i can't believe my tour d'alissa is winding down. i don't want it to end! so many fun/funny/interesting things have happened, i hope to remember it all. bonnaroo was a blast - so much good music, good people, good times. for everything that went wrong last year, everything went 'right' this year. only 3.5 hours of traffic going in. (compared to 17!) had an awesome campsite - still far from the stages (as was everyone else, it seems), but really close to the exit. got really lucky there - was on the very edge, not boxed in by any other cars, huge campsite, cool people camping next to us, an empty campsite on the other side (the people switched sites), not muddy. the parking gods were good to me. :) got outta there in only about 20 minutes, too.

the lack of rain was amazing, really - looked threatening most of the weekend, but never really rained. there was still mud everywhere, which made me wonder just what would happen if it really did rain! the soil had this weird 'bubbliness' - there was water pooling underneath the soil, i think, but the topsoil was dry. when you were walking on it the ground would act spongy, as if you were spacewalking. with the amount of drugs consumed that weekend, i'm sure this was pure entertainment to many there. :) only problem was once one *did* explode, it became yet another mud puddle. ick.

did experience one rainshower - at a very cool time. nickel creek was onstage, prefaced a song with a comment about the stormy clouds and a song about a storm. the song they performed was about a lighthouse and its keeper:

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.

I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.

I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.

And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into night.

And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.

She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had turned.

He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and terrible wind.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.

Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the shore.
He kissed her cold face, that they'd be together soon he'd swore.

I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.

I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.

soon after the song started it began to drizzle. as the song continued, it started to rain harder. it became a beautiful long, drawn out jam as it begain to rain harder with the crowd cheering. just as the song ended, the rain ceased and didn't return. it was a really cool experience...with the timing so right. very cool. just 'cause i like 'em, here are lyrics to a nickel creek song i love, even though it makes me cry. i was almost glad they didn't play it at bonnaroo - i didn't want to lose it...(hmm, my memeory is terrible, i may have posted these here before..)

Where am I today? I wish that I knew
'Cause looking around there's no sign of you
I don't remember one jump or one leap
Just quiet steps away from your lead

I'm holding my heart out but clutching it too
Feeling this short of a love that we once knew
I'm calling this home when it's not even close
Playing the role with nerves left exposed

Standing on a darkened stage, stumbling through the lines
Others have excuses, but I have my reasons why

We get distracted by dreams of our own
But nobody's happy while feeling alone
And knowing how hard it hurts when we fall
We lean another ladder against the wrong wall

And climb high to the highest rung, to shake fists at the sky
While others have excuses, I have my reasons why

With so much deception it's hard not to wander away
It's hard not to wander away
It's hard not to wander away