2016 - What Gives?

2016 is at the three-quarter mark, so I may as well do an update:

I wake up every day and I am still alive - bravo! Also, I have not shat myself in a long time, so I maintain a high head and virtuous overall demeanor. Most of the the time I have been going to work steadily, selling the organics to the grocery stores of the NW. I try not to talk about work too much lest  I jinx it, but I've been enjoying the grind despite it taking up most of my time. I think the fact that I don't currently work with any psyco/sociopaths could play a role in my contentedness in the workplace. When I get bored or need a break, I can walk out in the cooler aisles and commune with the cabbages and parsleys or if I'm feeling indulgent maybe an avocado or a mango. When I start to feel ill I rub myself with garlic and chew on a pungent piece of ginger which really helps to drive away any visitors I might have at my desk. People take note - it is sometimes okay to be repulsive as an efficiency tactic.
My musical life plonders on. TROUBLE CUTS has been soldiering (and soldering) ourselves along through the rugged, rocky AND SOMETIMES coastal gigs that we were required to play because of our middle-aged sense of responsibility and false hope of glory. Memorable was the time we went to Yachats to play at the 10-Mile mountain jam, a gig that will live in infamy. The lights in our faces in the hidden, tye-died cave of a patio in front of an invisible crowd of hippies in their tents and in the shadows, a few bouncing kids and ragged warriors of the rock scene, the soundman's hut doubling as a corn dog dispensary - the gig was marvelous and parts were even documented. We also played at Luckeys in Eugene and kicked some serious asses with our collective sound-boot. Many lives were saved and friendships ended but the night was beautiful and another celebration of bar-band music, drunken debauchery, bro hugs and return to ultra-obscurity. We shared a bagel in the morning and a coffee and we returned to our home-like city to the north, another job done.
My camping-with-family life has been in an upswing. We - Tina, Louis, Henry, mom Cathie and myself tracked down to the Redwoods of Northern California tm and stayed at Jed Smith campground, a favorite of ours. A few - quite a few - friends came along and stayed in adjacent sites. A blast, it was! We ate food, drank beer, let the kids tend the fire (safely of course) and went swimming in the marvelous Smith river a whole bunch. Louis and myself both did some filming with our Nabi square camera:

It was fun. Our super-BFFs Brian and Jen and Bryant and Sarah and all our respective kids did a nice hike through Stout Grove, one of the most beautiful and sacred places in my world. There was a small problem when we realized that the footbridge that normally crossed from the campground side to the South side of the bank where the big trees were was gone, removed only a day before our arrival. With our 3-man raft, Bryant's boy Sammy did a valiant job of shuttling over the other members of our group - 12 or so in total - to the other side. A fun little time to be sure. The redwoods are still there, still alive, still huge and still gorgeous. There is a quiet quality one experiences when walking around the giant trees. I highly recommend it, it's theraputic.
Now this has become my "what did you do this summer essay" but now I am tired and need to finish this beer, you'll have to stay tuned and maybe find out something about our shared world in the process if I ever follow this up.
Cheers!
Ed