The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Had a very relaxing weekend in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. It was good to unplug, even though we discovered the cabin had Direct TV. The woods are not quiet. The roof was bombarded by random assaults of walnuts. Even our hike was dangerous, as we we dodged a constant dropping of hickory nuts.



Ever eat a tree? Many parts are edible.

I built a fire, on my own, out of logs and a few Sunday editions of the Akron Beacon Journal. Eventually it burned on its own, and I figured out how to open the damper so we did not die of carbon monoxide poisoning.

It was an easy two hour drive. The car did well enough, getting almost 25 miles per gallon. Something's up with the tailpipe though.

Took today off to make sure the gas meter got read and to have the furnace looked at. It conked out on us in April and it's time to get it ready for winter. It's been having a repetitive issue with the pressure switch, which is easily fixable but there's a new twist to each repair.



I'm really digging Band of Joy, the new Robert Plant album. He has Patti Griffin as his foil this time around and it's quite gritter than Alison Krauss on Raising Sand.



One thing I admire about Plant's post Led Zeppelin career is that he's not coasting on his accomplishments. Sure, he's worked with Jimmy Page and done the one off reunion concert, but he's not peddling the same old show the way many, many, many other rockers of his generation continue to do to this very day. I'm not going to name names, but you can guess a few.

He also looks his age. Every one of his 62 years.

He's challenged himself by working with a diverse and talented cast of musicians and reworking the folk rock that influenced him. My one complaint is that he's not doing any originals, where are they at? Buddy Miller's collaboration is much rawer and looser than T-Bone Burnett's polish. Band of Joy is going to be one my favorite records this year.