Raggin' Piano Boogie

 

 
HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON! ... BONER, THE PIANO DOG ... November 27, 1994 ... February 20, 2010

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April 30, 2013

The last day of April and I'm still here in West Virginia! Is that ok? I wonder. I certainly have been enjoying the spring weather and how everything is so amazingly, vibrantly green. I am up to date with all the pictures for this year. Here is a direct link to the thumbnails. 2013. Putting one foot in front of the other, I took Mo to the park. He is my source for energy no question about it. I play with him, I walk while he runs, we hug, love and respect each other a lot all day long. At the park there was a grandmother with her little boy and so I offered them a Traveling Piano experience. The boy was too antsy to get into the truck so his grandmother did. After they left I completely zoned out in creating music almost until dark, just Mo and me and mostly with my eyes closed. That was really nice.


April 29, 2013

Its still rainy and misty out. I'm feeling very slow. Part of me thinks its the weather but then again... it takes two days of dark weather to take me down? God, I hope not. I've been loving the rain. Am I stuck here in my mind in West Virginia? Always, I am praying for a smooth easy transition into what will be next for my life and this journey. A part of me feels like I am dying a smooth easy death and then again I wonder if I am simply depressed. In the middle of the night I woke up in a rage about gun violence. It is not the first time. I've had a surprising amount of experience with the issue when I think about it. Back from in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with organizations of people who have lost family members in gun violence, neighborhoods in North Philly and Camden, New Jersey, a crazy connection in with the bell tower in Austin Texas, the Virginia Tech massacre, most recently Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Most all of it is written about in this blog as it happened. it is becoming clearer to me that gun business forces... would like to shade the color of death for their own selfish purposes and people will follow created fearful illusions (god knows I've had my share)... like sheep. Guns are like heroin and meth. They kill, period.

April 28, 2013

It is a rainy day and I'm glad I can get caught up with pictures and recorded music to post.

April 27, 2013

Big Pool, Maryland

Once again, getting outside to create music and be in nature was the top priority for today. Wish I could get up earlier but am glad the sun does not set until eight at night. As we drove, I decided to go east to Fort Frederick state park in Maryland. Having passed the place many time over the years I was curious as to what it would be like. It was like... charging five bucks to get in on an honor system but not today, it was demanded.. because there was a "market" going on. Spending money to be in a park full of people doing business... not. We drove down the road a little father and found a small area named McCoy's Ferry. There was a lot of camping going on especially with several boy scout troops but the area felt ok. I stepped out of the truck to take a survey of the surroundings and a guy immediately caught my attention with his interest.



A hardcore older guy with his wife who has been around the block several times in life, ultra conservative... we had a really good time. After my creating music, he began to describe his experience of the music in well versed, verbally poetic terms which really took me by surprise, his wife also. As he was leaving he said I had given him back through my music something he had lost many years ago. Mo and I went for a walk along the canal and from above saw a really nice grassy area down below by the water. There were people camping there so I went down to ask how all the camping worked... if the spots were reserved, how many people, etc... We were talking with a guy named Erin on his twenty seventh birthday on today the twenty seventh of April so of course I had to go get the Traveling Piano for him. It turns out he was a really good pianist. Then after I finished playing a bit more a young girl in the distance began to ultra enthusiastically clap for the music so I invited her over with her friend... I drove them both back to their parents camp area as they played music on the piano with Mo sitting on top.

