THANK YOU! Firefighters!!

View of Downtown Seattle, and the Space Needle!

Boarding the Ferry to Bainbridge Island, in the Puget Sound http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ There is a huge ferry transit system that can take you to many islands around the area, and even to Victoria and Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada.

Jaime and I try to head up to Seattle each Spring, to attend two wonderful festivals happening there. THe first is the Northwest Folklife Festival, a huge festival of music and dance from around the world http://www.nwfolklife.org/ The second, is the Seattle International Film Festival http://www.siff.net Since we can't afford to tour the world, it is a way to take the tour in our imagination, supplemented with Seattle's wonderful mix of ethnic restaurants!

Normally Seattle is known for cloudy and rainy weather. But on this trip, the weather was incredibly beautiful, and it was the first time in 30 years that the four days of the folklife festival were all sunny! We enjoyed it, but couldn't help think that it might be the result of global climate change, and what effect it might have on the incredible Olympic Peninsula Rainforests

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I am at Santa Cruz Roasting, enjoying an organic, fair trade, locally roasted coffee, and listening to my usual Sunday morning Folk show on KZSC.ORG called "Back Roads" with Jeff Emery. Jeff has an amazing knowledge of folk music, and I always discover a new gem that I haven't heard before. Today I want to share a beautiful song by Tom Russell, called 'Guadalupe.' I am not really a religious person, but this song really expresses the beauty of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is most often written about in Spanish songs, and celebrated on the 12th of December.

Virgin of Guadalupe
English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_Guadalupe
Espanol: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_Señora_de_Guadalupe_(México)
Portugues: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nossa_Senhora_de_Guadalupe



"Guadalupe"

There are ghosts out in the rain tonight
High up in those ancient trees
Lord, I've given up without a fight
Another blind fool on his knees
And all the gods that I'd abandoned here
Begin to speak in simple tongues
Lord, suddenly I've come to know
There are no roads left to run.

Now it's the hour of dogs a barkin'
That's what the old ones used to say
It's first light or it's sundown
Before the children cease their play
And when the mountains glow like mission wine
And turn grey like a Spanish roan
Ten thousand eyes will stop to worship
Then turn away and head on home

And she is reaching out her arms tonight
And, yes, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down again
From Guadalupe on her hill
And who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.

She appeared to Juan Diego
And she left her image on his cape
Five hundred years of sorrow
Have not destroyed their deepest faith
But here I am your ragged disbeliever
Old doubting Thomas drowns in tears
As I've watched your church sink through the earth
Like a heart borne down through fear.

And she is reaching out her arms tonight
And, yes, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down again
From Guadalupe on her hill
And who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTPsxKK8Ats

Playlist of 11 Tom Russell videos: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8B782EB6CA54FDEB&search_query=guadalupe+tom+russell


Thank You Jeff, for your great show!

Sorry - only Fotolog members can leave guestbook comments.