HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON! ... BONER, THE PIANO DOG ... November 27, 1994 ... February 20, 2010
Use the links to the left to read a past Month or Year... and then there is always your Backspace to return to a past page.
HELP! A new Carburetor is needed. SpotFund: Long Live the Traveling Piano Spotfund Venmo: Dan Kean @TravelingPiano 2156399378 - Paypal Direct: Paypal - And of Course this Website Contribution Page. Contribute Or email me for snail mail.
December 31, 2015
Great Falls, Montana
Wow, it was difficult leaving my friend Becky today. Thank god the truck started. A heater has been attached to the oil pan. Once I got started into the snow it was like... just don't stop. The roads were not so bad thank God again! I took a long way out to get to an interstate and made it to Great Falls, Montana from East Glacier. Great Falls looks like a great place for the Traveling Piano to spend time in but not now! It is 20 degrees out. A gallon of water I started out with was in the back of the truck and after three hours of driving it froze solid. The wind and blowing snow was brutal. There was no way I could drive any more today... I am physically, mentally and emotionally spent! No way can I handle a cheap motel so I choose a semi cheap motel and feel very comfortable, safe, in my own space... I need my own space, forever!!! How to accomplish that after ten years is a big question. This will be a two night stay here. Happy New Years! Mo, me, television, internet, peace, quiet, popcorn, candy... I think I'll splurge and go down to the lobby to get a soda, lol.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 30, 2015
Kalispell, Montana
What a friggin' emotional day. I decided I must leave Montana for many reasons and will miss the majority of the winter season. I was looking forward to some deep wilderness hiking in snow for pictures and to hibernate some, get a plan together... but that is just not going to happen. How to get out with ice on the roads is a disturbing thought. I made a list of phone numbers for tow trucks in different towns, the police, etc... in case I run off the road or can't get out I'll just go wave down a passing car and ask them to help and to use thier phone. Where to go, what to do with so little funding left. It sure ain't like the old days, for sure! Finances have now become a focus point for the journey. That is a downer in many ways but it is what it is. I'd rather be out having fun with music. I'm learning about myself through the process. For example I have always known that money in of itself has never been important for me. Using it to buy things, for prestige, influence and to impress people has never been my game. I enjoy using it to share what I like with people who like what I have to share! That is not a bad thing, it is a good thing because there are many people in the world that want and even need what I have to offer. This has taken a life time to accept and embrace for myself. I enjoy the use of money to share in life all of life's aspects with other people verses for un-sharing agendas.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 29, 2015
Near Essex Montana
Asking for help has been the most self-empowering act I can make in life. It has taken a lifetime to learn how to do it in a productive way. I am always working on how to be better with it. Staying honest and true concerning what I am asking for and holding close my intent so that it does not become diluted by others is a constant challenge. Asking for help in any way be it financial, physical, mental or spiritual is an act of asking for love. I am being loved so specially by those responding to my request for contribution to help keep the Traveling Piano going. I am feeling it greatly. In reading this from someone when younger I would have thought, what a lot crap! Ha... it is not crap. It is who I am, the person I have always wanted to be and their is nothing better than being able to express yourself and how you feel without reservation or fear, only with respect, appreciation and love.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 28, 2015
Next to the Slow Slip Inn, Montana
Today, I'm feeling ok... secure even like... I will say it... I feel good. It is not only that I woke up to several contributions... two friends sent $100 bucks each but what really makes me feel good is an acceptance with clarity and understanding as to why many people are not contributing. Sure, there is and always will be misunderstanding and ignorance with people but an aspect of a lack in giving to the Traveling Piano I've been looking at today is... that people want to feel needed and that is most often the reason they give. I am not asking people to give from a place of need but more from a place of sharing and contributing to Fun, Friendship and Respect... specifically mine! Of course I want to take what is given to me and go out to pay it forward, keep giving to others as I have done for the last ten years. This is my work, the musical giving of spirit, that of Fun, Friendship and Respect. But, mostly until now my own money has paid the bills and that all is used up. Many people cannot grasp giving for that reason and also the idea makes some people very uncomfortable for many different reasons! The Traveling Piano Success fundraising campaign is doing very well considering.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 27, 2015
Montana
I've got the spirit! In responding to people who say "no" to sharing as little as five bucks, I've been attaching "no" negative emotion to the responses. And, I've been careful not to respond with sarcasm. Sometimes it is with more explanation, continued suggestion, will not take no for an answer in a light hearted way... how they receive that is up to them but I'm clear on my well meaning intent. And the more someone pushes back, the more practice I get in staying positive! I'm actually having fun with it all and that is the way it is supposed to be. Some people say "no" to contribution and support all the while asking me to stop and visit them and their neighbors and gift them again as I did before. They tell me how much everyone appreciates and remembers. Isn't that the way with some people... all takers. I wonder if they are self-centered, suffer from a sense of entitlement or are just plain stupid, lol. Now I am looking for givers. That is a largest reason for why I have chosen the work of fundraising for now. One question asked most by people throughout the journey, "What will you do when you run out of money?" I have always said I will know when the time comes. There are many things I can do. I've been working since the age of fifteen and have been a successfully working entrepreneur for my entire life.