April 26, 2012

Cumberland, Maryland

The days have been beautiful. I woke up, showered, shaved, ate... headed out to where not sure and ended up in Rocky Gap State Park in Cumberland, Maryland. The last time I was here it was with Piano Dog Boner, one of our last outings together in the eastern half of the United States. I think we were along the Youghiogheny River. Anyway, park pay booths were under construction. Bad, it is so wrong to charge the public money to spend time in nature. We drove down to the rivers edge and it was so nice creating music. I was in a wide open area which began to inspire grand gestures with my piano playing movement. The area was filled with rolling hills, rabbits and frogs hopping, white tail deer, the air was sizzling with bugs. The redbud trees continue to dazzle. I did not realize how much the music could be heard around the lake which was several miles in circumference. There was a bicycle path in front of us and people stopped to say how they could here the music from the other side of the lake and were enjoying... it was funny to watch people kayaking from a distance to find us on the water. A group of guys born and bred from the area jumped onto the piano. Before leaving Mo and I took a walk around the water to find single old men every five hundred feet or so spending the afternoon fishing in between the brush at the waters edge. I'm sure the music made their day having no idea where it was coming from. Fisherman and Traveling Piano music have always worked well together.

April 25, 2013

I spent the day cooking and freezing everything I cooked. Am I telling myself that I am not leaving yet? I've been here too long... I think I'm stuck. So be it. The belongings I moved must be moved again and I feel anguish over that. To myself I keep saying... just let the rest go, but it is the archive of my career and a few things I have kept for my entire life since day one! About 5:30 pm I took Mo out and as we walked I thought about how much joy he brings to me in watching him romp and play happily in the woods. When we got back to the truck the sun was just about to set so I figured I would create music for a few minutes. Within thirty seconds a car drove up. I had my sunglasses on and did not look to say hello while pretending I was in Tucson, Arizona playing for the sunset with people listening. That did not work. There was undeniable joy happening behind me and it commanded my attention. I could hear and feel the energy of it... ecstatic to say the least. Makes me laugh to think about it. A mom and dad with their two young sons, both beginning at piano lessons. They were beside themselves dancing in the gravel. Dog, Piano, Truck, Park... life could not have been better... now, I just laugh with the joy. They were so excited I can still feel it like it is happening right now. The seven year old, explored and played and played and played music. I don't think I ever have experienced a person loving music that much. He would have continued for hours. Oh, my God pain... my camera battery was dead. Every single time I leave something behind thinking I will not need it, every time, never an exception... I regret not bringing whatever. The happy face expressions were priceless, I would have loved to capture them. The mom took some pics and sent me one, hope she sends me the others!

April 24, 2013

It feels like I have to prove myself worthy, working, doing all the time and then I remind myself... for who, what? The redbud trees here in West Virginia, (they have purple flowers) are blooming and super intense in color. I've never seen anything like it. Today I did not do much of anything but hey, it is what it is.

April 23, 2013

I saved a lot of money purchasing potatoes a few days ago but they ended up costing me a hundred bucks because I had to go purchase food to use with them. I'm going to make shepherds pie, something with chicken and also beef and freeze it all to use when needed. Part of me hopes I'm around to use it and another part of me just wants to move on to wherever with the Traveling Piano. Mo and I drove to Winchester, Virginia for the supermarket. I sort of just fell into a small round parking lot where the trees were all turning green and I could see a pond through them. People wondered by and we had the usual fun. Turns out I was across the street from the park where I have been several times, so before leaving we went for a walk. Feeling exhausted I knew it was not good that I forgot to bring water but... discovered two public water fountains with good clean water. It has been years since I have run into public drinking water fountains! It felt so right and good! The city charges money for dogs to run freely in a dog park area but they supply water for people. Hmmm... what a dilemma for my feelings about this place! Ha.


April 22, 2013

I woke up at 3pm in the afternoon after watching back to back episodes of the television series Justified until 7am in the morning. For the last week I have been feeling a little out of control with my agendas. First off this morning I felt grateful I could get up when I feel rested enough... and then I thought there was no need to have any other cause, mission or agenda to push forward in life other than my journey basics. So... concerning guns, religion, government, sex stuff, money, murder, abuse, lack of basic human rights, destruction of the environment and greed... I'm sticking to my basics of Fun, Friendship and Respect with Musical Empowerment and Inspiration and without Commercial, Organizational or Political affiliation. (for now) I use synchronicity and spontaneity to create music for people to discover and I am in my eighth year of doing that full time.

