Rush in Review

What a fantastic night of music on Sunday. The band was engaged and somehow more "on" than usual. Geddy's voice is still hanging in there despite this being the end of the tour. Note for note they were tight and the energy from the crowd and the stage was electric. Miles had the time of his life, he was dancing and singing to the tunes. He was so proud of his "Hold Your Fire" tour shirt and he got a lot of compliments on it as well. We also got a new tour 2008 shirt too for him along with a cool poster and tour book. The poster is now laminated and up in the hang out room. It looks great.

Some of the highlights in the 1st set were "Digital Man", "Ghost of a Chance" and "Between The Wheels". I think I could listen to those every night and never get tired. 2nd set started with "Far Cry" with the dragon fire pyrotechnical display. They changed the set break video from the last tour which really made the 2 different tours stand alone. The set list was close to the last tour but some gems like "The Trees" and "2112: The Overture" back in the mix. Although the tour is heavy on the new stuff, you can't discount the band for maintaining a fresh outlook and not just giving you the standard greatest hits package. I mean, come on, after 34 years on the road, they could play just the hits and long run over time. But, they pick and choose as they see fit. "Natural Science" and "Witch Hunt" were also standouts in the 2nd set. The new tune "Spindrift" got my attention this tour and I may have overlooked that tune from the latest album. See, their strategy does work :-)

So, I was all set to talk to Miles about "Passage To Bangkok" and the reefer madness bit and they go and show just the band playing during that tune. The pot references were stuck in the middle of the tune and I don't even think Miles was looking at the screen for those quick 15 seconds of footage (and it was fast moving too). So, when I asked him about it on the way home, he said he didn't catch that because he was dancin' with his eyes closed during Alex's solo. Oh well, save that for later. But, we did have the first real "sex" talk on the way to the show on Sunday. I figured since we had a good 1 1/2 hours alone, we might as well start talking about it this year. It was more me talking and him looking at me like I was crazy but I feel like it really opened a dialogue for us and I assured him that I wanted him to know that I was there as a source of info and wanted him to be open with me and that that would save him a great deal of trouble and possibly some regret later. I stressed monogamy and marriage and we talked about STDs and that type of thing. But, the anatomy stuff really kinda caught him off guard. It won't be the last discussion on the matter, I'm sure. So, one conversation postponed, another started.
Overall, it was a great concert to enjoy with Miles. He said it was the best ever for him. I know how he feels.

Miles is now up at Camp McCall and will be back home on Friday. He has some friends from Alice Drive in Sumter in his cabin too. He also has buddies from Freedom up there this week too. So, I know he is having a blast and will be very tired on Friday. Dylan is enjoying the 1:1 time, except at night when he is looking for someone to sleep next to and Shadow doesn't count, according to Dylan. On a good note, our neighbor, Calvin has decided to be friends with Miles and Dylan again. Tricia and Dylan took some homemade treats over to their house on Sunday and Dylan asked if they could be friends again. So, now Dylan is enjoying playing again with Calvin. Of course, Nick (lives behind us) has been over just about everyday or Dylan over there everyday. As Dylan's parents, we really appreciate having close buddies near the same age as Dylan. Actually, both of the boys are older than Dylan but he keeps up with them and they seem age appropriate for the most part. I think having Miles as an older brother helps Dylan more than these other boys who don't have an older brother or sister.

Speaking of older brothers or sisters, I don't think I posted that Tricia is now an aunt again. Her brother's wife had another son last week. Little Dominic Edwards came into the world last week in Sandusky, Ohio. Everyone is doing great and now that makes 7 grandchildren on that side: 6 boys and 1 girl. Poor grandma better keep working to pay for all those Christmas presents!!!
Tomorrow I am working in the garage with my buddy from church, Charles Lamb. We are going to put in some seriously strong shelves suspended from the garage ceiling with chain. It will make a ton more room in there and clear the clutter. I am waiting on the temperature to cool right now so I can start moving things out of the way. I made the big trip to Lowe's last night and got the necessary supplies and lumber. He has the same system in his garage and I was impressed at the strength of the system. Makes good use of wasted space too.

I am out the door to walk on the trail in the shade of the trees with Tricia and Keller while the temps cool some (it's still close to 100F). Stay cool!!!

See ya!