The time has come and I have chosen fundraising for several reasons. A few years ago I got sacred because the truck engine went bad so I reached out for help specifically on facebook. There was a double agenda with that. I wanted emotional support through a small contribution from as many people as possible but also to find out who the takers and givers were online so I did not waste so much time with "takers." I wanted to get rid of facebook friends that were draining the spirit out of me. Now the largest reason I have chosen fundraising... I am specifically looking for givers, "like" people so my spirit will fill up some. It can be fun to find friends and supporters. Just like there was a point in life when dating was fun. Finding out who I like or dislike and why, having new experiences, the unknown, etc... I want to know people in my life now who are "like" me. A lot can be accomplished with people sticking together who think, give and behave similarly. As I wrote to someone in an email...When I give unconditionally without money involved from the Traveling Piano truck... I am not looking for friends or "like" people. I am "working" to do what I enjoy doing whether the people I encounter are friend worthy, or giving people or not. That work is on hold as I connect specifically with people like myself in order to continue... people who are givers, period. I hope you are a Traveling Piano giver! If not, you know what you must do... lol.
December 26, 2015
Montana
Fundraising in order to get back on the road to start sharing the Traveling Piano again... its going very slow. I tell myself... give it time. Also, I'm realizing that this journey is big on pictures and I have purposely reached out to the world in general so there is not a core audience so to speak and I would guess at least half of the people who visit this website, without question more than half on facebook and twitter do not even understand English so they see the picture link to GoFundMe and simply say they like it while having no idea that I an asking for them to make a contribution. Its killing me that GoFundMe takes almost 10% when all is said and done but people seem to prefer using that forum over using the contribution link on this website where most of their money goes directly to the source. This site takes only about 3% for processing.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 25, 2015
Montana
My Christmas Day was very interesting. I choose to be by myself with Mo verses social with friends going to a movie in Kalispell. I took it real easy and spent time simply in nature pushing my way through deep snow around mountains, a creek, trees, wide open fields and brush... there was no way I could possible feel alone. Actually I felt like I was inside a snow globe. Walking around with snowflakes in a steady flow falling to the ground. I thought about how there really cannot be a different nature than I have already experienced in terrain and environment... not true. Today was a new, unique life experience and it was as good as it can get. There is a tree that I have been sitting from inside where we are staying and I've been watching it collect snow for at least a week. I took a picture of my my first all natural, pure and perfect Christmas Tree.
December 24, 2015
Montana
My dog Mo gives me so much comfort. Becky and I went to have Christmas Eve dinner with friends Brenda and Louis in Essex, Montana a small rural community of about 30 people. It was snowing pretty heavy. The locals have no problem driving in the snow here because they are used to it. Me... not able, at all. Mo and I are in a fantasy land of the deepest fluffy, white, pure snow in natural beauty beyond my wildest of imaginations. I've seen Christmas like this in paintings and on Christmas cards throughout life and now I am "in" the real thing! Christmas Eve dinner with friends in an amazing warm and cozy chalet with snow falling easy and steady outside. Peace, Joy and Comfort for All.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 23, 2015
Montana
I stood in awe with my experience of life today. I felt gratitude while fully realizing that life is full of trade offs. I can't seem to have everything but... everything cannot be compared with standing today in a large open field of snow and as it was snowing, looking up the side of a large cone shaped mountain watching as snow plow train passed creating an avalanche of snow down the side of it. There are two train tracks side by side on the mountain and on the other side a freight train made its way slowly around. Without question this is the the most white Christmas in my sixty years! Completely away from anything commercial, all nature. Mo and I walked in a field today pushing through snow sometimes up to my waste. He walks behind in my path. Then when I get tired he jumps in front to make the path. We took turns making it easy and fun for each other!
