An evening with BB King

Blues music, what is there to say? About five months ago I was cleaning out my garage, listening to BB's latest album. Prior to that I had made the determination that I was going to buy music that I would not normally listen to in order to broaden my horizons. With strong guitar, bass, and brass an obvious start was Blues. I've always liked strong guitar sounds and I play trumpet and have spent many hours in concerts both performing and as an audience member. Perhaps I'm reincarnated from an older time, where people sang with their heart and not their mic.

To that extent Blues reaches out to me and touches a place in my soul that other music can't. If I had to describe the feeling, I would relate it to ocean waves. Sink in the sounds, let it wash over you, and pull you out into something greater than the sum of the parts. Last night I had to pleasure to listen to one of the greats perform live. The opening act set the scene for what was to come, Lukas Nelson (Willy Nelson's son) jumped on stage with his band TPotR They rocked, and his songs had pretty deep meaning. He needs better people to market his stuff, because he rocks on stage.

BB King was highly entertaining to watch. His voice is as strong as always, and it was good to see his sense of humor, which is something you don't get when you just listen to his music. As the night progressed I not only had good music to listen to, but also got a chance to see into his life and imagine what life on the road was like some 40 years ago. The show was quite inspiring, and for a few hours I was lost in the sea of guitar, piano, and brass.

Who'd have thought that rocking out in my garage one day would turn into actually seeing these guys perform in person. Life is crazy, life is chaotic, it's nights like this that I'll always remember. They help me realize that when all is said and done, I jumped in and held on to see where it takes me.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I first wanted to thank the Vets out there for their dedication, sacrifices, and bravery for their duty in the service. My complete respect goes out to each of you and your families.

I celebrated my day off by hiking at Mt. Lemmon. I found myself a bit above 7,000 feet and a wonderful little trail-head called Butterfly Trail I quickly found out by talking to people in passing that an airplane crashed somewhere along the path
though I didn't see the wreckage. I'll have to hit the site I just linked the next time I go out to take some interesting pictures.

A breeze blew through the mountains almost continuously, not only did it cool my damp shirt, but it also brought scents of memories from my times spent camping in California. Just like my previous hike, the views were serene with the only sounds coming from the rattle of leaves as the wind blew them off of trees and they fell like large snowflakes on the ground around me. Colors exploded everywhere, and as I looked around the trail this hike quickly became my favorite so far.

The hike was mostly down-hill and then a difficult up-hill walk when I finally decided the sun was getting too low for my comfort being my first time on the trail. This trip also marks the first time I brought my gun along. Although late in the season, there are bears and other wild animals about. Since I've been hiking alone I needed a little insurance.

Flickr shots of my adventure

Following my trip, I swung by El Charro and had a nice dinner. Now I'll retire for the evening and watch G.I. Joe in celebration of our troops. I hope everyone else had a great day as well.

Making the most out of AZ

My last post talks about hiking in California, and now I am going to talk about hiking in Arizona. It just goes to show how much I've been neglecting this blog. Thankfully I am now at a point in my life where I can spent time to put things into writing. The long and the short of it is that I followed my career to this great water-less state amidst some heartache and some life lessons about going with my gut instinct when it comes to trust. That's a story for another time, perhaps. At the moment I am going to make the best out of the current situation and explore this state and share my experiences.

Today I went hiking along a trail called Green Mountain Trail It is located between mile marker 11 and 12 up the Catalina highway in Mt. Lemmon. The entire area of Mt. Lemmon is beautiful even after surviving a decimating fire. Nearly seven years have passed and although there are definite signs of damage, nature has worked its magic to rebuild the beautiful greenery in the area.

Initially I had set out to hike up Sabino Canyon but changed my mind after reading an article in the AZ Daily Star Talk of Fall colors had me hooked and off I went. The weather was beautiful, there was a nice breeze at the top of the mountain, and the sound cascading through the trees were the only interruption to an otherwise serene landscape. I feel in love when I reached the canopy of trees as it felt like a whole other planet from the dry single-colored landscape that exists in Tucson. The trail was a moderate up-hill hike, which I traversed both ways only being slightly slowed down by a broken toe from this morning. I'll admit that I was a little winded and sore when all was said and done, but three years of WoW and relationship stress will do that to you. I hope to go up every weekend and explore different trails since I went ahead and purchased an annual pass to the area.

I've linked my Flickr set below. Hopefully I will have many more pictures to share.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44415324@N02/sets/72157622756886820/