Yesterday

Thirty-seven degrees and rainy at noon-thirty in Oysterville yesterday.  Cold!  That damp cold that grabs onto your bones and won’t let go, even when the LED read-out in the car says eighty.  By then, we were in Chinook and the raindrops were beginning to look suspiciously thick.  By the other side of the tunnel… snow!

It was coming down profusely enough on the bridge that we had to put our headlights on.  By the time we reached Commercial Street, the sidewalks were totally white and parked cars were coated.  We headed up the hill on 16^th Street and I was glad, once again this winter, for our snow tires.

Skamokawa Swamp Opera: Kyleen Austin, Andrew Emlen, Eric Friend, Jillian Raye

We were early but as we made our way carefully from the parking lot to the Performing Arts Center (“The PAC” I’ve been hearing it called recently), a muffled, hatted man came toward us with the announcement that they had just opened the doors.  Already, there was a line up in the vestibule and I, for one, wished they would hurry so we could get all the way inside the main building to some heat.  As it turned out, there wasn’t any.

No one complained.  But no one took their wraps off, either.  The four members of the Skamokawa Swamp Opera were already on stage ‘warming up’ (so to speak).  Between notes, Andrew was sipping something hot – lemon and water, I think he said.  For his throat.

Swamp Opera Fan

“Yesterday we rehearsed the show but I didn’t sing,” he told me with a smile.  “I had no voice at all.”  If you know Andrew Emlen, you know that he is the consummate performer of the-show-must-go-on type.  “I’ll sing today until I can’t anymore.”

As it turned out, he made it all the way through,  although he may not have sung every number.  I confess, I didn’t notice.  The group is so fabulous, their selections so varied, that it is impossible for me to be critical.  It’s not that they are interchangeable – it’s just that they can feature one or more than one of their voices, one or more than one of their many instruments, one or more of their favorite musical styles… and all seamlessly.  Never mind that the sound system was cranky and they finally turned off the speakers.  And never mind that Andrew’s banjo broke a string. They were fabulous!

Plus, they give credit where credit is due.  Their first set include three Mary Garvey songs.  She was in the audience and when Andrew introduced her there was a small exchange back and forth about Andrew’s salmon song.  Mary told me afterwards that she wants to include it in one of her salmon CDs.  Wow!  I can’t wait!

Astoria-Megler Bridge under Snow Curtain

Meanwhile… it was still snowing on our way back across the river.  Astoria had turned into a winter wonderland and Washington was lost in a curtain of white until we got to the far north end of the bridge.  By the time we got through the tunnel – no sign of snow at all.  Just plenty of Ray R?ih?l?’s “Rain” (also part of the Swamp Opera’s repertoire yesterday.)  “And,” to quote the song, “it’s giving me a pain!”