April 21, 2013

Ha, I posted this on Facebook. NEWS FLASH: Excessive use of Facebook can lead to forced fresh air with one-on-one musical fun, friendship and respect. First hand testimony as Piano Man Danny Kean reports: "For three days in a row after waking up I have found myself immersed in Liking, Posting and Commenting on Facebook, sometimes with anger and disgust and other times with love, validation and reassurance. I found myself becoming unable to breath (not literally) and began to feel claustrophobic. My mind began to think thoughts like, "you need to get outside, go for a walk, create some music, hookup with some new people." Thats what happened and then... I found myself back on Facebook.



I drove to a mountain top overlook. There was one guy there who had unbelievably biked up the five mile climb. He was on the phone talking to his mother who's mother used to work in the park. The guy told me when she head the music through the phone she became emotional. Then more people came. When I stopped playing there where five people looking out over the earth with Mo and me in total silence. If it were not for the sounds of nature you could have heard a pin drop. I broke the silence by saying the experience seemed surreal and everyone agreed. It is a special time when everyone is totally immersed in nature, in music with me and there is absolutely no focus on me, Mo or the Traveling Piano. Six people and a dog totally immersed in music and nature and nothing else... all at the same time. Nice!

April 20, 2013

It got cold again. The sun was out. It has been a long time since I had a crazy day like today. There were choices... clean and pack to get ready to go somewhere... go out into town with the Traveling Piano... sit and seethe online over all the injustices in the world. I choose Fun, Friendship and Respect and headed out with the Traveling Piano. The center of Berkeley Springs had no people around but there were plenty of parked cars. After I began to create music people began to appear. I met the owner of the local music store and discovered she originally came from where I am originally from outside of Philadelphia, PA. I met a girl from Japan with her husband and we discussed shipping the Traveling Piano over to Japan. Ha, anywhere at this point I'm ready for a big step. It is either going to be up, across or out! Having been around the block a few times now, usually when I meet people I can connect in some way. I met a bunch of guys from Saint Louis, Missouri and had a fun time telling how much I loved it there, twice. On the way out of town I stopped at the local supermarket and while standing in the checkout line people were talking about the Traveling Piano outside with the dog... all around me. Of course that led to some fun in the parking lot.



Driving down the road I saw a sign on someone's lawn advertising fifty pounds of potatoes for nine bucks. How could I pass up a deal like that? The guy must have hijacked a truck or something. Never the less I stopped, got myself fifty pounds of potatoes and drove away thinking, "what the hell am I going to do with fifty pounds of potatoes? I won't be around long enough to use them. My friend Cory up in New Brunswick, Canada, he was a first responder to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans back in 2006. I met him with the Traveling Piano there. He is a creator of "play space" for people among other things and like myself does not demand money for what he gives to the world. He has a website called the Action Hero Network. For several years he has gone to Uganda with a sewing machine to teach kids coming out of the bush who lost both parents to aids or whatever... he teaches them and other people in villages how to make hammocks for sleep, play, to sell to tourists or whatever. He sent me a hammock today, a beautiful hammock with a fleece leopard lining meant to double as a sleeping bag if I am ever in need of warmth and comfort at bedtime. It is amazingly large and fits in a small bag that is attached. I stopped in the park before I got back to the cabin because I wanted to string the hammock between two trees and take a picture of it. Ha, I laugh as I write this... I came across a bunch of people from Guatemala who were having a barbecue. They helped me to string up the hammock and we took pictures and played around with the piano. I gave them twenty five pounds of potatoes and they offered me barbecue chicken, salad, soda, bread, etc... to eat with them. Luckily they were pretty good with English, enough for basic understanding because... the Traveling Piano man... no speak Spanish.



