This one is easy.
It was the weekend of October 1-3, 2010.
I have a large group of friends who I have known for over half my life. Most of us met in the fall of 1989 and have remained friends ever since. I realize how rare it is to have such a group of people one has known for so long. We are all fortunate.
We rented a few chalets at Blue Mountain - we invited people. We brought musical instruments, food, drink - and no kids. 25 people showed up - most of whom married someone else from within the group.
Incestuous group. Yes, indeed :)
(...continued after the photos)
8 guitars, a bass, 2 mandolins, a didgeridoo, a ukulele, a banjo, a drum set, 10 harmonicas, hand drums, amps, effects boxes and many willing (and initially unwilling) players. One friend printed off tab music books for each instrument.
It was the first time some of the couples had ever been away from their kids for a whole weekend.
The weekend was filled with laughter, great food (we cooked and ate most meals together), much alcohol, tears, music, fantastic conversations and chemistry you can only have with people you have such a long history with.
No one was checking their email or on their Blackberries. The TV never got switched on (it was actually unplugged immediately to free up outlets to plug in instruments). We were just there to spend time with each other.
Strangers from other chalets down the street were coming by late at night to check out the music. We had an agreement with the adjoining chalet that before we called the cops on each other - we could just talk to each other about the noise. We never had to have that conversation.
It was fantastic. Easily the best weekend in the last few years of my life.
We're going to try to do it every other year from now on - because - stuff like this is important. (yes, this post is related to my previous community post and me wanting to move where I already have community as opposed to trying to create it here)
/<.
The original post is here
Here is a video from the first night when we were all trying to learn the same songs. The music is horrible :) Ignore the "shoe shot" at the end.
The hugging picture + the last one where people are just hanging around doing there thing and yet being so present really moved me. This sounds like JUST the kind of communal getaway I would ADORE! Great storytelling :) Tia #reverb10
ps: May I suggest you fix the comment settings so as to allow name/url comments? I almost left without commenting cos my google account hasn't synced up with some changes I made and I didn't want to use it. But as I really wanted to comment, I'm making the effort. Others may not be as committed :) Cheers! T
Thanks for your comment, T. had a problem with spamming anonymous comments so I changed the settings a while ago. It was either moderate everything (PITA) or restrict who could comment. Blogger lumps name/URL with anonymous.
I love this! Beautiful photos, too!
Ha, thanks Christine :)
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