Happy-Birthday-to-me dreams.

Time, and how to make it sing . . .

Stanley Bear and I just before we got icing everywhere and realized our tea tasted like soap. But, we didn’t mind because we’d just seen kites, sheep, mummers, and pigs at a country fair in Cumbria.

Tomorrow is my birthday.

When I have a birthday, I often think to myself “Wow! The time is really flying! Why haven’t you won the Booker Prize (insert any prestigious award) yet?”

This is what my Dad used to call me being “hard” on myself. I look at all that I have NOT accomplished rather than making a nice pat-on-my-own-back version of my life. My Dad used to do this to himself, too. He was keenly aware that he was born one year after Bill Gates and he felt he should have had more to “show” for his time on the planet.

I, of course, didn’t think about my Dad that way at all. I thought my Dad was so smart and such great company. I used to wake up early in the morning or go to bed late just to be able to talk with him. I called him as much as possible just to ask him about any ole thing. I constantly sought his advice and help. He was so well-liked by people and ready to talk with any one. He was good at things and I always felt I could rely on him. He wasn’t able to do as many things when he became very sick from cancer, but he never actually gave up though he was very very tired. He was looking for his baseball cap and telling a joke to the EMS men, making friends with them, right up to the second he died. I wrote a song about Dad that says, “When the lightning struck, you were in mid-sentence, in your Red Sox cap, telling an old joke.”

So, it never mattered to me that my Dad didn’t invent Microsoft or Apple.

I have all of the passions I’ve had since I was a kid for singing, writing, sewing, dancing, performing, art-making, and making friends. I have unrecorded songs. I have plans for a one-woman-musical. I have writing projects in progress. I have a pile of mending. I have new books I’ve received for my birthday! So many things I am excited to do!

“Jeni, what are you doing here so late, talking through my window?” “Well, I have this idea for a one-woman-musical and I was wondering if you had an arts council grant or a miner’s headlamp lying around?”

Here is my plain and sturdy plan for the future as of my birthday, 2022. I thought I might put it down right here for the record.

I will create work that tells the story and history of my family in Southwest Virginia as I see and understand it. I will write songs about all manner of things that come into my head. I will continue to learn about music by writing and making music. I will make recordings of my songs and collect them into documents called albums. I will illustrate these albums with my own art. I will perform my songs for people who would enjoy hearing them in person from the person who invented them. I will revise my two novels and send them to persons who think they could be enjoyed by many people and who understand how to reach those many people. I will sew things that comfort and warm people, including myself. I will write my one-woman-musical. I will make art of all kinds. I will ask for a living wage for my work.

I will continue to exist on this planet in a peaceful way, making friends.

I will give and receive kindness.

I wish I could stop war and violence. But knowing I am one woman, I will practice no war and no violence myself. I will make soft things. I will make melodies which remind me of the peace I felt when sitting with my Dad singing the old songs.

These are my birthday dreams and aims, and I thought I would share them with you.

Thank you for being my friends and for keeping in touch.

Love,

Jeni

House concert in Carnforth, Lancashire. Photo by Peter Knipe.

I’m teaching at Penland School of Craft this summer. I will be assisting Bryce McCloud in Printmaking. Look for the session called Interactive Portraiture Print-o-Rama from July 31 to August 12.

I am playing for Twickfolk in Southwest London on Sunday, October 9, and I am VERY excited that Biscuits & Gravy are supporting me for that show because I love the way that they make music!

Due to family and work research commitments, I will not be playing any concerts during my visit to the USA in summer of 2022 (July 6 thru Sept 8), but I am seeking performance opportunities in the UK at a living wage from September 16, 2022, onward. I am seeking performance opportunities in the USA in Spring or Fall 2023. Please feel free to get in touch by emailing me: jeniannhankins@gmail.com.

www.jenihankins.com

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