But I did have with me the Spanish Traveling Piano contact and agenda flyers I was going to use for South America last year. Thank God for good people! I mean, can you imagine... just driving up to a bunch of people in a park who are having a picnic and who barely speak english... and then asking them to help you hang up a hammock that you want to jump into for a picture... with them in the back of a truck that has a piano in it along with a dog sitting on top of the piano... and you need the picture to have the truck in it with the dog looking into the camera... the Traveling Piano banner in the shot and everyone smiling while they are playing the piano? Trying to communicate that, LOL. Well, I got two of them in the shot with me and the hammock. I left the park feeling a little eccentric. Ha, is that because of my age? Is it ok to be eccentric? I guess that depends on who you are talking to. Check out this website named Hanging Hugs. Cory's hammocks are quality material with quality craftsmanship, handmade. The website shows how you can use them and is just plain interesting with associations. Do you know what I love most about this hammock gift? It was offered and given without self-agenda on Cory's part. My friend just wanted me to have one in case I ever needed some comfort.

April 19, 2013

Before the rain came today I wanted to get out a bit. We drove into Berkeley Springs to do errands... was going to play on the street some and it began to rain and then I consciously decided not to freak out about the tarp not being water proof enough for the piano or equipment... needed to test the waters so to speak. While driving back the rain stopped so I stopped in the park for a short while to create music. In giving that time to myself for music, it was therapeutic and I felt creative and clear in expressing some simple musical understanding and also some complicated, frenzied joy. Two women came over with children and we had some time together. With Mo content, I got a terrific picture of a little fellow having some serious fun on the Traveling Piano. The timing was all perfect. As soon as I was finished the rain began again. And then... wow, the shades of spring, all color intensified with the wetness. It hasn't rained in a while so I really enjoyed this spring downpour especially since the heavy part did not start until I got the extra cover over the truck. The rest of the day was spent doing nothing and I mean facebook/twitter nothing. Talk about zoning out! These days I am getting very little done and need to keep telling myself life as it is... is ok. Mo is my everything these days.

April 18, 2013

It was 5:30pm and I just had to get outside! We headed for the park and wow, the breeze and temperatures have been so incredibly nice. The weather was cold, dank and dark for so long and now I am just enjoying the feeling warm yet cool totally. Nature is the only thing really giving me a sense of fully enjoying life these days. I don't know why I am saying that but I am. The trees I've been playing music towards through the seasons, all have a light green emerald tint and with the late day sun they glow. I created music on the lake just Mo and I watching spring happen. I've been saying that a lot but it is happening a lot! Friends showed up for a short spell. That was interesting. On the way out of the park I stopped at a new local store for some milk and with the owners curious about the Traveling Piano... well, I'm glad I had enough spirit to share some music with them.

April 17, 2013

I give a lot of thought and care to my mission statement of Fun, Friendship and Respect. I go back and forth in wanting to not dilute the pureness of it by trying to keep personal agenda out of my work. The fact that my mission has been to have no Political, Organizational or Commercial agenda is why the student government of Virginia Tech felt safe enough to phone me six years ago (yesterday was the anniversary) in the aftermath of the massacre there and ask for the Traveling Piano to visit the student campus and be with the students. The success of that visit was largely responsible for knowing I could help in Sandy Hook, CT during the holidays. But too, this blog IS personal and as a person... I am not always all about Fun, Friendship and Respect. Sometimes I get really pissed off. I have written about my journeys experiences with dollar stores, rights for the homeless (because I am homeless) how access to basic water without cost is being taken away by people with financial interests, the government limiting access to nature and parks through fees to create employment and money, well... with my personal experience of the present gun culture violence here in the United States and with every senator today who said basically fuck the majority in making any move to address the problem because people who sell guns are more valuable for themselves personally in some way... well, it is incredibly difficult to not be distracted from my mission of Fun, Friendship and Respect. While I'm ranting... hahaha, also, people who email me saying Danny, "you should go here"... "you should go there" ... "you are needed" ... "people right now need what you have to offer". I say... Not feeling strong enough... now if you can get... or give... me the support I need to go give support... yea, that's the ticket! I mean it can be a simple as setting up a place for us to stay for Christ's sake! Its not that simple, thats why few people help. Actually, not a few... no one these days. Here is a link to what I am all about concerning the gun culture... its a 60 minutes program from the families in Sandy Hook, CT. The article is right on! Perspective

