Finish Line!

the last trip through the swamps of Louisiana. 

Here we are at the finish line. We said our good byes and went home where the pillows are soft and the cats are fat.

Somebody was very surprised that i came back. 

Next day we were very busy x 2. 

in between i worked on a new project,

Brunhilda was getting ready for holidays and semi enjoyed it. 

An urban look is in style in this house. At least she doesn't look like turkey. 

Happy Thanxgiving everybody!!! 

Keep checking me. For the next few days i will update you with my home adventures and next week i am going on the road again for 8 days. I might be a little inconsistent but i will continue my blog. Its ... holidays!!! Happy naps to you all!

New Iberia LA

It is a last day of this madly long tour leg. I am done for a moment. Tomorrow flying home. I feel weird. The endings usually have big bangs but this time ... i didn't have one. The life pulled out another trick on me and turned my excitement upside down. Or maybe it gave me another kind?

My celebratory concert was hmmmmmmm ... ahhhhhhhhh ... hmmmmmmmmmm i don't know what to say. OK there was almost no people. Maybe 40 in 300 seat hall. It was pathetic. I got spoiled by the audiences on this tour. Today i tried to fill the venue with energy but there was too much empty space. It was hard. The last day and ... no big bang? Now i am packing and feel strange. I feel very excited to go home to my girls but at the same time i feel some emptiness. For me its hard to take endings. Yes, i know its not an end. Its just a middle of my adventures but still its hard to stop the stimulation of constant changes. Actually that's what i like about my life. I always need to be in action. Always! I would hate vacations in Caribbean with lazy beaches and the ocean without waves.

Today in the late afternoon we went to look for a place to have a lunch. Yesterday Keeth had frog legs and 

today was eager for more but today was a problem. One restaurant didn't have food anymore (?), another wasn't open on mondays and the third had so so food but great service. The waitress/bartender was the nicest southern girl who didn't need small and boring talk in order to have a conversation.

Next to us we had a fun company except their lunch consisted of more fun menu than ours.

  

 

On the way out the doorman showed us our way out. Great service! 

Since we had a little bit of time we took a drive around the town. There was something about the humidity, the vegetation 

(can you hear crickets?)

and the architecture. 

I never experienced this combination. It felt quite romantic but very foreign for me. I think it was America that i know so little about.

Unfortunately our rendezvous was very short. I had to get ready for my ... grand show

and Keeth for huge crowds 

Here they are.

I didn't care and tried to give a good time for those who came.

Some of them drove for 2 hours to get to the concert. 

This is it! 

I am sad and excited. 

My next news will be about ... Brunhilda ; ) 

Livingston TX

The last concert in Texas. We arrived there 2 hours before the show. I liked the atmosphere at the venue. The teenagers that ran the place were very amusing. There was one in the back stage with me all the time. He was the smartest kid. His language was very eloquent and he had very interesting points on every subject. I got involved in our conversation so much that i forgot it was time for me start the show. Ok! Are y'all ready?

We had a great turn out but the audience was completely different from the night before. Maybe they needed more time to get use to my accent? Who knows?

Next day we left on the road for Louisiana. The nature of East Texas was very green and lush 

and there ... i found a great property. I got on the phone with my real estate agent right away. 

I think i would look great on  this front porch but i didn't know about those giant mosquitos which attacked us non stop.

We proceeded on our trip. Louisiana was looking great from the far

but when we arrived there... ahhhhhhhh. I am too hungry now.

Irving TX

Luckily the concert for children was in the afternoon otherwise we wouldn't have made there. When we got there we were asked show our IDs. Well, i didn't have one. Two Texan receptionists made clear that i can't enter the school then. They meant serious business. I was afraid even to make sudden moves. So i stood there and observed negotiations which lead to nowhere. Suddenly the principal of the school appeared in the horizon. He was our hope although he wasn't the type that you "shmooze" with. I felt helpless. The only time i feel like that is when i deal with police (don't worry no incarcerations ... yet). Well i don't know how but i was let in ... to perform for the children. The school was very nice: shiny, clean and bright. When the students started to poor in and i knew that it will be a fun concert. They were very diverse and had a good energy. I like to work with middle school age. For the first few minutes they scanned me carefully. 

but soon they were mine.

Even the principal (in the grey jacket) came. I liked this man a lot. He does his job very well and keeps his school in a good shape. I wonder if he likes Jim Carrey movies.

I was excited about the evening show at this really nice theater. They have different kinds of cowboy shows there. This is a Dallas area!

At the loading dock there were 5 or 6 tough dressed in black Texan guys. They were waiting for me to arrive. They didn't crack a smile nor gave me a fanfare. I told to Keeth "oh, ohhhhhhhh". 

