In the somewhat unrealistic hope of appearing non partisan, I won't comment here about our feelings about the election, but if you are curious you can find out what they are by reading our Blog which can be found on our web page, www.nields.com.

That being said, I had a great time with Carrie Newcomer and Lisa Loeb during our Folk The Vote tour last week in the battleground states of Missouri and Ohio. Many many thanks to Jill Stratton for organizing that event! Pictures will be on our web site soon.

I still haven't found a wedding dress. But I did finish a draft of my gargantuan novel, the Big Idea. Finishing something that has taken such a chunk of life--almost four years--feels strange. I hardly know what to do with myself. But, as you might have come to expect, a few of the characters in the Big idea are songwriters. The BIg Idea, is in fact, the name of a folk rock band. Peter Becket, Rhodie Becket and Zhsanna Becket make up three fourths of the Big Idea; then there is Peter's wife, Jennie First...and between them, I have about twenty five new songs they've given me.

So...
Bereft of my beautiful singing sister to make me laugh and share the driving, I am soldiering on by myself for a couple of shows this fall. I am doing a show at Kiva House (Nakkid Tim's) in Billerica, MA on Sunday November 14 (e-mail Tim at kivahouseconcerts@yahoo.com) where I'll sing some Big Idea songs, maybe read a bit of the novel, and surely sing some songs by this other band I'm familiar with... The Need? The Needles? Something like that. Please join me! We will hunker down and sing our hearts out.

I am also doing a show at Meredith Tarr's in New Haven, CT on Dec.11, but word is that's already sold out. Tim's is not.

Katryna is still great with child. Amelia is practicing being a big sister with her twin cousins, Emmett and Reese, just six months old. Katryna and I met with Patty and our booking agent Lori Peters to plan out our spring return. Details will be forthcoming; stay tuned. We have a lot of new songs to sing and also a book tour in the months ahead.

The new "semesters" for the writing workshops starts soon: a mini semester from mid November for the Tuesday group; a mini-mini the first week of December for the Thursday group. Then "Mongo" semesters for both groups will start in January. The poets, fiction writers, journalers and songwriters I work with have written incredible pieces about post 11/2 impressions, and you can read them at the Writing It Up in the Garden Blog on blogger.com, or get to it via our website, www.nields.com/writing.html. The next retreat is scheduled for January 7-9. I am also looking to start a group of people who want to meet to journal about the political situation and start a dialogue about how we can best funnel our energy and good ideas into the community and the world. Contact me at NFNields@AOL if you are interested in being a part of this group. I work with individuals by phone and email, or in person. And I have a teen group that meets Monday from 4-5. If you want to be in a writing workshop, write me at that address as well. More info is on the website at www.nields.com/writing.html.

Here are some great ideas that have come my way over the past week:

• clean out public drains, or pick up litter. It will remind you that you are part of a community
• call a friend who is sad about the election. It helps to not feel so alone
• write a song, poem, story, diatribe, letter to the editor. It helps to not feel so powerless
• live in denial. That works for a while.
• hang an American flag up at your house, It's your country no matter who you voted for. If you don't like what the country's doing, you can hang some Buddhist prayer flags up along with the stars and bars. And plant a "No Blood For Oil" sign in your yard.
• learn the old song, "Happy Days Are Here Again". It was written in the days of Herbert Hoover.It's kind of an amusing song.
• Remember that each and every state is really and truly purple, not red or blue. Just various shades of purple. And if you were to look at an entire map of the USA, the fuschia isn't so different from the eggplant.

God/Jehovah/Shatki/Ganesh/Egolessness/TreeSpirits bless you, folk fans!Carry on!

© 2004, reproduced with permission