Sailing

With it being Memorial Day my mind is definitely on the start of summer. It snuck up on us again! As I write this it is misty and cloudy - much like many summer mornings I can remember of old. I even remember one Memorial Day weekend when I was a kid when it was cool and rainy just like this while we were away from home at a sailboat race. My dad loved to sail, and many weekends we would drive to lakes a few hours away to camp and race against other boats of our same type. As a teenager my dad worked a couple summers at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, at a summer camp, and they had an A Scow sailboat that he learned to sail on with the other kids working there. It was a big boat - 38 feet long, and it took 6 to 7 people to crew it. When he got established in Nebraska at a VA hospital, we had a trailer on a reservoir north of our town about an hour, and dad bought a much smaller scow - an M20, an Olympic-class boat that was 20 feet long and could be crewed by just 2 or 3 people. There was a pretty active group of sailors on this lake and others in Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado, and so there were regattas almost every weekend in the summer. Dad taught us to crew for him, and we were soon sailing in these regattas every weekend. It was a lot of fun, hard work, and yet so freeing to be powered by nothing but the wind and waves. I even got my own little cheap boat at age 12 that I sailed, and I competed in races on my own too. I have such fond memories of leaning back with my toes beneath the hiking straps “hiking out” as we beat to windward with the spray in my face. We were pretty good too. My dad had lots of trophies in his collection from these races. I raced with dad ‘til I finished college, and I had a small sailboat, a Laser, of my own that I sailed for a few years. I encourage you to try sailing if you ever get the chance. It’s truly an amazing and spiritual experience. And one of the biggest races of the year was always Memorial Day weekend, so that’s why it’s on my mind. Happy Memorial Day!

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What have I been up to?

I had 13 senior facilities last week, and they were all wonderful. A couple of them had Covid with mask wearing, but it wasn’t too bad. I love these folks. 

My Wednesday online show was country songs A-Z. I don’t do country songs often for these online shows, but the audience really loved it. We’ll do it again!

Friday night I played instrumental songs for the Garden of the Gods Club in the Grand View Restaurant, and it was a good time. I always experiment with different improvisations for these shows, and a lot of folks pick up on my noodling. 

Sunday I played brunch at the Garden of the Gods Club too, and it was misty and cloudy, so I played some rain songs. It was way more fun than should be allowed. 

My Sunday online show was favorites and requests as always, and it was a very nice evening of great songs and friends. I love these Sunday evenings so much. 

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What am I up to this week?

I have 8 senior facilities this week including a couple on Memorial Day. It’s almost warm enough to do some of these shows outside now with summer coming in. 

My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be a summer kickoff with lots of summer songs and energy. I can’t wait! Come join me if you can. 

Saturday 7-9 I’m going to play an online show to kickoff the summer for my Philmont friends too. This is always an exciting time when the staff is arriving and training for their summer jobs in the mountains. If you’re a Philmont alumnus or are curious about the music we played there then come on out. 

My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be a special show at my good friends Deann and Matt Pujol’s house. Deann will make the playlist, and we’ll have a live audience which will make it that much more special. Come on out!

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of summer kickoff songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, May 28, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing an online concert of Philmont songs

Where:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1176893032692370

When:  Saturday, May 31, 7-9 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests 

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, June 1, 7-8:45 pm mountain time 

Country Music

I’m doing an interesting theme for my Wednesday online show that was suggested by one of my friends, Rosemarie Vest. She suggested to do country songs from my repertoire from A to Z. That’s a great idea, and I thought I’d tell you a little bit about my history with country music. I didn’t really grow up with country music. My parents and siblings listened to everything but country music. I first listened to country music when I was learning to play guitar and had friends who played country. Then I got into it a little bit more in the later 1980s when county music went a little bit more towards folk-rock from the 1970s. I was even in a couple country bands for a few years. A few years after that I had a couple of my senior folks who had been in country bands who gave me requests for lots of old country tunes from the 1950s and 60s. I eagerly learned these tunes and got a good feel for the beat and feel of the music. To this day I still l learn older country tunes often. I don’t really listen to current country hits though. I guess I spend most of my time learning requests or listening to podcasts or audio books. I do love country music. It’s deceptively simple but so deep - particularly songs by Hank Williams and other early writers. Everything is just right out there as bare as can be. It’s sometimes a little formulaic, but it’s mostly honest and to-the-point. And the recordings are clean and well-performed. So Wednesday I’ll do some favorites from A to Z. It’ll be fun!

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What have I been up to?

I had 9 senior facilities last week, and it was National Nursing Home Week where many of them do daily themes that are a lot of fun. I play music that fits the themes if I can. There were Spanish tunes and superheroes and several other themes. It was fun. 