April 16, 2013

The dog got me up and out today. The weather was magnificent in every way. I found a tick on Mo this morning so we went to the vet to get repellant. Lyme disease is a big problem here. The vet gave us a free exam but it all still cost two hundred and twenty bucks for the vaccination, 6 months of repellant, heart worm pills and a test. Ugh, whatever... Mo runs in the woods a lot so I want as much protection as possible. Even still, there is a type of West Virginia tic that nothing will stop from infecting. Next... with the situation up in Boston where bombs went off yesterday, I looked into going there and staying with someone who did not get back to me. I am finished looking for places to stay. When I started this journey, one in five people responded to visits into their communities then it went to one in ten, now times have changed so much that it is about one in twenty people who invite us into their homes.



It could be the passion for this life style has faded for me which it has but more so without question... I don't have all day to sit around contacting people and writing individual requests for a few night stay overs. Along the Potomac river in Maryland today I realized I could just sit and get lost in music and not care about interacting with anyone, (although we did) not care about recording of music, not care if anyone was around or not... I just sat creating my music like I was on a drug and zoned out! Ha, that felt good along with the amazing breeze and temperature. I love watching spring creating itself along the river. There were women fishing today, usually men are fishing. A guy in his army fishing fatigues... it never fails to jar me when this happens even though it is not a rare happening... he was thirty something and a gun tottin' proud redneck rural man... approached me saying, "that was beautiful music, you were the best thing to happen to me today." Wow, that is just so amazing and always will be a never taken for granted true gift for me.

April 15, 2013

I'll just call this a lost day. Its not my first, it most likely won't be my last.

April 14, 2013

Ranson, West Virginia

Using the desire to take Mo out for exercise and to help myself exercise... thats what got me going today. We headed to a dog park I found a month ago even though it was over an hours drive away. I knew we could alternate all day with creating music, dog play and walking. Thats what we did in full, warm sunlight. We met new people and actually ran into people we had met last time we were there. One lady was pretty far away through a grove of trees watching her son play a ball game. She walked over to say the ball team was getting killed in losing the game and that finding the Traveling Piano turned the day around for her. Walking was really a struggle for me today. God, I hate to say this, I think I may be depressed. Thats the only explanation I have for feeling weak. It might not be depression. it could be many, many things but... I know it won't last because I will do what I need to do. Thats the way it has been my whole life. Giving up is not an option no matter how much I want to. Damm! Ha. We drove the Traveling Piano into a pink blooming apple orchard. Wow, I took about ten pictures and they are all awesome. I'll be posting them in the galleries soon. Be sure to check them out! I literally watched the ground today turn from brown to green as the day progressed.


April 13, 2013

I've been tying up lose ends with things that need to get done. Endings... they need the most care from me. My tendency is to work real hard, conscientiously focused and detail oriented at the start and then care less and less as time moves on. I tend to lose interest and gradually unravel into never, never land. Finishing what I start and ending it with care, a clean completion... wow, what a challenge. These days I am so unsure of myself I am driving myself crazy. It hurts and it is at times like this I tend to hurt myself. Talking to myself out loud can help but it is very difficult. There are no friends I feel that are sane enough to talk too! Ha, love you all but... Anyway, my anxiety level is heading for its all time high... I do not feel secure or safe with the Traveling Piano truck even though I know everything is the same as it always was. The worries ebb and flow through the years sometimes legitimate and other times totally non necessary. A 1987 pickup truck that has been all over United States several times including Alaska and also in Canada, Newfoundland and Mexico, its beat and tired like my body. Riding it now in warmer weather is showing warm weather problems like with the carburetor and overheating. The carburetor has already been rebuilt once. I know all the options of fixing it, working, getting sponsors etc... and I know what needs to be done. The problem is my feeling that the wrong choice or a mistake will put me out of the ball game totally. Feeling tired and out of shape physically does not help. Having been on this journey since 2006 and my age... too much focus on all that. I have nothing and no one to fall back on. I know that my mind demands that I be present in this life. That in of itself is exhausting. Living in the past or future just does not work at all for me no matter how hard I try at times. Blah, blah, blah... it is what it is and with this blog/journal from the start I decided, for better or worse I'm going to say it all.

