I haven’t forgotten about you

No siree. You’ve been on my mind a lot. There’s a mountain of things to tell you, but because we’ve been busy doing all that stuff I want to write about, I’ve been one poor correspondent. I’m hoping that’ll change any day now, but in the meantime, rather than try to catch up on the last few weeks, I’ll start with last night.

This weekend, we went down to Holyoke, MA to catch a concert by The Decemberists, a band that Michael discovered for us several years ago and that all three of us now love.

Three years ago, Michael and Hyla had a chance to see them in Northampton, MA, on Halloween night, but I was in London that evening, so I missed the concert. I had a pretty wonderful time in London, but, by all accounts, I missed a really great concert.

When we found out they’d be performing at a new outdoor venue (the former Mountain Park amusement park) in Western, MA the week of Hyla’s birthday, we snagged tickets right away for us and my sister.

Last night’s concert was the first at the venue. It was a hot August night, and the place is so new, there’s dirt where there ought to be grass and things are a little ragged around the edges. But as the sun went down, the temperatures started to cool, the stage lit up, and from our blanket on the hillside, we were treated to one intensely fun concert under the stars.

Here’s a video someone captured of the last few minutes, where we all got to sing along.