Okay, so I wasn’t going to post until things settled down a little around here, but changed my mind due to a great concert last night.

As I previously reported, Mary Chapin Carpenter was performing in the area. I splurged on a ticket, and attended the concert last night.

It was held at the Weesner Family Auditorium (how Gayle and I used to joke about the name when we were very young—we’d make it really nasally and draw out the e’s: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesner) at the Minnesota Zoo. This was my first time at the venue. I’m not sure I entirely approve of the location. As Mary Chapin herself pointed out, it is situated overlooking a lagoon, a prime breeding spot for “Chernobyl-sized” mosquitos (her actual words—she had a can of OFF up on stage with her). But the real issue to me is the animals. While I think the treefrog who joined the performance a couple of songs in, didn’t mind us, it was clear that we ruffled the feathers of at least one mallard duck. The duck, a female, started quacking loudly and sounded in distress. Then it suddenly dove into the open ampitheater and circled around and around trying to get out to the lagoon, even practically nose-diving into the performers. Finally it found a route through and landed safely in the water.

This is *NOT* the duck family I saw last night, but you get the idea...

This commotion occurred while Mary Chapin was discussing her new song “Mrs. Hemingway.” She started the song, but soon there was more commotion. I’m not sure she was even aware of what happened during the song. A line of maybe 10 zoo people clutching ducklings streamed down the far right aisle toward the water. They zoo-keepers walked out of sight, but by the next song, we in the right bleacher seats could see that Momma Mallard had been joined in her swim by her little ducklings, now trailing behind her. It seems to me that she had been trying to lead them to the water, but her pathway was obscured by some 1400 people. Ah well, I’m glad they made it okay in the end.

Anyhow, the concert was wonderful. Mary Chapin played a good mix of her earlier rollicking hits and more recent introspective pieces. Her latest album “The Age of Miracles” is terrific. I especially like the bonus track I got for purchasing at Barnes and Noble, “All the Sad Songs.” It’s a pity not all versions included this song.

“I Have a Need for Solitude” is another favorite. It really seems to fit me:

I have a need
For solitude
I’ll never be
Safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound
Of silence coming on
I come around
When everyone has gone

I have a need
For cool, verdant spaces
Beneath the trees
Secret empty places
Nobody knows
So no one will intrude
I have a need
For solitude

But you can find me, when the light is changing
At that time of day when there’s
Little day remaining
You can find me where I’ve been waiting
Waiting here for you

I never was
The pretty girl in school
I never was
Fast, tough and cool
All I was
All my life it seems
Was hard to love
Harder now to keep
But you can find me, when the light is changing
At that time of day when there’s
Little day remaining

I have a need
For solitude
I’ll never be
Safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound
Of silence coming on
I come around when all the rest have gone…

It also a perfect accompaniment for tonight’s INFJ Meetup…