Kate McGarrigle, RIP

Very sad this evening, upon learning that Canadian folk singer, Kate McGarrigle died at 63 on Monday of cancer. Along with sister, Anna, the McGarrigles enjoyed a relaxed pinnacle of achievement for their unique blend of Stephen Foster ballads and French Canadian folk music. Their complex love of family permeated their stage presence - critic Robert Christgau described their exploration of family as a "repository of both strength and of horror" - and intelligent songcraft. Anna's rhymes were always perfect with a wry touch of philosophy, owing to a long-term writing collaboration with poet/farmer friend, Philippe Tatartcheff, who got his Sorbonne philosophy Ph.D.

Jigsaw Puzzle

Our scene is pastoral
Naive like our minds
Not fun to be in some times
We want a change from the fields and the skies
And crave some dots or some lines

We were like interlocking pieces
In the Jigsaw Puzzle of Life

from their first album. I saw them perform once on a freezing night in St Paul, MN. Here is a rendering of "Hard Times," surrounded with friends and family:

A rousing number, Complainte pour Ste. Catherine, from their first album

And when Carolyn and I left Ithaca for Tacoma, WA for my first academic job, we played "Talk To Me of Mendocino," as we pulled out of town...

I bid farewell to the state of old New York
My home away from home
In the state of New York I came of age
when first I started roaming

And the trees grow high in New York State
They shine like gold in autumn
Never had the blues from whence I came
But in New York State, I caught 'em

Talk to me of Mendocino

Let the sun set over the ocean
I will watch it from the shore
Let the sun rise over the redwoods
I'll rise with it til I rise no more
Talk to me of Mendocino

+++

NYT once described a Kate McGarrible song, “Had Emily Dickinson been a late-20th century songwriter, this might be just the sort of piece she would have written.”

PS: Who else uses the word, "WHENCE"?

I Opened My Heart

Piano has been toughgoing for the most part; thankless taskmastering by Carolyn, occasional knockdown, dragouts with a stubborn 7 year old. But how do you teach deferred pleasure? Michael's Suzuki teacher - Mrs. Lloyd - is the local gatekeeper - no other "fun" stuff until you pass "Twinkles" - it requires CONSIDERABLE parental support.

Anyway, Michael had been stuck in an eternal cycle of trial basics...until last week! Doesn't sound like much, but it's all about perfection of form: wrist, back, & head posture.

Michael excitedly called me at the office, "I passed my twinkles!" Inquiring, he explained, "I opened my heart," referring to motivational wisdom Carolyn delivered; one of those "only you can do it" character incentives. He'll be reaching down there for years, I reckon.

The reward was:

Christmas Time Is Here

Michael & Jack were in the Grace Reformed Church (GRC) children's program. Michael has been jockeying for position, advancing to king, after a long run as shepherd. Jack's mouse costume transformed him from Narnia hero to stall rodent.
Theresa, our pastor's wife, was a professional singer and sang duet with Mike, accompanied by Denny, her brother-in-law, an excellent amateur guitarist on the side; school VP as day job.
Theresa, Grace, & Carolyn sang Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour, a lovely carol largely obscure to American churches which remain, for the most part, in Dickensonian mode, when it comes to Christmas music.

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becomes poor.

Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man.

Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.

The children launched the Christmas Evening Service, which is a deliberate gift - to God and to each other - in a shared evening of songs, poems, or readings. American culture tends to experience Christmas collectively as a countdown to the 25th; a cliff we head towards..then jump.

GRC has adopted an earlier sense of Advent leading to Christmastide, a season which begins the official church calendar on the 25th, proceeding to the 12 days until Epiphany, January 6th. For example, our family devotional readings continued this week. This year, I have less a sense of things ending on the 25th, but, rather, beginning. Theologically, this signifies a restorative event - the second coming - which caps a history already in progress. The Evening Service helped frame and center this outlook and stance; not the annual collapsing of days into a climactic crescendo, but a steady-as-you-go reaffirmation of the historic promises in a history which has already begun and is now.

Christmas time is here.