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 22, 2015
Montana
A long, long time ago I came to a place in my life where I realized I was needy because I felt and was acting needy. It was necessary to get honest and take a strong hard look at myself and what my neediness looked like. After coming to terms with the facts I learned it was necessary to position my mind, body and spirit so that I had something to offer to others and the world in order to cast out any "need." It began in the simplest of ways with small acts of kindness, taking care of myself first and by trusting in others who were doing the same, taking direction from them. The Traveling Piano journey is the putting into action the manifestation of what I learned. Yes, I get very frustrated with not having what I "want" at times but never... do I feel needy. My writing sometimes may come across with residual words and ways of saying things that reflect where I came from in the past as a needy person. I am still learning and probably always will be how on how to communicate better. People who want to put false intent on what I just wrote as a sales pitch or scheming... ha, I absolutely love being able to say... they can kiss my butt because... it has been so clean for the last ten years. Nothing can point to self seeking without sharing. I have shared these same thoughts over and over and all the while giving unconditionally. It all is what it is... in of itself. For anyone who may interrupt this as sounding angry, no anger at all... pure strength of character with intense passion that I have been working a lifetime to have! Do you know that there is nothing better, nothing... than knowing your true intent and accepting it? I thank everyone who has been contributing, we are over the thousand mark. Contribute, help us to keep going!
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 21, 2015
Montana
Clarity about what I am doing with fundraising is a great thing. It is coming from people who say, "why don't you pass a bucket with the piano" or "get a job." And then I think... they are missing the whole point, that I am passing the bucket to them. Maybe after my having shared the joy with them and while I am continuing to do that, they want someone else to pay for it. And for those who say "get a job" That always makes me snicker. Do they mean that they want for me to work for someone else? I've been working since age 15 and am now 60... really, get a job? People have so many reasons for what they say and the buttons I push for them, ha. Of course I could make money from a commercial, organizational or political entity to keep the Traveling Piano going! I was successful in doing that for 20 years before this present journey. I am no longer interested in that way of living. My interest now is in "paying forward" the contributions of other people who will join me in the sharing of joy unconditionally... no matter how little or big the contribution may be. Finding and connecting with "like" people is fun! Thank You to everyone who has contributed to date. Check out where we stand with it all...
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 20, 2015
Montana
I told my friend Becky I would stay to be with her on Christmas. The idea to head west right now, I just can't do it with the snow and even though I am not feeling Christmas at all this year, its probably better I'm not alone. Last year was the pits! In a perfect world I'd be in warmer weather working with the Traveling Piano but that is not going to happen until people start to contribute! Nothing came in yesterday or today and it has been mostly $5 and $10 contributions. I'm telling myself to give it time because I'm going to need thousands in order to continue. I must raise enough money to rent a place for a home base and for overnight stays while on the road. Eating, clothes, necessities... they are also needed. We went for a ride in Becky's four wheel drive pickup truck through a snow wonderland today. I got out of the truck only a few times to take a picture and had to lift my knees to my chest for each step I took as the snow is so deep. The snow scenery here in Montana with the sun shinning is stunning. The snow scenery at dusk... indescribable. It is not possible to get pictures with my limited skill at photography but if I was able to take the time to learn I'd be able to create some spectacular feeling through visuals of Montana in snow at dusk. This journey is not only about the love of music and people, it is also about the love of this earth's nature. The pictures shared freely in the picture galleries, over 70,000 of them... thats another reason to donate and help keep this journey, the appreciation for life going.
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 19, 2015
Montana
I socialized a bit today for the first time in a long while. My friend Becky and I got silly with a few selfies earlier in the day and then her friend was having a very small wedding reception at a very small restaurant called the Snow Slip which happens to be next door to where I am staying. It was the first time I had been in there and the place was as cozy as could be. It felt good to meet with some new people and put names to the faces of several people Becky has told me about. It snowed another foot last night and as the party began so did more snow. I hope I don't need to use a tow truck to get me out of this area. The attendees are very used to driving in snow... I used to be, but not any more and never have on sharp inclines and around on high cliffs. Still, I do love snow as most people who live here do. I love snow when there is a lot of it!
I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 18, 2015
Montana
This year has been an amazing year, the most difficult yet. It has been the first without enough money to support myself, the first without a home base (even though the last one I had was never secure) and... I almost died twice. Because of a few friends I am still going and... unbelievably, I think Mo and I have been able to accomplished more and have worked more than in any other year of this journey. I'll be leaving Montana soon and am very disappointed about that in many ways. There is no one reason for the departure. I am absolutely sure it is the right thing to do and my gut clearly tells me to get going. I had planned to transfer my archived career video tapes into digital and to set forth and organize a plan to sell my music, create a book, sell nature pictures while hibernating through the winter. I'll be leaving all my materials here maybe to be lost forever. Who knows what the future will bring, no one. The snow is pretty deep right now, I think my biggest disappointment will be in missing the snow hiking I had been wanting to do in the back woods. I was really looking forward to that. In past years I was able to absorb, immerse myself into what ever I was doing more fully like be in the snow and feel it, think of nothing but the feeling. Lack of funding has a lot to do with not being able to do that now. I get glimpses and short snippets of the nature but have not been able to slow down enough to really sit in the experience in order to feel "whole in spirit" as in the past. Not having a home is the biggest distraction. Being homeless was fun for many years, not any more.
