June 16th and 17th
On the 16th, we arrived in Spokane sans Ayden, Kourtney and Zach. The Baby Bar did not have us on their schedule, but they said we could play anyway and fed us massive burritos for supper. I took a walk and talked to various members of my family. Downtown Spokane had a vaguely historic feel to it, with well-kept buildings, but these were offset by a sense of sheer seediness in the air. I’m used to turning a couple heads when I walk, but I’m not used to being ogled by ever single guy I pass. The burlesque dancers hanging out on the sidewalk unnerved me a bit as well. As the sun began to set I noticed various people prowling the streets, creepiness hanging on them like well-worn coats, sniffing out booze and… other things.
The show itself wasn’t that bad: the crowd in the bar was on our side, clapping loudly after every song. It was weird to play without drums or an accordion— I felt out in the open, with every note much more important than it had been before. After the show, I followed Amanda outside (minors are allowed to perform, then they are kicked to the curb). We sat in the van and pulled out books. I read a George MacDonald short story and tried to ignore the yelling/screaming/cursing/falling-over/making-out people swarming outside.
Around midnight, Tyler and Adrienne emerged from the bar, threw the merch in the van, and said, “Let’s get out of here.” Off we went to stay at Tyler’s friends’ house just across the border in Idaho. We left the squalor of downtown Spokane behind.
We arrived around 1:00am at the G’s house, and followed handwritten signs to our rooms downstairs. The next day, I got to meet the family— all eleven of them. Leon and Jennifer, and their nine children, aged to sixteen to not-quite-two: Ephraim, Havela, Asaph, Zion, Zuriel, Simeon, Naphtali, Nehemiah, and Elsie, a conglomeration of curly-headed blondes and black-haired kids, sweet and polite enough to make anyone love children. (I hope they will forgive me if I misspelled some of their names.) Jennifer is one of my new heroes: a woman of beauty, grace, patience, and a wonderful sense of authority and love. She’s transparent and strong, a mother in the truest sense. I want to be like her when I grow up.
I got the chance to explore Idaho with my bandmates, Leon, and all the kids except Elsie, running around Farragut State Park and basking in the cool sunlight of northern Idaho. From the green water of Lake Pend Oreille to the fir-clothed mountains, it gloried in solid western beauty.
Before our house show that night, we feasted on Jennifer’s amazing cooking: hearty chili, seasoned to perfection; veggies and homemade dip; sweet cornbread with local honey; jello; and cookies, peanut butter and chocolate chip, which I could not stop eating. A few people showed up to watch us, and we played an unmiked show, which was a nice change. We spent the rest of the night talking to the kids, and then just the older kids and Leon and Jennifer, after the little ones went to bed. It was a joy to see such refreshingly excited kids, who can bake cookies and mow the lawn and raise honeybees and build things out of legos. When parents expect a lot of their children, it’s amazing to see what they can do.
~Lisa Shafter
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