Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Music for the Soul:Woodsong




Over the last week or so, we've been exploring new music: Feist, Bon Iver, Craig Cardiff.  And over the summer, we returned to our favorite grassroots music festival called Woodsong Music Festival.   

We camped for 4 days beneath the Westcoast cedars and pines. And listened to almost non-stop live music. The kids enjoyed the Art Tent and created beautiful things: birdhouses, painted rocks, beaded jewelry. Each night, they showed an outdoor movie on the screen; families nestled together in fleece blankets and sipped on hot cocoa and spiced tea.  

This was our third summer at Woodsong, and we recognized return visitors, exclaimed at "how much the kids have grown!" and generally reconnected with ourselves, eachother and new faces I look forward to seeing next year.

Burke and Barbara Thomas are the creators of Woodsong. 11 years ago, they decided to open their gorgeous piece of paradise land up for an honour-system based music event.  They don't charge and they trust guests to camp responsibly, pick up after ourselves and donate funds out of the goodness of our hearts. They go to incredibly effort to make it memorable and extremely well done.  We love it.  Each morning, they offer a potluck-topping breakfast.  For lunch and dinners, we all bring our own concoctions to cook on the fleet of outdoor cooking equipment already set up for us.

I highly recommend Woodsong. It is a good-for-the-soul weekend that captures the heart of Woodstock and other music festivals, but without the drugs and junk that we wouldn't want our kids around.  Perfect combo, in my opinion.

19-I am thankful for the uninhibited way my son sings like Bob Dylan
20-The chocolate covered almonds on sale at Sav-On Foods today.
21-The sound of the ticking clock in a quiet (kids asleep!!) house tonight.

3 comments:

Dawn said...

Hmmm... it warms my soul to read your blog, Mama Monk! Having never met your children in real life, even I see through your photos "how they've grown." They are beautiful. Woodsong sounds amazing - I remember a version of Woodstock at CDO years ago and how you were in a group! :c) What fun!

elizabeth said...

wow. i also am astounded at how much they have grown; incredible and very beautiful.

sounds like a very special time.

Anonymous said...

Kelley,
the kids are so big and unrecognizable! its good to see pictures! i look forward to hearing of your summer adventures. it would be great to 'get-together' for a meal. :(
Hugs to you friend.
carolina