April 12, 2013

If the weather report would have been correct today it would have read: A mix of warm and cool breezes with sun and clouds... the air spring like with a clear, clean summer feeling. I was going to push myself out to hike like yesterday or work with the Traveling Piano. Luckily I didn't do either. Taking it easy after yesterdays hike was high on my priority list.

April 11, 2013

Right now Mo is flopped out exhausted, dead like... on the floor. Me, I am numb. We went on a hike in the woods. The sign said "loop." How difficult can a loop be? How long can a loop be? What is the difference between a trail hike and a rock climb? Ha, for two hours... up, up up. Me, my dog and two turkeys that were lurking around. In the past I wanted to see where this path went and today was a good day to find out, especially since you can see through the trees. It was difficult, the longest hike ever with Mo. There were times I wanted to turn around but I was too far into it. I began to call on Jesus to help. Ha... I was losing all self-ability, but grateful at the same time. When we got to the top I was waiting for the path to go down but it just kept going across the top of a mountain ridge. Often I create music at a lake far below looking up from where I was today looking down wondering what it would be like to be standing exactly where I was standing.



I feel achy now in ways I never felt before. I was so far up I felt dizzy. Maybe that was from the climb. Mo, being out in the woods everyday with the spring season... his instincts are taking over. He stays with me but I can feel the animal in him. There has been a domesticated disconnect. At the top there were four routes to choose from. I wasn't taking any chances and simply turned around. On the way down it was even more difficult. Climbing down over rocks my legs were wobbly. It has been years since I've done this difficult of a trail. I was thinking how glad I was for having had created music for a while before we started... because when I get back to the truck I would probably faint. When I did get back to the truck I was too curious about what it would feel like to create music after such a long exhilarating hiking climb and feeling faint. We drove to a nearby stream and I backed up to it to play. There is little memory of that now and the tips of my fingers have a numbish hurt to them. It was all worth it.

April 10, 2013

Last night I slept with the windows open and it was delicious! Before bed I sat on the deck outside in the dark and listened to the ground crackling. The heat is waking everything up fast. I could hear trillions and trillions of ticks, stink bugs, gnats, bees, flies... everyone is hatching. This is the first time I have been in West Virginia during the spring and I know what is going to happen... quick. Strong, loud, fast, hard, tenacious bugs of every type will fill the air. It was in the nineties today. A few days ago I was using the heater, now the fan. I know rain must be on the way so I wanted to take advantage of this unusual weather. A long ride lost... happened. Mo and I walked in the mountains and of course some Traveling Piano fun up on the local overlook. It is really strange to experience the earth in total winter mode with hot summer weather at the same time. Everything is changing almost instantaneously.


April 09, 2013

It is difficult to believe that two weeks ago there was snow on the ground. Today the temperature was in the eighties. My mind did not work very well today. I did not want to do anything and thats mostly the way it went. The last of what I owned, the special stuff I contributed to this home base I have had to use. It was supposed to be the last resting place for what was left. Now, circumstance dictates the house become emptied and I must once again go through everything and liquidate belongings that have already been liquidated as in given away. Five years now I have been letting go of what I owned. There was a lot of stuff. Only the people who have helped know how much "stuff." Most others could not imagine. Moving stuff around now makes me absolutely crazy. Not having a place to stay in and having no idea where to go as long as I keep the faith, I'm ok. Faith has not been helping me when it comes to moving stuff. I tried on my short pants for the first time this year. I was able to button them so I must not have gained as much weight as I thought. It is simply that I am not as strong and do not feel healthy as needed in order to continue. Hopefully, that will change.

