2007-07-06

Singing on Lake Union (2007-07-03)

Band Plays Lake Union
"If I had $1000000, I'd buy your love."--Barenaked Ladies, "If I Had $1000000"

It was Fourth of July Eve and the evening sun of northern latitudes was fading behind Queen Anne hill as I danced under a disco ball illuminated by a flashlight lashed to the mast. Under my sandaled feet the deck of the sailboat sloped towards port, not heeling in the wind but rather tipping under the weight of skippers and crew gathered there. Like me they had clambered across the rafted sailboats--lashed together (lines around cleats) for the party after sailing--to hear Gertrude's Hearse. Surely this crew of of S/V Distance was the most original in the Duck Dodge?

"If I had a million dollars" I sang in response to the lead singer's call, then listened, as Yusuf Kilgore played an electric guitar solo from a boatswain's chair suspended between mast and forestay of S/V Distance, or Keith Stone played saxophone from the roof of M/V Steel Drum. The movement of dancing, the fresh wind that had powered the earlier race, the red vodka Jell-O shot in my stomach, the enjoyment of the music, and the energy of the crowd all warmed me.

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