back in the saddle...

... almost. Although being "almost" back in the saddle sounds like a rather uncomfortable, if not downright dangerous, position to be in... particularly as the New Year has, for me, moved from a walk to a canter and will soon be in full gallop... perhaps we'd best not dwell on that image too long...

I'm discovering that a break from blogging results in "blog backlog" (another unfortunate image), but I'll resist the temptation to attempt an "update" on the past couple of weeks. Suffice it to say that it was good, and I suspect that some of the experiences and conversations and musings from that time may find their way into various upcoming posts.

I find myself looking to the New Year with a peculiar mixture of anticipation and uneasiness. This is promising to be a very exciting - and full - year, with more songwriting and deliveries of new songs, an ambitious performance schedule including my first-ever tour in the USA, a new CD project (and possibly 2) all in the works for 2007. I continue to love what I do, and am excited about the direction(s) in which things are going.

I'm also a bit uneasy as it's becoming clear that my continuing talk about a "bi-vocational ministry" is in danger of becoming more or less fictional as this music ministry continutes to grow and is, by now, pretty much a "full-time" commitment for me...

That's a good thing, right? But...

... I sometimes wonder how I'm going to get it all done.
... I sometimes get the feeling that I'm not giving enough attention to my other "vocation" of being the "primary home-maker" (and my wife, I think, may have "more than a feeling" about this...)
... the ongoing freakish weather (rain this morning, and still no snow), news about the melting arctic ice, and the fact that "the environment" and "climate change" have now become such mainstream "issues" that even the Conservative government has been forced to pay more lip-service to them (and, I hope, more than lip-service) all have me thinking that, after a number of years of seeking to reduce our family's ecological footprint, we have become quite complacent and it's time for more radical steps...
... I remain acutely aware that we are "living the contradictions" in a variety of ways, and wonder how that will play out in the coming year, as this music ministry continues to develop... I'm sure I'll be blogging about some of those issues as well...

One quick example. A week ago we ate beef sausage at my grandmother's house. It's the famous (to us) Winkler "beef-ring sausage," and it's my great-grandfather Penner's recipe (from his butcher shop in the 20s, 30s, and 40s). Wonderful stuff, best eaten cold, doused in vinegar, with cheese and buns and pickles and the other items that make for a Sunday "faspa." Best eaten, in fact, with my grandma.

The sausage is now made by the Krahns of Shanzenfeld, and there's only one place in the world where it can be found for sale. At the Tempo gas station in Winkler, Manitoba.

The makers of this sausage have been approached by major grocery chains to see if they would expand their production, and increase their distribution, or at least sell or license the recipe.

They won't.

Apparently they're happy to run a small-scale operation, and don't want to "get bigger," even if it would mean more profits. Apparently, they're content.

Hmmm...

It's good to be back, and I look forward to many more musings with you in 2007.