Bluegrass beats the blues, feeds the muse

I was working around the clock to get 'Sweet T and the North Wind' ready for its November e-book debut on Amazon. 

There were silly snafus, like dashing out to buy more printer ink at 11 p.m.  Studying marketing strategies until my eyes glazed over, and I was frozen with indecision.  Normally, I'd laugh things off and move ahead with a can-do attitude.  But lack of sleep and abundance of worries almost reduced me to tears.

As a type ‘A-Minus,’ I have a tendency to push myself.  As a former learning coach who supported stressed-out college students, I counseled them to take a break from an arduous task, and then hit it with a fresh brain.

Time to follow my own advice.

It was a lovely Friday fall afternoon, the kind of knock-your-socks-off blue sky and crisp autumn air that makes you glad to be alive.

Hmmm.  Continue work and stress?  Or quit and enjoy a Friday afternoon in the sunshine?   No brainer!

Photo: blog.tennessean.com

 I logged off, grabbed my camera, and headed downtown to the 2014 International Blue Grass Music Association (IBMA) Festival with Spouse/Editor Extraordinaire, JM.  We attended last year, the IBMA's first in our North Carolina capitol, mingling with crowds and tapping  toes to music that flowed on every corner of this outdoor music festival. 

Crowds were still manageable as we strolled Raleigh's main thoroughfare that morphed into a tent-canopied allée of vendors selling all things country.  Barbeque sauce (huge rivalry between eastern North Carolina's vinegar-based sauce and western NC's  tomato-centric creation).  Art.  Country gear. Craft beer.

And the food ...

Just walking past  funnel cakes and the 8-inch high bacon mountains, topped  with gooey cheese spread and more bacon crumbles, was enough to topple your daily intake of calories.

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And music ... 

World-class bluegrass musicians performed on every street corner. 

What talent they had for setting feet to tapping and spirits soaring.

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 E-book marketing was the farthest thing from my mind.  Yay!

Photo: Raleigh News & Observer

We took it all in.  I didn’t want the magic to end. 

My stressed slip away. I was still anxious about all I had to accomplish, but the music mended my spirits and restored my confidence.

I took a video of the performers, so you could hear their amazing sounds. I wanted to upload and share it here for you.  But the technology for doing so and the capabilities of my webhost eluded me.  Sigh.

I won't stress about it.  I'll save video uploads for another time --- the next item to tick off on my writerly journey's to-do list.

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