After Winterfest I figured that would be about it for street rock until warmer, dryer weather next summer. But then there was a Friday afternoon when the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, and I finished work early, and I decided to use the last half hour before sundown to get out and rock.

I grabbed all my gear, running down the list in my mind over and over, and making sure to remember an important item I keep forgetting, my donations box for my friend Priya’s campaign to raise money for a handicap-accessible van. I forgot the box last time, and blame that absentmindedness for how little I collected for the cause.

After negotiating heavy end-of-week rush hour traffic, I got to the neighborhood. There were plenty of people walking around, just as I expected. I found a distant parking space, gathered my gear, and walked back to the spot. I attached the hi-hat cymbals, and then while reaching for the snare drum, I noticed my shoes. My regular old shoes. The ones I don’t wear while playing because they lack the attachment for the base drum and hi-hat cords. Show canceled.

So the next time the weather was accommodating, I was determined to return to the spot, with all the necessary equipment in place, and make up for the time I was denied. And that was 8 days later, when I got all my equipment together, including the proper shoes, and made my way to Alberta yet again.

I started playing, and while there weren’t quite as many pedestrians as the unsuccessful attempt the week before, it was a decent number of people walking by. I made a few bucks in donations, collected in my generic guitar case, because while I remembered all the stuff I needed to play, this time I forgot the donations box! No wonder it’s taking so long to buy a van for Priya!

Hey, maybe help me make it up to Priya by donating right now?