the dreaming tree

last night we had a party at my house. and it was a great one, i believe. we played a lot of soul and blues music for dancing, prepared duck and deer meat and a vegetable stir-fry, and had some great conversations. we also jammed out on our own instruments: my roommate on guitar and me on fiddle. and that is where the most insane moment of the entire evening came. there was a steady rise of intensity as we approached the zenith of our performance/sing-a-long. that song would be “isis,” by bob dylan. if you haven’t heard it, listen to the version from the 1975 rolling thunder revue cd. it’s one of the most exciting songs i’ve heard, and anytime we play it, we often end up in a kind of fervent and passionate state of expression. this night, however, was supreme among all the others. i don’t feel like i can do it justice with words. i wish i had a video of the whole affair to post, but at the same time, maybe it’s better that this extraordinary event lives only in my memory. i can’t decide. anyway, as we were playing, a slight rain began to fall, and the excitement seemed to be on a elastic curve spiraling up and up…ever upwards. everyone was moving, everyone was singing, everyone was entranced by the soul of the music. and then it really heated up. peter and sam were suddenly singing at the top of their lungs, more likely screaming the majority of the words. my bow sawed away on the fiddle strings…and suddenly in a terrific bang, it all exploded. peter leapt up from his chair and hurled his guitar over the back porch, then grabbed ahold of the chair and tossed it over the side. sam threw his chair, and then a recliner went over the edge. and then they celebrated and reveled in their primal nature. meanwhile, the rest of us just kind of…stared. i certainly did not join in the launching of instruments. so that was it. peter told me that in that moment, the worth of his $500 guitar seemed perfectly legit to spend on the climax of the most intense “isis” rendition ever. amazingly, the guitar did not suffer any damage to the body. only strings were broken. (we’re talking about a 15-foot drop onto some rocky ground.) it was utterly fantastic.

following that explosion of whatever-it-was, we went back to dancing in the basement, then slowly wound it down and had some conversation. of course, everyone eventually left, but the raw energy of the night paraded itself throughout my dreams and into the morning. even now i’m wistfully recounting all the different happenings of our party. i honestly kind of wish it was still going, or at least would be on again at some certain time. but i don’t know when that might be. peter and mitch are going to illinois to do the corn detasseling (which it looks like i won’t be able to do), katherine and amy moved out, and the ones that are left at the house aren’t really party-starters. or at least i’m not. i just want to go. such a strangely newfound desire, too. especially as it has reached its fruition during my last month of college classes.

this week is my last to spend in a college classroom, if not forever, definitely for a longtime. it’s kind of a strange feeling, but also one that doesn’t appear to have much fanfare in my thoughts. maybe i’ll write about that soon.