My Wednesday online show was garden songs, and it was fun coming up with songs about gardens and gardening or that mentioned gardens in the songs somewhere. I think everyone enjoyed these playful songs. 

My Sunday online show was favorites and requests, and it was a huge variety of tunes from all genres. It was so much fun!

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What am I up to this week?

I have 13 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to all of them. I may do some songs for Memorial Day, but I’m thinking that I may want to stay away from anything patriotic just so I don’t inflame tension on any side. Either way I will enjoy seeing folks and encouraging them. 

My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be country songs A-Z as I wrote above. I have songs for every letter except Q, U, X, and Z. That means I will do 22 songs if there’s time. It should be a blast. Come on out!

Friday night 6-9 I’m back playing instrumental guitar tunes at the Garden of the Gods Club in the Grand View Restaurant. Hopefully the weather will be nice, and lots of folks will eat inside and outside. I may need to put a speaker out there sometime. I’d love to have you out if you’d like a pretty view and good food with my music. Reservations are at 888-994-3156 or you can usually sit at the bar or the small table near me in the bar.

Sunday 11-2 I’m also at the Grand View Restaurant at the Garden of the Gods Club playing guitar tunes. They do a very nice brunch, and I’d love to have you. Again reservations are at 888-994-3156 or you can usually sit at the bar or the small table near me in the bar.

My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always, and I always look forward to it so much. It’s just a great time of sharing and good music and stories. Come on out if you can!

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That’s it for this week. Summer is really ramping up. I hope you are healthy and happy. 

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of country songs A-Z

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, May 22, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing instrumental guitar tunes

Where:  Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in the Grand View Restaurant. 888-994-3156

When:  Friday, May 24, 6-9 pm 

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing instrumental guitar tunes

Where:  Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in the Grand View Restaurant. 888-994-3156

When:  Sunday, May 26, 11-2pm 

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests 

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, May 26, 7-8:45 pm mountain time 

Cabins

This weekend my siblings and I will be opening our rustic cabins that our grandparents built or acquired from the 1930s, so I thought I’d tell you what they have meant to us over the years. My grandparents (on my mother’s side) were teachers in the 1920s in Oklahoma. They had summers mostly off as teachers, and so they would pick up odd jobs in the summer in the heat and dust of Oklahoma. Family friends of theirs had a significant death in the family, and their church sent the friends to the mountains in New Mexico to have time to grieve in peace. They wrote to my grandfolks saying that it was cool in the mountains, and that there were no mosquitoes and no snakes where they were staying. My grandfolks had no money, but the temptation to be somewhere in the summer that was more amenable than Oklahoma enchanted them so much that they determined that they would go to the mountains to see if there was any way they could afford to spend their summers there. They put together just enough money to buy an old cabin in 1930 on a small bit of land, and they were so happy. They would do all kinds of jobs in the mountains in the summer, and their kids would too so they could afford to be there. My grandpa often had to spend part of the summer back in Oklahoma working there or serving in the reserves. But they made it work, and eventually they were able to buy a little more land and build or buy some of the rustic cabins that were adjacent to them so that they ended up with 4 cabins. As kids we would spend some of our summer vacation visiting our grandfolks in these cabins  and running around in the mountains. They were pretty primitive with no running water or electricity (added in the 1970s), but we loved them! This is where my family’s love of mountains and wild places really come from. We even got to go over to Taos when there were hippy communes and the American Indian Movement was active. It was quite a fun time. Our grandparents and parents are gone now, but we still keep up these cabins and try to spend time each summer there. My sisters and uncle did buy an adjacent property with a house this year so they can go down in the winter now (and have extra beds and space when everyone is there). Of course there is a lot of work to do there between keeping the road passable and mitigating fire danger by trimming trees (which we are in the process of doing now and for the past few years). It’s not as romantic as you might imagine, but it’s meaningful to us, and it has been a great place for nieces and nephews to also grow to love the mountains -  some of them even had their weddings there. So I’ll meet my siblings and take in the rat poison and drain sink traps and fix whatever broke over the winter when we go down there this weekend. It’ll be so good to smell the pine-scented air and see the snow on the peaks and the mud and flowers in the meadows. We might even see a bear or an elk herd! And I’ll post some pictures of the sunrise from there on Facebook if you’d like to see it.

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What have I been up to?

I had 9 senior facilities last week - I think I left out the one I was playing on Mother’s Day. It was a great week singing songs about mothers and seeing so many sweet and smiling faces. I love these folks.

My Wednesday online show was playing mother songs too, and it was a nice evening of both sweet and some fun songs for mom. I think everyone had a good time.

Friday night I played instrumental guitar tunes at the Garden of the Gods Club in the Grand View Restaurant for some really appreciative people. The weather was perfect for even outside diners even though there was a little rain.

