m tuned in — our morning fog that doesn’t burn off ‘til midday feels like fall to me. I think we’ve turned the corner — summer’s in the rear view mirror — though Carol Newman (and others) have put their feet down, “No! Fall starts on Sept. 22, autumnal equinox — I’m holding the line on that.”

Seems to me, though, we might still get away with planting some greens, especially kale and other big leafies that tend to do well even after a first frost. I did plant some watercress (lately Jack’s has been carrying it with roots attached) into my cattail pond. It’s been food for… I don’t know what. And some bugs are eating neat little holes in my rose leaves. Deer are “pruning” my apple trees. Oh, and the moles — well, you get the picture. I’m providing an equal opportunity cafeteria and campground. I even leave my doors open so the house-spiders have something to eat.

The Liberty Theatre

Last week I wrote about the country/city dilemma: the beauty, cohesive community, peace and quiet we experience in a small town, versus the need for topnotch cultural offerings. But often performances of exceptional quality find us even here. Sue and Bill Svendsen have been providing live music performance for years at the Peninsula Arts Center. They even created a way for us to enjoy live music during the covid shut-down and are responsible for rejuvenating Oysterville Vespers. And the Liberty Theatre has managed to survive and is at the top of its game. Executive director Jennifer Crockett says, “During covid, things got pretty bad for a minute, but people care about the theatre so we knew nobody was going to let us fail. I was able to keep that in my mind.”

So, yes, if anyone needed a reminder about the talent showcased at the Liberty, last weekend’s Pink Martini shows certainly put that to rest. From the stage, Jennifer reminded us that Pink Martini played the opening show after the theatre’s renovation 20 years ago. And here they were again. The theatre has 642 seats and every one was filled. (The majority of people wore masks.)

Pink Martini formed up in 1994 around the brilliant musicality of Thomas Lauderdale, piano, and China Forbes, vocals. (Thomas and China first met at Harvard.) And they wasted no time going from a Northwest treasure to an international sensation. As Lauderdale says, “Our repertoire is wildly diverse. At one moment you feel like you’re in the middle of a Rio de Janeiro samba parade, and, the next, you’re in a French music hall in the 1930s.” True to type, they delightfully zigzagged the audience all around the globe.

Special guests joined them for vocals: Edna Vázquez (Colima, Mexico), Sophie von Trapp (yes, the “Sound of Music” family), and Katie Harman Ebner (Miss Oregon who went on to win Miss America). Edna slayed me with her version of “Bésame Mucho.” Katie sang a duet from the opera “Tristan and Isolde” — she was Isolde to the trombone’s Tristan (amazing)! And Sophie popped up during the “tell us what you’d like us to sing” portion of the show and delivered “My Favorite Things.”

Levity on stage

I think it’s true that most of us are deeply depressed or at least stressed out these days, what with two years of covid; politicians actually calling for violence; fire, smoke, outrageous heat waves, water crises; inflation; the war in Ukraine…what am I forgetting? As a country it seems we’ve forgotten how to have fun. How do we remedy this dismal-nitchiness?

Pink Martini led the way. They are such excellent, confident musicians that nothing seemed to phase them. Thomas is a natural comic on stage, and he reveled in a controlled chaos that kept us on our musical toes. Just before the intermission, he asked audience members to suggest songs we’d like them to play. “Just put them on the stage.” No one had paper — but no problem. People wrote on the backs of their ticket stubs, pieces ripped from letters, tattered napkins and notepads. These scrips and scraps were scattered on the edge of the stage, and Thomas collected them up in a haphazard stack on the top of the piano. (Curious as always, I took some photos of these tidbits of humanity.)

These notes were not simply song titles — they expressed the passion and devotion of the Pink Martini fans. There were several missives, notes about when they last heard the band, reminiscences, pleas for a certain song with special meaning or for a special person or occasion. One read, “Please play ‘Hey Eugene,’ I fell in love with your music in elementary school and now I’m graduating this year. Thank you for being you. I’m so glad I got to finally see you, Lauryn.”

So the second half of the concert was an exercise in spontaneous hilarity. At one point, someone just yelled out, “Jazz!” And, in minutes, extraordinary guitarist Dan Faehnle started off on a Charlie Parker tune that I could have listened to all night. (Just a happy note here that the Liberty’s McTavish Room will become a Jazz Club, featuring Darrell Grant, jazz pianist, and friends. Keep an eye on this development.) At one point, China even launched into John Lennon’s “Imagine” with only a first verse in her head — we all chimed in enthusiastically on the chorus and went on to a totally scrambled second verse.

By the end of the evening of a nearly three-hour concert, we were all on our feet, dancing clapping, and laughing. Though some of us had forgotten what fun felt like, Pink Martini — “the United Nations of House Bands” — jogged our memories. This was definitely it!

You are here

I got home at midnight, and waking up the next morning, I was still glowing: music and laughter ringing in my ears. So I propose to you that we recommit ourselves to the Liberty Theatre, Water Music, Rod Run, Peninsula Arts Center, Sou’wester performances and/or the cultural organization of your choice for some live anything that gets us out of the house. There truly is a little something for everyone if you just look around you. (As Jennifer noted from the Liberty Theatre stage, “So far, Pink Martini and acrobatic stunt dogs are our biggest sellers!”)

I’m hoping that as we turn the corner into a darker season — a season of reading books by the fire, luscious soups, dominoes (or add your favorite game here) with friends, and walks in the rain — we can continue to put fun in our lives. As far as we know we only live once. (Please get in touch with me if you have other information.) We might as well fill it with love, good friends and good times.

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Apropos: Saturday evening Sept. 17 from 4:30-5:30/6ish at the Sou’wester workshop room, there will be a literary gathering and poetry reading with regional and local poets including Bob Pyle, Florence Sage, Tony Pfannestiel, Paul Nelson, John Ciminello Matt Trease, Diana Elser and others. Free and open to the public.