Empty Nest/Full House

Coming home

Tours are winding down, and the young ones are heading home ... in about a week. That sense of relief most mothers feel when their children are home won't rest, however, until everybody's back not just on U.S. soil but Pennsylvania's hills and, particularly, this valley of ours.

But the first wave of excitement is past, having heard Christopher's voice over the phone last week for the first time since his departure Jan. 2. He leaves southwest Asia on Saturday and should land in Baltimore next Monday.  And then there is Dana, fresh back to the East Coast from his travels out West, for which I will be perpetually jealous. His band was one of 75 to play at Coachella, where Prince took the stage two hours after they finished performing and where Roger Walters closed out the festival Sunday night. Maybe he'll take me next year.

It will be good to have both sons home, even if Dana leaves again three days later for another whirlwind trip to Ohio. Fast forward to Friday, May 23, though, and he'll be back as Akron/Family will appear among an ensemble of local musicians from the Uptown Music Collective and avant luminaries for the world premier of Rhys Chatham's Les 100 Guitars: G100 at the Community Arts Center. This will be their first performance back home since the boys launched their first CD under Young God Records in March 2005.

May stands to hold more excitement than I can bear. Now if only I could find a way to settle my nerves between now and next Momday. Oh, that was a typo. I kind of like it.