Arriving in the nick of time...
I couldn’t be late! I had two tickets to the Jazz Festival
in Newport Rhode Island to see my friend the Amazing Grace Kelly perform.
Everything was all set. My pal Lorri and I left Boston at nine-thirty in the morning.
We filled the car up with snacks, sunscreen, beach chairs, and two tall iced
green teas (Thai Flower to be exact). Everything was perfect. We hit Newport in
plenty of time and even commented on how easily it was all flowing.
We decided to park at the site of the festival rather than
take the usual boat ride over to the event since we had a little extra to
carry. We got right into the parking lot without too much trouble. WE were
chatting and I was texting (she drove) and not paying all that much attention
to our parking spot. Once we got out of the car we had half an hour till show
time. Then we looked up in the distance and saw a long line of people. Then we
looked further out and saw an old school bus. The line was longer than one
bright orange bus would fill and surely there would be a long wait for the next
bus. I heard someone say we were over a mile away from the actual front gate. It
seemed like a logistical nightmare. And one I had yet to encounter in all my
years attending this marvelous event.
with Grace Kelly in Boston
All I could think was I just can’t miss Grace Kelly perform.
Lorri agreed and started to panic. We realized that this lot we had been
directed to was way the heck out of the way and we would surely be late! But then
my friend started to smile and looked at me and said, “I know you will get us
in there somehow.” I agreed. She added, “You always figure something out.” She
had a point. Besides, this was a jazz fest we had to be cool.
I told Lorri to “wait here a moment,” and I started to walk around
the bend. Just then I noticed a man with a rickshaw, well, it was actually a Pedi
cab. I immediately started to envision him biking us over to the event from the little cab hitched
onto the back of his green bicycle! I raced over and asked...
“Can you please get us to the Festival immediately? I have
to see my friend perform. I have a friend in the show!”
“Jump in” was all the tall, thin, athletic guy said. I ran
back to Lorri, with the guy peddling beside me, grabbed our things and packed
ourselves in. As she was being hoisted up Lorri kept saying “This is your karma. Only you could have
manifested this.”
This dude started peddling so fast we literally had to hold
on to our hats and we flew past all the patrons, and flew past the buses.
We soared up a hill, and down another. WE screeched with delight. It was
exuberant. We stood a good chance to catch Grace.
Without missing a beat we arrived at the front gate with
time to spare. We gave him all our cash, our peanuts too, jumped out and said
good-bye. With precision synchronicity we sauntered over to the Harbor Stage just
as Grace picked up her sax. She was terrific. To make it all the more
special she was performing alongside her mentor Lee Konitz who had opened the now revered
festival sixty years ago!!! Getting caught up in the moment, the man standing
next to me filled up with tears.
The Newport Jazz Festival 2014 was incredible. We saw so
many talented Jazz acts and musicians, each performance better than the last.
We met up with friends and followed their recommendations and heard some
phenomenal music from the Ron Carter Trio and the Django Project (with three of
the four super talented musicians from Paris) and Peter Beets flying in from
Holland to join them! Later Bobby McFerrin carried us away with a stellar
performance. There was even a proposal of marriage during the Ron Carter Trio's elegant rendition
of "My Funny Valentine".
If my friend and I hadn’t thought positive and believed we
would find our way we might still be stuck waiting for some old bus. So, when things
don’t go your way don’t give up. Smile, Pause, and look for a Pedi-cab. It also helps when you have friends who believe in you!
