Island Paradise Day 29

Stephane and I have several things in common, things that attracted us to each other, and one of them is music. We both love to sing, and making music together have been a big part of our almost daily routine. Back home we practice every single day. Usually between preparing supper and eating it there is a period of time while things are cooking that is the perfect time to pour a glass of wine and practice.

Just before we left Oliver on our trip we performed at a concert hall in Oliver – we were the opening act for Kenny Blues Boss Wayne – a Juno Award winning artist who performed a Fats Domino concert there. It was a thrill for us to be able to perform in such a great venue, and to be among such great performing artists.

When we left on our trip we severely limited our clothing so as to make room for the guitar, the binder full of music, and a few pots and pans - clearly we have our priorities straight! We were determined that we would continue to practice; we would transfer all of our music onto the iPad and move our act into the 21rst century by doing away with sheet music; and we would learn a bunch of new songs.

In Mexico we found an open mic night at the Salty Caesar, a Canadian owned bar in Old Town Puerto Vallarta so we had a place to perform which meant we had to practice, but we never really managed to find time to learn new music. In Bucerias, we found an open mic place – but in the three months we lived there, we only went once. I thought for sure when we got here to Utila there would be nothing to do but play music – so I was sure we would be able to accomplish all those things on our list.

I am sad to report that we are half way done our time here and we have accomplished very little of our music goals. I do not know what the heck we keep ourselves busy doing, (snorkeling, grocery shopping, snorkeling, grocery shopping, snorkeling, grocery shopping) but we have hardly practiced at all; we have only learned three new songs; and the music is still all in a binder. Sigh.

Steph blames it on the heat; I blame it on the snorkeling, grocery shopping, snorkeling, grocery shopping, snorkeling…

We were pleased to find out that there are a couple of places here in Utila town that have open mic nights, and I am sure we could find an outlet for our music if we lived in town – but living on the south shore makes that kind of impossible. The ferry across the lagoon stops at 6pm, and even if it didn't, we are not keen on the long walk through the jungle at night…it’s those damn spooky crabs!!