Although, when I am interacting with people through the Traveling Piano always, I am 100% present, my passion for what I am doing is as strong as ever and I feel totally connected with spirit and alive! The beauty of nature in life is an awesome experience to have. The Fun, Friendship and Respect... the happiness and joy experienced with people through the Traveling Piano... nothing in my life has ever come close to topping the awesomeness of that. It has happened over 50,000 times now and I am still as interested as I was on the very first day. I'm raising money for The Traveling Piano Success Fund! Click on the link below to Donate. If we can keep going until next year, we will have a 10 year celebration of musical fun, friendship and respect with no other agenda. There has been no fees, tips, solicitation or commercial affiliation of any kind with the Traveling Piano. I have paid out of pocket for most of the expenses until now and am out of money. Please share this link with everyone you know on social sites, via personal email, etc... but most importantly make a contribution. I need your help. The world needs more of the Traveling Piano!
December 17, 2015
Montana
What I am going through is full of humility. Sometimes I think "humiliating" but in knowing my true intent, feeling humiliated is not true. There is a difference. The false feeling of humiliation comes up because sometimes I tell myself as well as other people... "you used to own a big house, two cars, more expensive "stuff" than could fit into the house, a tuxedo, comfortable clothes, etc... and it was all paid off! Then in my head I think, you fool, everyone is looking at you as a failure, you "should" etc... The fact is I made a choice to let go of everything and that was courageous... not that I will never want those creature comforts again but at the time I could never have created the journey while holding on to the house and its responsibilities as well as my financial worth. I do not regret my decision, not one percent of it. My past decisions were the right decisions for my life. This morning I realized that the false sense of security concerning the home I had keeps coming back into my mind because I do not want to lose the sense of comforts that came from it in order help me to do my work. If I am going to be able to connect with people and gift them with what the Traveling Piano offers I must have an equal or higher level of security from within myself that is not only spiritual... I must have the mental and physical comforts that give me the acuity needed for work.
I cannot live on the street and then give people more than what that "is," which to me personally is basically worthless. Spiritually I can always give, but I also need basic physical comfort and security to have the mental acuity to work with the piano, truck, dog, my talent, etc... I've spent a lot of time especially this year with people who are homeless all over the country from skid row in Los Angeles to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the poorest of the poor like here near where I'm staying on the Indian reservation in Browning, Montana. People who have never lived in dire straights have absolutely no clue to what hardship is. It is not pretty, thats for sure. With this present living situation I must choose sanity over security. I'm in a nice place but in being here I am losing my mind literally. I must leave. There is more faith in God and the Universe taking care of my need for physical security right now than in taking care of my mind. My priority right now needs to be for my sanity. I must take full responsibility for my sanity. Problem is... its snowing, there is over a foot outside. How do I get out... now? Todays pictures are from the Indian reservation close by a month ago. I love the people who live there. Please make a contribution to the GoFundMe account I set up. Asking people for money while keeping a sense of worth... now thats a task needing humility for sure, excruciating humility at times but I remind myself, "there is always room for improvement Danny." I have learned that true humility is a most beautiful thing and must remind myself that my intent is for humility not humiliation.
December 16, 2015
Montana
We took a ride to get some snow pictures but the only really way to get good pictures is to get out of the truck and walk for distances. With sending emails to people and learning how to work the GoFundMe campaign... and preparing to leave and staving off thoughts of a disastrous future (can be energy draining) there was not enough time to to get out and walk today. It was getting dark anyway. As far as a disastrous future, what is the worst that can happen? I could die? If that did happen, I said back in 2010 there would be nothing to regret. My life has been one hundred percent realized. The joy, the nature, relationship, accomplishments and the lack of need for accomplishment as in simply "being" in life has been experienced beyond my wildest of dreams although not entirely what I expected or was taught what my dreams should be. If I should slowly fizzle out physically and mentally from this body of mine well, I can enjoy that process no matter what... through a spiritual sense. Although, I don't think it will be a slow fizzle for me.
More like a big bang, lol! Anyway, whatever is to come next must be done for fun. Wherever I go, whatever I do, however the last of the money is spent must be an enjoyable experience. But then again... if you contribute and get everyone you know to contribute... I might be able to continue on working with the Traveling Piano and die having fun that way! Finances are needed to do that. A lot of financial support, because I can't keep living from dollar to dollar. I need the security of a home to work from. Someone sent me a ten dollar contribution and said how much they have appreciated what I do through the years and that the pictures say it all. That warms my heart because the entire idea of the pictures are for people who would have difficulty grasping the Traveling Piano concept, do not read and for those who do not understand english. Click on the GoFundMe below to Donate.
