Carbon Leaf, Recess Monkey, and Friends

What a great weekend so far. Action packed and 115 degrees!

Last night, Husband and I went to see Carbon Leaf at the Birchmere. If you’re from the D.C. area, you are probably familiar with the Birchmere, and you probably agree with me that it’s one of the best places to see a show. Small, intimate venue, full service menu and bar, seated only… If you’re one of the first in line, you can get a seat right next to the stage.

Do you know Carbon Leaf? They are a sort-of local band to us, from Richmond, Virginia. They are a rock band with a heavy Celtic/Bluegrass influence. GREAT sound. If you’re not familiar with them, take a listen. One of their best songs is “The War Was In Color”.

“The War Was In Color”
I see you’ve found a box of my things –
Infantries, tanks and smoldering airplane wings.
These old pictures are cool. Tell me some stories
Was it like the old war movies?
Sit down son. Let me fill you in

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end
This black and white photo don’t capture the skin
From the flash of a gun to a soldier who’s done
Trust me grandson
The war was in color

From shipyard to sea, From factory to sky
From rivet to rifle, from boot camp to battle cry
I wore the mask up high on a daylight run
That held my face in its clammy hand
Crawled over coconut logs and corpses in the coral sand

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end
This black and white photo don’t capture the skin
From the shock of a shell or the memory of smell
If red is for Hell
The war was in color

I held the canvas bag over the railing
The dead released, with the ship still sailing,
Out of our hands and into the swallowing sea
I felt the crossfire stitching up soldiers
Into a blanket of dead, and as the night grows colder
In a window back home, a Blue Star is traded for Gold.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end
This black and white photo don’t capture the skin
When metal is churned. And bodies are burned
Victory earned
The War was in color

Now I lay in my grave at age 21
Long before you were born
Before I bore a son
What good did it do?
Well hopefully for you
A world without war
A life full of color

Where to begin? Let’s start with the end
This black and white photo never captured my skin
Once it was torn from an enemy thorn
Straight through the core
The war was in color

This morning, we went out to the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts to see a kids’ show in their “Theatre In The Woods“. Two kids’ shows really. Bob something-or-other and his puppet show, followed by a kids’ band called Recess Monkey. Get it? Get it? I actually really like Recess Monkey. Aside from their incredibly clever name, I dig their music. You know, considering it is aimed at five year olds.

Anyway, it was a completely amazing morning. It was, like, eleventy hundred degrees out today, but this theater is in the woods, completely shaded, and a good twenty degrees cooler than the rest of the park. Plus there were no bugs. Winning. J-Man enjoyed the show. K-Dub is happy being wherever we are. Good times.

This evening we headed to our friends’ house to grill. I was so psyched when our friends invited us over. We haven’t seen them in months, and it’s so great to catch up while the kids play. We really need to get together on Friday/Saturday nights with our friends more often. J-Man is old enough now (almost 5!!!) that he can run off and play with other kids unsupervised. K-Dub is happy if he can just eat eat eat eat eat.

Now we’re home. The kids are asleep. Mommy and Daddy are exhausted. Gonna get to bed early and get some serious sleep tonight! Tomorrow it’s up and at it bright and early for church. Ninety-six degrees and a heat index of 103+ again tomorrow. Ugh. Good thing our friends invited us to hang at the pool with them tomorrow! Woo!