The Snowy Midwest.

We're in southern Kentucky tonight, holed up in (if I may say) a gem of a hotel near the University of the Cumberlands.
Speaking of which, we have to send out some enormous thanks for a great night on campus --Lovely lovely lovely.

Our tours this year began on the 15th, with a show on EIU's campus in Charleston IL, and what a brilliant way to begin. It was the coldest of nights so far this Winter, and we were all of us huddled inside over coffee and hot cocoa, feeling connected and human. (Or at least we did.) Thank you guys --

We turned our hotel lights off that night at 1:30am, and turned them on again at 3:30, which is just a sad kind of thing any time it has to happen... But outside our door (and outside of our blankets, it felt!)... it was negative 16 degrees. Climbing out into that was a sorrowful thing for sure!... :) ...The frigid air followed us all the way to Columbus, with me layered up, coat on, and buried under two blankets in the van. (And yes, with the heat cranked and more stops for hot coffee than usual.)

We were stopping in at WCBE for an on-air performance/interview, and the campus was quiet with cold and snow and with people staying in from all of it. But we had a great visit, and were then deeply deeply blessed by a nap in a nearby neighborhood, inside a lovely historic home in the perfect nook of a room whose bed lured us in and sent us to sleep right away.

We played that night with Steppin In It, at the Columbus Performing Arts Center. And we were amazed. We hadn't seen these guys live and it was ridiculously fun... Their tunes are great online, for certain, but seeing it live is where it's at. Make a plan --
And the Six String Concert Series is downright delightful... We felt so welcome and taken care of; such a great audience and a fabulous fabulous staff that obviously loves music and loves people.
And then it was home again for a couple nights...

And so after the historic events today (which left us both deeply inspired and proud), we made our way south, the snow finding us during the last several miles. We played for another blessedly warm room; always such a gift... Tomorrow it's back to Ohio with us.

Back to the Road --

We've spent the last few weeks in Ohio,
our stomping grounds,
feeling out a sense of home.

Which came to us while with family; much-anticipated days that were every bit as warm and lovely as we could have hoped.

We also got to join the ranks of fine citizens everywhere who suffered a crazy bout of holiday-time flu.
(Less-than-special gift.)

Mine hit while we were with Justin's family, and his came while we were with mine.
(Apparently we enjoy a good balance when one can be achieved.)

But I do have to say: if one must get sick, what better time than when he/she's off the road and holed up with family, surrounded by a ridiculous amount of compassionate coddling.
We're two lucky Goldens.

Besides, all of that was so very short-lived...
The Christmas season bloomed into a seriously refreshing New Year.

(Confession: Usually the New Year feels distinctly arbitrary. We don't typically make resolutions (we didn't this year either), nor do we generally feel that January 1st is a particularly fine time for starting over.
Which is not so much cynicism as a manifestation of stubborn will. I simply like to think I can make a fresh start whenever I want, thank you very much, calendar be d**ned.))

But this January has felt like an honest beginning.
We came home from our family travels, looked around, saw too much stuff, and feverishly listed a hearty pile on Craigs List.
(A quick shout out to Spontaneous Purging.) :)
Our home is much emptier now, in a peaceful, new-beginning kind of way that put a fresh spin on nearly everything.

Especially since we've been able to spend most of January IN our home... Waking up in our own bed, playing music in the living room, making several daily pots of coffee to keep the cold at bay. Calls to friends, card games at the kitchen table, trips to the local Skyline, working & rehearsing in familiar corners, and making plans for tours around the midwest and out to the east coast.
A very exciting time.


It's a beautiful, tragic, defeating, hopeful, lofty, intimate, wide-open life we all live.
And seasons like this - Home, Family, Belonging - they root Justin & I, let us take in the rest of our lives without feeling so much like we're going to blow away, or like we're simply surviving, like we're gliding along on the whim of God-Knows-What.
An immense gift.

The best we can wish for you is something similar: That you'll feel loved and grounded, ready to lift off.

(By the way, if you've heard a song, seen a movie, or read a book that's inspired you this season, we'd love for you to share it -- Please leave a comment!)

So here's to a sense of Home.
We hope the New Year brings us near you soon.

--Tasha & Justin