December 15, 2015
Montana
Often I think about how I want to go out with this journey when it is time. Do I just disappear? Do I go out as though I'm still at the top of my game? Do I allow myself to be seen fizzling out, imploding, dying or whatever? Will people remember me only by what they know of the end? Ha, it really doesn't matter, none of it. It is not like a lot of people know me anyway, or will remember anything or care except for a fleeting mention twenty years down the line. So anyway, I need funding like now! I did the most difficult thing I have... no it wasn't the "most difficult" ... although it was as difficult as it can get. "As difficult as it can get" ...happens all the time. I told my friend Becky I must leave today. She has offered me a place to stay but it is not working out for many reasons. This fact is very painful and disappointing plus I want to be helpful for her but know that I cannot in staying. I'm really going to miss the deep snow and getting pictures of it. I was looking forward to deep snow in the middle of the winter. My anxiety here at night goes through the roof and is getting worse. There might be a vortex factor involved. A vortex is an area with concentrated energy, the best and worse of life. Glacier Park is definitely a vortex and I am a vortex magnet. This I have learned over and over throughout the last ten years. So I have no idea where to go, no place to go to, no home, no one to leech off. I can't believe I just said that. I have no one to leech off... because I don't leech. Its just not my thing. If I did leech... I know several leech-able people. Sometimes, my brain projects how other people want to think about me and not the truth of my true intent.
What a feeling it is to not know what will come next! It has not felt any better through time I can tell you that. Everyone consistently says as they have from the start... "something big is going to happen soon for you" ... I wonder if that big something will be death in the end. If nothing else, the same situations have gone on and on for ten years. They just get more real and more intense as time moves forward. Getting older is not compatible with that fact! I don't sound very optimistic, do I. Well, I'm not feeling that way but I am also not feeling pessimistic. We drove into Kalispell and Becky treated me to an Italian appetizer I don't know the name of it but it was amazing. A large 12" round puff pastry that you pop to let the hot air out of and inside it is full of baby clams and seasonings with garlic and broth, very memorable. On the way back it began to snow and memories of running off the road came back from last week. The drive up and down and around the mountains at night is crazy enough but with the roads total snow and ice well, I literally kept my eyes closed most of the way. I can't believe Becky had the where-with-all to keep the ride slow and steady and not slide off a cliff. She's no spring chicken. Please contribute via this website or the GoFundMe account I set up. I cannot understand why more people are not contributing. Your help is very needed. Please also send everyone you know the link.
December 14, 2015
Montana
Today is the anniversary of the murders in Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012. With all the insane gun support along with these type of killings that continues now on a regular basis around the contry... it pains me greatly. I usually don't want to remember tragedies but I do remember how much I hurt when Mo and I left this community with the Traveling Piano. We were there. I remember how the world was there not to gawk or experience drama... everyone without exception that I met and felt were there to validate the worth of human spirit. I remember writing that in this blog because the feeling was 100% real. The Traveling Piano has been at several mass murders and I could not feel more grateful for having a way to express empathy, compassion and care from my spirit through music and the way it is presented. To be able to be appropriate and embraced by others in environments like this with a dog on a piano in the back of a pickup truck creates total humility for me. I don't know if I could go through another period of sadness like in Sandy Hook. It drained all of my spirit and at the same time created anger that I still live with everyday. The anger is about self-centered people who can't see the forest for the trees.
December 13, 2015
Montana
Oh my God this pains me but then again it might be very exciting. The pain part is associating with something outside of the Traveling Piano realm for the first time in ten years and most of all... giving up over 10% of every contribution to a broker and for processing fees. If someone contributes $10.00 I get $8.91 of that. Even when I was a performer for my entire career before this journey, I rarely dealt with agents. I preferred to earn all the money paid in fees by doing all the work but... even though people can contribute on this website and in fact have all their money go directly into the journey... its not happening and... I am feeling desperate. So if people need a conventional go between way in order to feel more comfortable about contributing money, so be it. Its exciting to try something new, VERY scary and its time to move forward in a different direction. Its been ten years mostly all out of pocket and my pockets are now empty. A different direction is the bill of fare. An official fundraiser is the smallest different direction I can handle right now. Please click on the link, make a contribution, share it via all your personal emails and on social media and let me know what you think of the description! Lets have fun and follow a rise to the success of getting back out on the road with the Traveling Piano.
December 12, 2015
Montana
I am living my life and have no choice but to do it my way. That... is the right way as long as I live in the faith of doing the right things. Then, the right things happen. Those "things" are basic. A desire to enjoy life, share it and add to it so that others can also enjoy and share and add. Many people have ideas of what I should or can do to achieve my goals. They do not realize that if something new came across my path that I have not yet thought of or that a hundred other people have not already suggested over the last ten years ad nauseam... well, finding or realizing something new would be nothing short of a miracle. I want to raise allot of money enough to reach the 10th anniversary of the Traveling Piano journey next year, create a home base to work from and continue until the 30 year anniversary of working full time with a piano in the back of the same pickup truck. That will happen in 2017. Contribute Here. If you have a problem with using the link please contact me at dannykean@ragginpianoboogie.com or through the contact link on this website. Onward with joy...
