We've spent much of the month of October visiting my family in various locations. First, we went to Frederick, MD to visit Zayn and Anne. It was our first time to Frederick and we left pleasantly surprised, and excited that Zayn and Anne will be moving to the city. Frederick is a 2005 award winning community from the Main Street Program, something that interests me quite a bit, particularly with the work I am doing with the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. In short, an old town of +- 50K with a vibrant downtown... that part of Maryland is beautiful and reminds me quite a bit of the rolling hills of NW NC.
Which brings us to our second trip of the month which was to MA for the Autum Leaves Festival this past weekend. I spent all day, Oct. 2 at FestiFall in Chapel Hill, and the differences between the two street festivals is stark... each vibrant and unique in its own way. I wish that musicians could just sit down and play in Chapel Hill like they can in Mt. Airy. I was walking down the street with Frank, my father, my grandmother (breaking in her new electric wheelchair in the most difficult of obstacle courses) and Luisa. We passed a boy no older than 12, with the case open in the street, playing tunes on the clarinet. I know he was doing well, I saw the roll of ones in his pocket. But the fact that circumstances alined so that he would feel confident and comfortable enough to break out the clarinet, of all instruments, is remarkable to me. And the hot ham biscuits.
It is this part of the early fall and late summers that Mount Airy casts a spell on me at the hour when dusk falls. There is a magical moment when the sky burns from blue through lavender and lilac and burgandy and crimson... all at the same time. There is a sense of balance and in the center is a blast of crisp air. It is a feeling that I only get in "The Hollows", and it sends a tingle down my spine when I hit the intersection of South Main and Renfro, at the base of Renfro Hill. I've never felt it anywhere else. Quetzaltenango had a similar event, but I felt in a bowl and the blast was of burning trash. Mount Airy is special and I will always long for the chance to live those early Autumn nightfalls. It feels like home and can only be described as "saudade".
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