April 08, 2013

There is still stuff I am letting go of. I had so much stuff! It is now about ninety six percent gone. Today I gave away to my friend Josylen a big old Ukrainian ceramic lamp handmade by my aunt, about 30 birthday cards from my first birthday ever, picture books from different countries I have visited throughout my life about twenty of them and other stuff. I'm exhausted every time I have to deal with the past. Since 2007 I have been whittling away, letting go of everything I have owned. I kept a couple sets of bedsheets just in case I ever have a home again... ugh, with it all. Having no idea where I am going to live or where I am going to go... you'd think I'd be use to it, eh? As I continue forward the less I have to fall back on. Financially, physically, mentally... but I've got solid and strong spirit that is always consistent. Its just that sometimes I can't find it! The facts can be totally scary if I don't just let everything "be." The weather today... the temperature must have been around eighty degrees with the sun out. It felt so good it almost hurt.

April 07, 2013

We went to the park. No one was around and for about a half hour Mo and me hung out and while I created music and the sun appeared through clouds, the temperature was mild. Nice, finally no dark, cold dankness. People began to arrive. I created music with kites in the air, children blowing soap bubbles into the sky, lots of fishing happened, kids wading in the lake water... nice, nice, nice.


April 06, 2013

Cacapone State Park, West Virginia

It seems very new to sit with coffee when I wake up... with the sun out. Since the fall season in New York after the hurricane, then through the holidays in Connecticut after the shootings and then in West Virginia through the winter well, it has all been very dark except for when actually working with the Traveling Piano. The darkness was good for a time when I needed hibernation here in West Virginia but enough is enough. I drove to a nearby overlook today a couple miles up a mountain side. It was a lot colder at the top, almost too cold but once I was there I stayed anyway. I began to take a hike with Mo but tired out almost immediately and did not want to push myself physically.



Mo had a bunch of kids to play with off the truck. I seem to be getting more into capturing group portrait pictures in wanting to have a good photo for everyone we meet. These days I seem to meet more groups of people rather than single people. It seemed a bit unusual to have met on this fairly obscure mountain top... a Mennonite couple from Canada. Ha, but then again I'll never forget running into Newfoundlanders who had played on the Traveling Piano while we were visiting St John's Newfoundland years ago... I ran into them again in this very park here in West Virginia two years later! And again today for the second time this week I met people from my old neighborhood where I owned my home outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am so happy to be able to interact with so many people from so many different cultures and backgrounds. The seemingly coincidental happenings throughout this journey... well I can't really put into words how I feel about them.

April 05, 2013

Hancock, Maryland

The sun was out today and the temperature really nice. As soon as I saw the sun, the agenda set itself... exercise, music, dinner with friends. Off to Hancock, Maryland. Mo and I drove to a spot along the Potomac River that we know well. My computer came along to record some music. Sitting on the rivers bank, the water flowed simple, strong and smooth. That is what the music sounded like and it was clear, refreshing for me to be able to create. There were two young boys fishing at the edge and when they were done they stopped by and told me how a teacher they loved recently died and my music really helped them. These guys were like fifteen years old. I've had this experience with adults but never from young kids. You can imagine how good that felt. I started a walk with Mo along the canal. It was slow and easy and when we found a grassy plot in full sun so I stopped and we laid in it. Also, we rolled, sat still together while basking in the sun with natures sounds all around. We were completely present, secure and content with each other. That feels the best. It reminded me of a time with Piano Dog Boner in Ferryland, Newfoundland... a most treasured life experience.



I stayed on the river bank for several hours playing the piano and meeting people with their dogs. When it got dark I traveled to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia to meet up with a couple I had met in a local park some time ago and who have been one of the very few to contribute twenty five bucks on this website. They were local and I could not remember who they were so I wanted to meet them. My energy was really flying after the full day with the Traveling Piano, the relaxing exercise with Mo on the canal and then to spend time in conversation with interested/interesting new friends... who treated me to dinner! Ha, I'm thinking I just should continue doing what I am doing until I can no longer do... and not think about anything else.