December 11, 2015
Montana
With a pair of rubbers and ice cleats Mo and I went for a walk today in the snow for the first time in many years without worrying about a slip or fall. After a mile or so my feet really began to hurt but that was ok I just need to get used to the new footwear and walking with it. It felt like after I got lasik eye surgery many years ago... my first time being able to walk in snow and see without my glasses getting wet or fogged up... this was the first time walking in snow without fear of slipping. It also brings back memories of walking in glacier ice in Alaska a few years ago. I binged on a travel around China television series dowloaded on the internet all night while wondering if I can still physically do that as planned with the Traveling Piano and also I spent time setting up a way to keep track of contributions and where the money is going. Eighteen people have contributed since the 1st of the month but all that money has gone into immediate needs as in a pair of shoes, rubbers, ice cleats, socks, a winter coat, truck repair and food. I'll need to raise a lot of money to get on top of the game.
December 10, 2015
Montana
It snowed all day today, not a stormy snow it was an easy steady snow fall. It felt peaceful and the first snowfall to really lay on the trees. Of course everything changes over a stretch of a few miles. Down the road five miles they may have been having a blizzard. The mountains create there own specific weather and it is all mountain, beautiful mountain here. At midnight Mo and I took a walk out in it. He went crazy, he loves the snow totally. Once back in the house he threw up big time from over excitement. The walk was a new life experience for me. The quiet in winter and darkness, I've never been in such an isolated situation, in rural wilderness with no ability to leave without help. There is no community here. My friend Becky has a four wheel truck if needed, she stays upstairs and I have my own entrance downstairs. Keeping a distance with each other is a good idea so I don't get distracted with the work I need to do... like raise some money in order to continue and reach a ten year celebration in February of 2016! One hundred percent of contribution goes into the Traveling Piano work. Contribute Here.
December 09, 2015
Montana
Can chaos be adventurous? That is how I am trying to receive it but must keep aware not to fall into toxicity with it. Today, I had to take the truck back to the repair shop in Kalispell. It was raining but I was thankful it was not snowing. While driving the rain stopped and the roads dried. It was in the high forties and then the sun even came out! The truck recently had a used transmission installed which was giving me trouble. They could not find any trouble but did find defective seals that were leaking oil. They made me pay to repair the used defective transmission they just sold me! After telling them what bad people they were I thought, "just get it done." A couple of people sent me enough contribution money to cover it. Then... this is difficult to believe but after leaving the truck dealership I was driving on the road not more than two miles and it stalled. That is why I took it back to them to begin with. I thought, "fuck!" In knowing it was not going to stall for them if I drove back and also that they would have no idea as to any possibilities... I just started the damm thing and drove onward to get a new pair of shoes. The ones I have, literally fell apart over the last week. The sales guy said, "How can I help you today?" I said in an accommodating and humorous way with the most friendliness I could muster... "help me get a new life." Thankfully he took what I said with a grain of salt and then I actually found a pair of shoes that I like.
A guy came into the store and recognized me from when I was in this area back in 2010. I created music inside his rodeo ring with the Traveling Piano truck and about twenty of his bulls for fun! Lol, that was after Bo had died and before Mo came into my life. Of course there was a lot of questions and when it came to the fact that I am out of money... thats when he ran out of time to talk. Ha, after he left I was telling the sales guy about what I do and how so few people do not give for the sake of giving. He said that he finds they are beginning to do it more, in fact recently there was a customer who brought a pair of shoes and also spontaneously paid for the strangers shoes behind them next in line. That recipient then did exactly the same for the next person. His telling me that almost made me cry. I must have needed the validation that it happens. In case you are new to this blog, that is what the Traveling Piano has been doing for ten years. No tips, fees, solicitation, performing or entertaining, no commercial, organizational or political affiliation... all about having short relational interactions of musical giving without agenda with the idea of strangers becoming less afraid of each other. After the shoe store I called my friend Sid who handles my almost empty bank account to find the routing number for the GoFundMe website for if I begin a fundraiser. I said I don't know why to even try and raise any money, its never really worked before and people don't give to me. He said that is not true. Just the way he said it was very reassuring. There were several moments of inspiration that came into my life to grab onto today and I did just that... for all they were worth.
