Finding holiness at Ghost Ranch

One of my favorite places on earth is Ghost Ranch, in northern New Mexico. To hear why, follow this link to my essay at West Virginia Public Radio:

http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=11

Arts and adventure in the mountains of West Virginia

Although I’ll be in Taos for a couple more weeks, my thoughts are turning toward home. And, among the things I’m anticipating, when I get back to West Virginia, is watching the progress of a new venture founded by my friend Michael Davis.

Water Gap Retreat is a brand-new series of weekend workshops at Michael’s Shavers Fork riverside property near Elkins, West Virginia. The workshops — led by artists that include Jude Binder, Doug Van Gundy, Anita Skeen, Ruth Blackwell Rogers, Mimi Kibler, Scott Weaner, Jim Van Gundy, Michael and Carrie Kline, Kate Long, Robin Kessinger, and yours truly — will focus on many topics, from mountain geology to mountain music, from writing poetry to baking bread, from origami to organic gardening.

Workshops will begin on Friday evenings and end Sunday after lunch. In between, the time will be filled with campfire gatherings, morning yoga sessions led by Irene McKinney, workshop sessions, field trips, and — this may be my favorite part — fabulous, healthy food prepared by some of the best cooks I know. Even the sleeping quarters are special: riverside camping structures designed especially for Water Gap Retreat by architect Bryson VanNostrand, featuring Michael’s shibori-dyed fabric and Laurie Gundersen’s handmade rugs.

The Water Gap website is brand new. Check it out if you have a chance and let Michael know what you think.

Here’s a picture of the river taken from Michael’s property. It’s a great place for swimming, floating, and fishing, too.

Voice lessons and life lessons

A couple of days ago I had my fourth voice lesson with Leslie Harrington, a Taos resident and a terrific singer. Among his many singing credits are opera performances that have received rave reviews from the New York Times. He can literally make windows rattle; I’ve seen and heard this happen.

Now, don’t get excited or alarmed: I don’t think there’s any chance I’m going to come back to West Virginia with an opera voice. For one thing, I am beginning to have an appreciation for the sheer amount of dedicated practice that would take. For another, my vocal apparatus, like the rest of my body, is middle-aged.

What I’m learning is more subtle and more exciting to me: That my voice (and yours) is both a physical and a spiritual entity. That my vocal range corresponds to an internal “cello” inside my body, and that I can reach the pitch I want by directing my breath toward a specific place inside me. That pitch is more about “feeling” than “hearing.” That the tongue is a marvelous part of the body — suddenly, the phrase “mother tongue” seems very beautiful and evocative to me.

And, perhaps most important, something I already knew but needed to hear from a great singer: That it’s in the song, not the singer, where the magic and mystery and power reside. That we who make noise or write lyrics do it in the service of something far beyond our understanding. We know this intuitively when we connect with an audience — or with a performer. We know it when we see a great painting, or paint one. When we read a poem that brings us to tears. Whenever we are uplifted by art.

See why I enjoy my voice lessons?

Evolution of a workshop

From Taos, you can see Pedernal, the flat-topped mountain Georgia O’Keeffe painted so many times that she claimed God had given it to her personally. The mountain is the distinguishing landmark near Ghost Ranch, O’Keeffe’s home and studio, and now a wonderful arts center. This year, I’m planning to come back to New Mexico in October to lead a workshop at Ghost Ranch. Two jaunts to New Mexico in one year! Here’s how it happened:

It all started with Anita Skeen — poet, English professor at Michigan State University, free spirit, creative dynamo, and unabashed peacenik. When she learned that MSU’s Kresge Art Museum was mounting an exhibition of 60’s abstract paintings, she contacted the curator and suggested adding music and poetry. Of course, it would be 60’s music and poetry. Better yet, it would be protest music and poetry.

The time was right: Another era of unrest. Another unpopular war. And, as she had learned from her own students, another generation that was clamoring to make a difference.

That’s how Julie Adams and I got the enviable job, last February, of doing the Kresge Museum’s first music performance. Anita put us in charge of choosing the songs; she selected poems and coached the students who would do readings to be interspersed throughout the concert.

We searched the Internet, asked friends for recommendations, and chose our own favorites — striving to balance the folky, the funky, and the downright outraged. We added a couple of songs that didn’t quite fit into the era because they fit the theme so well (like Paul Simon’s “American Tune”) and we included a few that weren’t, strictly speaking, protest songs (“Teach Your Children”) because we loved singing them.

The museum was a wonderful performing space; how many singers can say they’ve had a Morris Louis painting for a backdrop? We were equally thrilled by the audience, and the fact that they sang along, even the students. (“We were raised by hippies,” one of them remarked. “We grew up with these songs.”)

(Okay, it’s not the greatest picture of me or Julie, but I want you to meet Anita, between us.)

Driving home to West Virginia, we said to one another, “Could we do this in Charleston? With more musicians?” Collaborating on a fundraiser with WV Patriots for Peace was a natural. After all, it’s no coincidence that the word “harmony” describes peace as well as musical resonance.

Artist Charly Jupiter Hamilton donated his artwork for a poster. The members of WV Patriots for Peace went all out to publicize the concert. And, on May 19, 2006, many talented friends joined us for a special evening of songs and poetry for peace.

It was another incredible evening. A standing-room-only crowd packed Christ Church United Methodist. Everyone sang. Many people wore vintage tie-dyed shirts and bell-bottoms. Funds were raised for the important work of peace-making. We had a good time. We felt a revival of hope.

Now, back to Anita. In addition to teaching English at MSU, she coordinates writing programs for Ghost Ranch. And, this year, she has asked Julie and me to focus a weeklong singing/songwriting workshop on “words and music that change the world.”

Our workshop — which runs from October 8 to 14, 2007— is just one part of the tenth annual Fall Writing Festival at Ghost Ranch. It will be a celebratory time. In addition to our workshop, there will be many other classes. Participants can focus on poetry, fiction, essays, travel writing, playwriting, bookbinding, and more. Whatever you choose to study, we promise we’ll be singing together in the evenings.

Check out the Ghost Ranch website and my Protest Songs page on the Blogroll at the right side of this page for more information. Think about joining us this fall at Ghost Ranch, and please tell your friends.

‘Cause the times, they are a-changing.