April 04, 2013

Winchester, Virginia

I was in Winchester, Virginia to purchase a pair of shoes. The pair I am wearing fell apart. Also, I wanted to have dinner with a friend. It was cloudy and dank so there was no plan to create music but I did stop in a park to walk a little no matter how little. I wandered past a curious group of people twice. The second time they were meandering around on the ground looking for something. This was a mom and dad with two son's and a girlfriend geocaching as in treasure hunting. It is an international hobby not for money... in this case it was for a specific rock with a leaf attached. The search is treated almost like a science using gps coordinates and they have been involved with the hobby for ten years. Of course we all had to have a Traveling Piano experience. It turned out the mom uses the same tools to live her life as I do. Her ways are so specific to mine it was like God saying "Get off your ass Danny and move on!" I've been feeling like everything is ending because I want it to in a way. After they left another guy appeared. He was in his late seventies and was telling me how he had a major life change. He had been twenty four hour caretaker until death... for four years with his wife of twenty nine years or something like that. Then two years later on a whim he went online to a dating site where he met a new mate and now he has a completely different life. He looked younger than me. I asked him how old he was and he said he was seventy seven. I thought about how many times I have reinvented my life so far... It just doesn't feel like I want to have another life in me but seeing it in this other guy was certainly inspiring. It was like God saying "Get off your ass Danny and move on!

April 03, 2013

If I can't get healthier this journey will end. It is not like I want it to but... the facts are the facts. Presently, better choices are being made with food, I've been going for an exercise walk daily (really slow) but the bottom line is my passion for the journey as it was is not as strong and my actions speak to the lack of passion for moving up to a new level. I've been making steps into new directions but they seem almost insignificant. I'm sure age has something to do with it all. My dreams all still exist but as I have always said, my life is not so much about accomplishing them as it is enjoying the present moment. With my dog around... together we are almost always in the present moment. Mo is my strongest passion in life. When Mo came into my life I consciously choose him first and foremost over any journey. He gives me complete relationship. Our companionship is amazing. It is a complete bond. Mo trusts me and he loves me totally. We cuddle, we spoon, we snuggle, we hug, we play, exercise, laugh together in our own ways, everyday. When I need to be left alone he either sleeps next to me or will find a way to entertain himself with his toys. I get on the floor with him everyday and we fight for a toy, toss each other around, do a bit of growling and snarling together.

April 02, 2013

One of the challenges in the past year has been to decide on... and figure out how to communicate that I am burnt out of the travel while staying with strangers or in friends homes all the time. I'm also done with motels and most all longing for the accommodations and having the humility to accept whatever situations I find myself in with strangers that I stay with. I mean it is in the eighth year now! How can I continue to communicate my feelings in a Fun, Friendship and Respect-ful way... the being Empowering and Inspiration and without solicitation while burnt out? The only option is to be as true full and honest as possible. (which can be difficult in of itself) My tendency to whine way and to explain myself ad nauseum. That is simply habit. Also, the Traveling Piano is not business... work yes but not business. What I write is more personal than anything so I don't have to watch what I say. This journey is what it is.

April 01, 2013

Today the sun was out, the temperature was still too brisk for comfortable musical playing but the bright light, that felt good! All my career papers and over forty years of journaling, performance contracts, twenty years of tax receipts and all my personal letters and notes from friends and fans went up in smoke. I burnt it all. There is nobody who has said they want it and I can't keep moving it all from place to place, people lose stuff like this in storms and fire all the time. If someone wants to write about my life or I need material for a book or something there is enough material in this blog. The IRS already audited me many years ago and I came up clean... The receipts were all from a past life, the Raggin' Piano Boogie life. When I was going through it all for the last time, it was absolutely amazing to see how much work I have put into my life concerning personal growth and career. It almost seemed ridiculous how much I have had to train my mind to become functional. Ha, even more ridiculous to lose what I have learned, get it back, lose it and get it back again throughout life...from this silly brain of mine.