I stopped at a coffee roaster to purchase some coffee. The sales people and I had fun smelling and comparing different roasts and blends. That made me realize how much I have been missing "people" interactions with the Traveling Piano. I found a coat in a department store. It was on sale and along with a clerk working her discounts for me I saved a hundred thirty seven bucks! Its not the perfect coat and as warm as I would like but its warm enough and I like the way it feels and looks on me. How am I going to throw away the ratty fleece I've been wearing since we were in Alaska? Ha... my friend Joe in North Dakota gave me a great new winter coat a few months ago that literally fell apart after a month! So now I have a somewhat decent coat and I'll just wear thermal under it when needed. It is very important for me to not feel poor even though I am. Some nice things to have are an absolute necessity to help me with my sense of self worth. I once owned many nice things and made a clear decision to give it all up but that does not mean that whatever I do have can't be nice. About half way through the hour and a half drive back into the sticks of Montana's Glacier Park... it began to snow. Then it began to snow heavy. Then the road disappeared and the snow began to freeze on it. Then the winds picked up so strong the truck started to swerve while going down a hill. I so very gently applied the brakes but it was too late. It just took off into a spin faster and faster until we landed in a ditch in the middle of nowhere in the dark with no cell phone reception. Thank God we were on flat surface and not on a curve or cliff. I blinked my lights on and off as one vehicle passed.
Then I got out and the next vehicle began to slow down for us immediately. It was a couple from Browning about a half hour north from where we are staying. Being used to the snow the guy knew exactly what to do and said he would pull us out and onto the road with no trouble. He had a good heavy chain. On the road there was no truck traction what-so-ever and I knew there were several dangerous turns and climbs yet to come. With my almost thirty year old, two wheel drive... I was pretty scared and almost begged the guy to stay behind me in case we wouldn't be able to make it and he was like... no problem. I know people are people everywhere but I have yet to come across a native american asshole. I know they must exist, but... I've met rich ones, poor ones, straight up family types and alcoholic drug addicts... everyone of them I have ever met has been generous, helpful, giving, friendly and easy going with me as a stranger. Talk about being helpful... first after his not hesitating to stop and help... he had to have a lot of patience as I drove for periods at a time at twenty miles an hour and he just stayed right with me until the destination was reached (over a half hour) and then he simply drove on. No looking to get something, a payment, etc... I hope everyone gets to have an experience like this in life from a good Samaritan. Then after I turned the truck engine off all the electricity went off everywhere around me. I thought, oh boy a winter storm and no wood burning stove or source of energy for heat. Then after about fifteen minutes the electricity came back on. Its been flickering on and off for the last twenty four hours. I keep thinking about my friend Becky's electric bill. Its going to be amazingly painful. Since the fire last last month the heat is all electric, there's heaters for the vehicles, lights in and around the house and there have been industrial fans running sometimes for days (from the fire) to dry out the walls and suck water from the air. Contribute Here.
December 08, 2015
Montana
It is a new world for me, for sure. I don't feel any security. I don't feel safe. Every morning I still wake up and as soon as I can gather control of my thoughts, I still think... "Fun, Friendship and Respect" ...as I have for the last 10 years. Then, my mind immediately jumps to Mo for emotional support. There are a lot more dynamics in play for my life these days. That can be very distracting. It is most important that I detach from whatever feels negative for me, create space for myself so I can focus, create distance. I'm trying to work myself into raising some funding while not caring what other people think about it. I want to have fun with it but I've failed miserably in the past so... its difficult. People want to put on me that I'm begging, etc... and if I take that on it can feel very humiliating. God, I've been through all this before. Mo's been picking up on my anxiety, especially at night. There is a lot of open window space, no curtains and sliding glass doors. Outside it is pitch black wood and meadow. At least in West Virginia we were above the ground and there was a deck surrounding us. Now we are level with whatever wants to jump through the glass. There was the fire last month, a huge bear three times, I never know when my friend is going to pop up from around the corner or the boogie man is going to jump at us, or one of the house dogs out roaming around pops up at the door by surprise at least once a day... Mo and I are both very jittery all the time.
December 07, 2015
Montana
Another lost day. God, its dreary almost always, the sun had been out only a few days since I got here like three months ago? I've lost track of time. Its almost always wet with rain, snow or melting snow. I suppose because of global warming. In the past people tell me the rain was snow at this time of year. At least in Washington State the sun is out for about an hour a day even though when I was there, I usually slept through it. I had visions of it being white and bright all the time here... not. Its not even really winter here yet! Need to be out working with the Traveling Piano but the funds are not present to do so.
December 06, 2015
Montana
I've lost a day and a half or something like that. My mind is not functioning.
