My phone rings at 4:25 AM. I answer and say, “Never call me at this time again.”
Bryn chuckles on the other end. “I’ll call you at whatever damn time I want.”
My husband is readying my coffee and dressing our toddler. He’s volunteered to take us to the airport for a five AM drop-off. You said you wanted to be a star? Twinkle, twinkle, lil’ darlin’. This is show business.
After we pick up Bryn I see the rarest moon hanging above the eastern skyline: the waning crescent. It will soon slip into invisibility next to the sun’s blaze and appear lagging behind sunset as the waxing crescent moves towards fullness.
Blake drops us off. I kiss him. Kiss our son. I feel equal parts excited and unsure.
I haven’t travelled by flight since 2020 and as a result I have the awareness of a three month old kitten. Bryn kindly focuses my attention through the process of printing my baggage tag and dropping my checked luggage off. My suitcase is overweight and I answer yes to packing my laptop in it. My attendant whispers loudly to her colleague beside her.
“There’s a laptop in there. And it’s overweight.”
Her colleague looks at me with practiced disinterest.
“The battery is unsafe in the checked bag. You have to remove it.”
“I’m sorry,” whispers my attendant while I bend over to remedy my error.
I look up at her and say, “Did you pack it? I don’t remember you being there, but it was kinda hectic.”
She has a burst of a laugh. The tension dissolves.
Belle Plaine’s Weather Report is subscriber supported. If you like reading and you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one. I love writing for you ALL and a bit of income sure makes it a whole lot easier. Thanks in advance, sweethearts.
The innards of my suitcase are a mess and I feel more than a little shame to expose them to the attendant and Bryn. I couldn’t make sense of the shoes, promo materials, sparkly show clothes, the music gear, toiletries and so forth that’s usually in separate cases and totes specific to their function. I’m a road dog and not of the jetset elite – the vacationers, energy sector workers and business class types who are breezing through all around me. My packing strategy was Make It Fit and the end result will be filed under Jumble. I also borrowed the suitcase from a friend. I don’t own one big enough for the trip. The case is unfamiliar and that’s a hurdle to my organizational game. Plus I packed while my son was upset and awake past his bedtime. He was crying because of an injury, or knowing I was leaving, or being over-tired, or a tummy ache, or all of the above.
As I’m bent over the suitcase Blake calls and says, “You forgot the phone adapter in the van. I’m headed back.”
Bryn takes leave of me to retrieve the item while I sort out the laptop situation. I rummage around the Suitcase of Unmanageability and locate the MacBook. The checked luggage is now an appropriate weight and I thank the attendant with sweet tones. She’s clearly in training and I imagine this job is a lot.
Bryn is still gone when I’m finished, so I scoot over to sip away at my coffee. It’s perfect. I’m keeping an eye out and texting Blake hearts and farewells when a message comes in from Bryn.
“How did you disappear?”
I quickly realize I have miscalculated and positioned myself at an impractical location. He is standing, logically, by the escalators which will lift us towards our gate. I, on the other hand, have backtracked into the darkness of the unmanned car rentals counter.
Once reunited, Bryn smiles and says, “We lost track of each other before we left Regina. How are we going to make it through LAX?”
We have to pause before security so I can gulp/talk my way through this substantial half litre of coffee. Bryn tells me about watching Stop Making Sense the night before. I think about what I was doing the night previous… and what I’m always doing before a big trip – overpacking. I sip. I listen. I talk. The coffee is worth it, but it does trigger my adrenal system which triggers the sweats and now my forehead is damp.
I put back the last gulp.
“Is that full too?” Bryn asks while pointing at my water bottle.
It is not.
We board. We fly. We land. We brake.
The suitcases roll forward in the overhead carriers.
Someone shouts, “OW!!!”
The men who were softly snoring on either side of me awake.
Welcome to Calgary.
☆ UPCOMING SHOWS ☆
*full band
^duo with Bryn Besse
NOVEMBER 4
Roots At Rusty’s^
Inglis, MB
lschlachter@xplornet.ca for tickets
NOVEMBER 18
Blenders Concert Series*
Swift Current, SK
with opener Dillion Currie
TICKETS
DECEMBER 1
The Bassment*
Saskatoon, SK
TICKETS
JANUARY 13
Red Lake Wilderness Entertainment Series*
Red Lake, ON
TICKETS
JANUARY 14
Dryden Performing Arts Centre*
Dryden, ON
TICKETS
JANUARY 15
Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series*
Sioux Lookout, ON
TICKETS
JANUARY 17
Geraldton Concert Series*
Geraldton, ON
TICKET INFO
JANUARY 18
Atitokan Entertainment Series*
Atitokan, ON
TICKETS
JANUARY 19
Tour de Fort*
Fort Frances, ON
TICKETS
JANUARY 20
T+A Garage*
Winnipeg, MB
tagaragemusic@gmail.com for tickets
If you’re interested in a booking a Belle Plaine show I’m looking for a few dates in these areas:
DECEMBER 2023: open for three bookings in Saskatchewan
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024: open for eight bookings in Kentucky and Tennessee
JUNE 2024: open for five bookings in Alberta and BC interior
contact: belleplaine@belleplainemusic.com