Friday, June 8, 2012

Summer in Medusa

What a spring!  We in Medusa have vowed.  There will be no more hospital visits.  No more illness.  No more injuries.  No more firemen in jail.  We're paid up for a while - at least for the summer.

I've personally decided that life is pretty amazing despite the angst and upset of the last months.  I'm counting my blessings, so to speak.  The Medusa Council, filled with bubbly realists and hard nosed optimists, have constructed a full agenda for the summer.  We have a lot going on, folks, and we'd love to see you join us.

There will be music on the porch every Saturday.  Except if it's seriously rainy and nasty, we'll be raising a ruckus with a good old-fashioned hootenanny.  Robert is our Medusa troubadour, a wild eyed long time friend of the Medusa family, who often drags along several neighbors for accompaniment, or joyfully conscripts his audience.  He'll play anything you want.  Last time he played a special song for our new babies, which, in typical Robert style, he calls the fire twins.  So far, he'll be playing June 9th and 23rd, July 7th and 21st , and August 4th and 18th.

We've also been planning for several other bands - Lumen Chichester's group will be back - LuChi and BRB, Locked and Loaded.  Playing an eclectic mix of new and classic rock, they are a fabulous addition to Medusa's venue.  We're hoping Just a Bunch of Guys and Gals will return from Knox, and that we can get Peckham Hollow here again, too.

We're also hosting Mad Medusa Art nights - a crazy, Seattle-ish brand of community art making, just to prove we're just as imaginative on this coast.  We provide materials and tables and maybe a teensy bit of inspiration - you make amazing art.  Open to all ages.  So far, we planning for June 29th, July 27th, and during our end-of-summer Gathering.  We have some cool folks coming to help out - if you are interested in volunteering, give me a shout or email me at april.roggio@gmail.com.

By popular demand - and that's the only reason, honestly, because I'm not sure if these events are quite our thing - we are hosting a cruise-in.  We're going to serve food and drink, and find a band.  It's scheduled for Tuesday evening July 10th.  Please spread the word!!

And - this time by popular demand and because we just had such a blast at our pre-Irene blowout last year - we're having another end of summer festival.  Rumor has it that the Firehouse dislikes our decision to call it a festival, so we are happily renaming it our *end-of-summer Gathering*.  It's very community-centered and feels like it embraces our localism flavor.  We're planning to showcase local farmers and artisans again, make art, eat food and listen to great local music.  Great kid fun planned, too!  The great Gathering is tentatively planned for Saturday, August 25th - if you'd like to participate, give me a shout.

We started a little late in the season, but we wanted to do some hamlet beautification, in a shameless rip-off of neighboring Preston Hollow.  The plan is for some hanging flowers on poles, to be replaced with other seasonal decorations.  I would really like to do something about that ugly bridge, too.  If anyone has any ideas for hamlet beautification - maybe some community art projects? - let me know.

Lastly, my thanks to everyone who has been there for us over the past two months - between a tough late pregnancy and then unexpected twins, we have been running ragged.  We could not have done it without you.