It is very important for me before the concert to be in a good spirit. When we started to work on sound and lights i realized how exterior can be deceptive. Its all in our brain. The stage crew was not only  fun and extremely professional but also very artistic. 

They were my best crew ever. Still some time left for couple of asanas. 

There was a lot of people 

but not everyone made inside. Somebody forgot their ID (i can relate to this).

 

I really enjoyed the show. The audience was elegant and very responsive. That always gives me lots of extra energy. I needed it now because my intense 2.5 month travels and performances wore me out. 

Oh, i almost forgot the soup! I never eat before the show but this time ... i couldn't resist the soup that was served in the green room. It was heavenly! It was worth to break the rules! It gave me some extra more energy. This concert was one of the best in all respects. I finished my day at the country style restaurant with my friend and her mother. They came to the concert from Fort Worth. We didn't see each other for 9 years.     

I barely could keep up  with her mother who was emptying  those Shiner Bocks one after another. She was ... 86 years old.

Kilgore TX

Kilgore TX is an oil town which was very vibrant until the oil wells dried out in 1983. In these towns the audiences are usually smaller more quiet. In order to get their reactions i have to work triple hard but now i am at the end of my first half of the tour and i am extremely tired. I am counting my days already: there are 4 days and 3 concerts left.   

Yesterday was my day off. I went to see Michael Jackson movie and also the famous in this area country music club. It was real deal there: lots of line dancing and Bud light. I didn't get blue eyes. Yeah! 

When i got back to the hotel i had a chat with concierge who was very bored at her desk.  

Next morning was a concert for the kids ... at 9 am. These monsters woke me up very quickly. 

I tried to get something out of this ... upright piano.

At the end i was very energized and satisfied with one more victory against children ; ) Following that we were taken to the one of the concert organizer's home for breakfast. It was a true old America experience: the hospitality, the food and the conversation. 

The night concert was my concern. 

Does it look if i am attending my own funeral?

 

All of a sudden ... out of nowhere ... a Fairy Lady landed next to me and told me to play Fur Elize.

She didn't mention anything about my hat.

last nite in Arkansas

I think that South Arkansas is more about ... ahhhhhhh ... the nature and the people ... living in it rather than comfort. So we had to open our minds and to embrace it. 

Today i went for a jog in the forest by the lake and guess what? I saw a real turtle! Since i was jogging i didn't have my camera (use your imagination). I never ever met a turtle in the nature. He was so cute. His actions were very delayed therefore i had to spend quite a long time to get to know him and see him to come out of his closet. Well, when came out he was gorgeous. He had orange dots around his neck and very long toe nails. I called him Ruprecht. Unfortunately i had to go back and get ready for the show. I said goodbye to Ruprecht. It was very sad because i knew that will never see him again. I still think about him. I wonder if i made a good impression on him? 

We almost didn't see any person in the town. So we didn't expect huge crowds at the concert. Time for sound check. Ewwwwwwww ... brown piano /open mind/open mind/open mind/ 

The acoustics were great for this brown and untuned piano. The sound guy was fun. He invited me for a cigarette outside. Sorry, i don't smoke! So I stayed and tried to get friendly with piano. But i like the smell of the cigarets though. 

Its show time! First, you must love those colors! Second, the crowd didn't take front seats. Of course, how would they know that i take regular showers? 

There were only 3 teenage girls (besides the sound man) in the front seats. Obviously they were there for fun and adventure. They were very good audience and after the concert they were following me seeking for attention. 

They got it. I signed my CDs and went back to the hotel. I wonder how is  Ruprecht? Does he have enough to eat? Is his shell warm enough?

day off in Arkansas

It was the usual routine of laziness (breakfast, TV in bed, nap) with one exception. The walk.  In the afternoon i found strength to get up and ... left to the woods of Arkansas. 

Of course the sign told me where to go.

Since i was alone i felt like turning deeper into the woods for camouflage .

It was really good to be in the wilderness.

I heard some noises there and that worried me a little. If i was in Lithuanian forest i would have been fine but here ... in Arkansas. Also i was not ready to die from the hunter's bullet. I started to whistle a semi happy song with occasional stops. Luckily a hunter wasn't there. I think that the scary sound was coming from there.  

I left this place quickly because for once i didn't want to interact. 

It was so great to be in the moment and observe everything around. I forgot who am i and what am i doing here. 

 

After 2 hours of disappearance from the world i was ready to go back. 

During the lunch the older waitress was interested in where i was from. After i told her then she growled with her raspy voice "where the hell is that?". I invited her to the concert and arranged for her 2 free tickets. I guess i will see her tomorrow.