December 05, 2015
Montana
I really needed to see some Traveling Piano pictures today to keep what I am about, right in front of my face. These are from Washington State, West Virginia and Utah. While looking up at the stars tonight I thought, "there are a lot more stars than there are people." I'm just jumping around with thoughts here. I need your financial help... Contribute Here. I can't go anywhere without out it. I'm kinda stuck here, not really but a little. Thank God I have a place to be stuck in but I need a home at this stage of the game, desperately. I want to write about another problem. The hope is that it helps someone. Its not meant for a hundred thousand people to "get" as I have said with other situations in the past. If it helps just one person that is enough and I know that. I write to help myself first and foremost. I felt very hurt and violated to my core with a situation. That turned into anger. I lost a full day yesterday and plans for today over anger that I choose for myself. Then I created fear with the anger which transpired into depression. With times like this it doesn't matter whether the catalyst is a person or life circumstance. What matters is that I must accept responsibility concerning the fact that I allowed anger to run my life even if for a short time. So much... so much I want to play victim and blame whatever circumstance that was beyond my control, or a specific person that "causes" problems for my life.
The fact is I must accept my inability to step above circumstances, accept them and the fact that I choose anger for myself. A person accepting the true facts, I mean actually embracing their defects of personality is courageous. Sometimes I can step up to the plate and other times I cannot. Who is perfect? No one. I may be powerless over life circumstances and other people but I am not powerless as to how I embrace my re-actions or response-ability in relationship to them... both when its good but also when I fail. To be the kind of person that I want to be, the only solution is to "own" my anger. It comes from me. I choose it. As far as circumstances... life is full of them. Sometimes there is no controlling undesirable circumstances. The only solution is acceptance, courage and wisdom to know what is needed to deal with them. I pray for that and then sometimes I am able to adjust accordingly. Other times I just fumble my way through until I come out on the other side. This all takes practice, never ending practice. Thank God I have found "productive" tools to practice with. I have found places and people I trust in life to take problems to in order to help me practice. There is no doing it alone for me. I write about situations and share any relief I get with others. When I can, I exercise or meditate, pray etc... and stay conscious to love my dog Mo because he grounds me with his consistency. I work to avoid circumstances or people that feel like traps for me whenever possible, and I give myself time to heal away from circumstances and people when needed.
December 04, 2015
Montana
Been doing more work around my friends house today. I put up lights for out the door I use. It is very dark out at night. The temperatures are above freezing so ice is melting and running into the wall where the fire happened a few weeks ago. I tried to cover up the burnt deck area with plastic and wood. Hopefully that will keep things from getting any wetter. There's nothing like sitting in a room twenty four hours a day with wet, burnt creosote. Twelve friends contributed a total of $378 which will pay for the $105.00 more needed in truck repair tomorrow, a winter coat not badly needed... needed period, same goes for shoes. It will take a lot more money to reach the tenth anniversary of this journey in 2016. I need your financial help... Contribute Here The picture for today... I was looking at the ground, its snow!
December 03, 2015
Montana
I think I swung from too many trees a few days ago taking pictures and have been sleeping allot because of it. That is good. As I have said many times, thank God I can. Dug a trench, actually used a pick to dig into hard rock for hours in order to bury a wire underground from where the truck is to an electrical outlet in a building far away. I want to run a heater in the truck when not in use. A purchased heating element to attach to the oil pan under the truck ugh, do not know how I'm going to crawl under there back and forth to attach it and take it off when I want to use the truck. Funding is needed to I can get back out on the road. This website link will use Visa or Paypal and if you would like to contribute but the link is not working please email me so I can help you. Contribute Here
December 02, 2015
Montana
The truck went back into the shop today in Kalispell. The details are boring, its going to cost another hundred. Five friends sent $170 over the last few days as I put out a call for help. Its going to take a lot more to keep going but I'm feeling optimistic about it all. I'll do whatever is necessary and the proof is in my sixty years of life. I've yet to be irresponsible and thats not going to change at this point of my life... for sure! There are needs of priority in my head... money for the truck repair, a winter coat, shoes, money for working the journey, travel, gas, lodging... Writing this could sound pathetic inside my head but for some reason it doesn't. It sounds practical, like there is work to do to achieve my needs. The drive back from Kalispell in the dark was harrowing. I drove on dark roads of glassy ice. The wet dirt and snow on my windshields from passing cars that the wipers have never are able to clean, ugh! But I'm alive, back and took care of some business. Feeling secure, one day at a time.
December 01, 2015
Montana
I've been keeping a heater going constantly in the cab of the truck for the cold and it started as a result. I'm feeling very grateful for my friend who is not giving me a hassle with the cost. Mo and I drove to East Glacier with a lot of trepidation concerning the road, ice, hills, darkness, curves, etc... It felt like minus zero degrees with thirty to forty mile an hour winds there. I tried to walk Mo but couldn't do it. A friend said, "this is nothing compared to how its going to get." While hanging out with a few friends, at least twelve emergency vehicles raced by in the direction I was heading back. Someone must have slid off the mountain side or had driven into a wall. I never found out what happened but it just made me feel real scared! Ha, I'll just have to adjust and deal with it because I'm going to have to drive.