Just a young kid with a crazy dream.

Tonight is the very last concert of Leonard Cohen's tour. It is possibly his last performance ever, as the 76-year-old told the audience last night, "When we started this tour three years ago I was just a young kid with a crazy dream." Luckily for everyone in attendance last night, he made Vegas a two-show stop. As was the case last year, it was an amazing concert, coming in just under four hours in length. I would have stayed there forever listening to his deep voice and love-torn lyrics, my personal idea of heaven. This year Joe came with me and was overwhelmed, to my delight, by the uniqueness and full sound of the instruments. To me, Cohen has been a constant source of calm in my life, and goodness knows I need something to calm me down every once in a while. His music and lyrics hit a tender spot, and while they don’t serve to lighten me up in any sort of superficial happy way, they certainly pump me full of gentleness and peace just enough to see the brighter side of things. Aside from his poetic and poignant lyrics, the accompanying music adds to the wholeness of his message. One fine example of how clever he is, in what is probably his most famous song “Hallelujah” (from the Shrek soundtrack) he sings the lines: 

Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord

that David played and it pleased the Lord,

It goes like this

the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift

Interestingly, the chord progression he sings about is the same one he is playing—the fourth (IV, F) the fifth (V, G) the minor fall (vi, a) the major lift (IV, F). That is super cool.

After the concert we met up with some friends who had also been there, and the four of us sat around reflecting on how great Cohen is. We also shared with them our big news: next month Joe and I will be moving to Las Cruces, NM. He will be studying golden eagles, specificially in relation to wind energy. It will be great to move on from our current jobs and location, so we're both excited for the change. I'm particularly excited for the garden I've had in my head for the past three years; soon it will be fo' real! We're also hoping to get a bird, depending on yard space. A red-tailed hawk or kestrel will be our training bird for the first year, then we can move on to something cool like a cooper's hawk or prairie falcon. The next few weeks will be busy getting everything ready, saying goodbye to Vegas and friends, then driving to our new place (where ever it may be)in New Mexico. On that note, in the event that I don't get back on here before Christmas, Happy Holidays everyone!!