Tag Archives: Juniper Djinn

The Road to Diamond, Day 184: Age Doesn’t Matter

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 31, 2025- Today was the birthday of one of my favourite Arizona musicians. Jessica Fleet turned ? years of age. She’s ageless, so it matters not what the number is. Jess and her partner, Bill Stoller, with their three or four accompanists, form Juniper Djinn-a spin-off of a Bisbee band called Barn Swallows. Swallows ceased operations about three years ago, with Juniper coming forward as a moving Preservation Hall of the great acoustic music of the 1920s and ’30s. Juniper goes to New Orleans, regularly, but mostly they are in Bisbee, or moving about Arizona.

When I focus on another person’s birthday, my tendency is to look in the mirror-and see a relentlessly maturing face. So far, there is no haggardness, a welcome respite for one who is 74.5. Age here doesn’t matter.

Many people seem to be sick and tired of May. The monthly arts and nature newspaper, 5 Senses, has already put out its June edition, about 4-5 days earlier than usual. Some of my associates are already planning for July. Of course, in Prescott that can’t be helped, since there is a major Frontier Days festival, along with the town’s signature Rodeo, associated with Independence Day. I am more in day-to-day mode, these next three months. May, for me, has been a good month-and I look forward to more goodness, and hopefully, few if any fires. The prime focus will be encouraging people to sign up as volunteers, across northern Arizona, in the event of sheltering needs.

Farmers Market has an energetic new manager, with whom I was grateful to work for the first time, this afternoon. The breakdown seemed much more organized, and in the heat of summer that’s a big deal. We were finished about 45 minutes earlier than previously, even with a busier market. Next weekend, due to a couple of afternoon engagements, I will show up for the market set-up, at 6:30 a.m. My tasks are to be simpler then, put out traffic cones and signs.

May is now done. Jessica is another year stronger, and the world is still making its way towards harmony and radiance. I am glad to have a part in some of it.

Casting the Burden of a Friend

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 30, 2023- The “cruelest month” ended as it began, with the main concern being helping a desperate family accomplish a move. Good-hearted and well-connected people are making sure that the family of four has a roof over their heads, within the first few days of this week. Today, though, a group of us gathered and moved a considerable amount of furniture to temporary storage, and a sizable amount of debris and detritus to the dumpsters of their former apartment complex.

People in this country, around this planet, have found themselves isolated and disparaged, too often, for making requests that are reasonable from my perspective, but are rejected because they are inconvenient to the powers that be. I experienced such a challenge in 2003, when local apartment management in Phoenix dismissed our mold issues. I called the complex’s owner, in San Diego, and got immediate results-the mold was mitigated by the LLC’s repair crew, who came from San Diego, the day after my call. Other friends of the family, who know the ropes here, are poised and ready to make the same sort of response, on their behalf.

There were other good things that happened, as a result of the move. A barely used guitar case, which can hold up to six instruments, made its way to my young friends who performed last night, and were at it again this afternoon, playing as their other stage personae-Juniper Djinn, a classical jazz and Eastern European folk music format. I was an extra pair of eyes and ears, reminding a couple of people of oversights that might have landed them in trouble. I got to know a man who has seen the same sorts of problems I have encountered in life, only doubly and more intense. I got three chairs-two for the front patio area and another for the living room.

The month ended, better than it began, which is how life ought to be.

Seven Dogs and Seven People

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 10, 2022- The strikingly comely woman described being in a van, with the titular living arrangement. There was a time in my life when just being in the same environment with a person like her would have been Heaven on Earth. As I think about it, and ponder her own description of the situation, I would now be more likely to see what I could do to extricate her,and probably at least a few of the dogs, from that sardine can of a vehicle.

I have been in crowded vehicles that were headed from A to B, on more than one occasion. The obvious ones have been airplanes, but there were others-a third class train, from Playa San Carlos to Nogales, Sonora; a third class ferry, from Yosu to Jeju, South Korea; a van from Blue Springs, MO to Troy, NY. This last saw me help calm a cranky toddler, who had just driven her mother to exasperation. The young woman got about an hour’s respite as I held the little girl gently enough so she fell asleep for a while.

I went to the Raven Cafe, again this evening, after a delightful Christmas party, featuring pork ribs, potatoes and vegetable, for two reasons: One was to purchase a to-go meal, for the benefit of Arizona’s Children Association; the other was to listen to the band, The Barn Swallows, a folk music iteration of four musicians calling themselves Juniper Djinn. JD offers jazz from the 1930s and ’40s, with an emphasis on the Gypsy jazz that was popularized by Django Reinhardt. The Barn Swallows, three women with extraordinary voices, gave us two hours and thirty minutes of mellifluous, original folk tunes that hinted of the experiences people had during the Great Depression. The lovely lady mentioned above was one of these. All were compelling talents, backed by a male cellist/guitarist.

The troupe will return to Prescott again, in mid-January. This will hopefully give a good friend, who couldn’t make it this evening, a chance to enjoy their offerings. In any case, the band has at least one new fan.

It’s a supreme joy to appreciate the totality of human beings and their talents.