My Sunday online show was favorites and requests as always, and we did some more mother songs since it was Mother’s Day. This evening brought out some folk-rock songs that I didn’t expect as well. It was a good night with great friends.

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What am I up to this week?

I have 9 senior facilities this week, and I’m not sure what kind of songs they’ll be in the mood for. I may start doing songs for Memorial Day since that’s just 2 weeks off. I’m always ready to “go with the flow” and do requests or pick a theme and run with it. I love playing for these sweet folks so much.

My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be garden songs since this week after Mother’s Day is the traditional time in Colorado to start planting a garden. I don’t know if we’ll plant any produce this year. The grasshoppers were so bad last year, and they’re already starting again this year. But there are some great garden and produce songs, so we’ll definitely have a good time playing them. Come on out if you’d like to suggest a couple too or listen in. It’ll be a nice time, I know.

My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always, and since I’ll be coming back from opening the cabins I know there will be some great energy to share. Come on out and give me some requests!

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That’s it for this week. I spent most of the weekend working on our yard and trees when I wasn’t playing music, so my mind is really on that as we head into summer. It’s a lot of work, and it has me really thinking that it might be a good time to start thinking about downsizing and doing a little less. We’ll see how that works out. 

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of garden songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, May 14, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests 

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, May 18, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Mom

I like to do Mother’s Day shows at my facilities, but I’ve never done one for my online shows. At the risk of being too saccharin I think I should do a show to honor mothers. My mom has been gone for 10 years now, and I often think of her and how much I appreciate her. She was a tomboy, and when she was a teenager she carried a rifle and guided horse trips up into the mountains. She was definitely a very independent person with a lot of gumption. That said, she was a patient and kind mother. She and my dad were pretty strict, but they gave me and my siblings all kinds of opportunities for adventure and learning. Even with their strictness and insistence on us giving 100%, my mom still could be understanding and encouraging when things didn’t come easily to me. I remember when I was struggling with math how she helped me and even admitted that it was okay to fail if I kept trying. She even said that she had a hard time learning whatever math I was having trouble with. That made me feel better to know that I wasn’t alone. I was the kind of kid who was pretty capable, but I often was afraid to try new things. Jumping into the deep end of the pool was one thing I remember being afraid of, and having to join into group activities sometimes put me off too. I miss my mom. There are so many times I’d like to ask her a question about family or how to do something. She had done a lot of family genealogy, and even though we kids have followed up a little on that, there are still so many family branches we’d like to know more about. I do dream about her occasionally which I usually take as a wink from the other side. My dad comes to me that way more than my mom. I’ll be in a dream where I’ll look off to the side, and I will see him there just smiling at me. Luckily my mom went pretty quickly 10 years ago at age 90. She definitely wasn’t ready to go, but after a stroke it was her time. I don’t think about her as often as I used to, but I value all the things she taught me and the love she gave me. 

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What have I been up to?

I had 7 senior facilities last week, and I was doing Mother’s Day songs for most of them. It’s so gratifying to bring a little joy and warmth to these folks. 

My Wednesday online show was the music of Chuck Pyle. Chuck was such a good writer with clever words and great guitar-work. We didn’t get to all the tunes of his I know, and so we did more on Sunday as well. 

I didn’t end up playing for the Garden of the Gods Club on Friday, but I did play for Sunday brunch. It was a packed house with just the right amount of snow on Pikes Peak with sunlight on the Garden of the Gods to make the view breathtaking!

My Sunday online show was favorites and requests, and we did some more of the Chuck Pyle songs I didn’t get to on Wednesday as well as several other favorites all over the board. It was a sweet evening, and I really love these folks.

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I have 8 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to playing mother songs for most of them in preparation of Mother’s Day. Love these folks!

My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be mother songs, and I can’t wait to dive into all the great song’s for mom. Come on out!

Friday night 6-9 I’m back at Garden of the Gods Club in the Grand View Restaurant playing instrumental  guitar tunes. The evenings are so pretty there, and I love to have you join me. Reservations are at 888-994-3156 or you can usually sit at the bar or the small table near me in the bar.

My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be favorites and requests as always, and these evenings are always just great! There’s so much love and good harmony shared!

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That’s it for this week. We’re starting to work on the yard and property for the summer season, and I’m already anticipating the beauty and sore muscles the summer brings. I hope you are happy and healthy and enjoying the beautiful Spring sunshine. 

Best always,

Tom

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Details this week:

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of mother songs

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Wednesday, May 7, 7-8:45 pm mountain time

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing instrumental guitar tunes

Where:  Garden of the Gods Resort and Club in the Grand View Restaurant. 888-994-3156

When:  Friday, May 9, 6-9 pm 

Who:  Tom Munch 

What:  playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests 

Where:  facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts  

When:  Sunday, May 11, 7-8:45 pm mountain time