It has been more than twenty four hours since I left Falcon Ridge, after standing on a hillside singing songs about our shared humanity. This morning, I read through friends posts on Facebook, the sort of stuff we glance at quickly as we head off about our days. Yet so many of the posts could easily be folk songs, short stories, or perhaps a key part of a novel. Happy 8th Anniversary to the Nia Alliance. Holy cow!! 2 years ago today we had the best wedding ever. What a great race for all my peeps today . John's having surgery today. Merry Lughnasadh, Y'all.

According to Wikipedia, Lughnasadh is “a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man”. Often called Lammas, it is important to those who love Romeo and Juliet, since Juliet was born on Lammas Eve.This year, Lughnasadh came just a few days after Eid ul-Fitr, the end of Ramadan.

There are so many writing prompts that could come from all of this, so many directions you could go. My mind wanders to Townes Van Zandt, “If I needed you, would you come to me, would you come to me and ease my pain?” This thought leads to “Desperately Seeking Susan”, and Roberta saying, “Desperate. I love that word.”

I guess that is some of what I like about Falcon Ridge. It is a reminder that words have meaning, that behind the words are stories, sometimes painful, often deep, and too easily overlooked in a Facebook post.

My friend Dave is watching his grandson struggle with health problems and wrote, “Yesterday reinforced it is so real and more than words on the computer screen. It is really an epic battle…”

Eid Mubarak, Merry Lughnasadh.