All Along the Watchtower, Starting Home Hydroponics

Took the ferry to Vancouver just to see an old favorite of mine (and many others, it seems) – the aging legend, Bob Dylan. When I told Hedgehog that I was going to get tickets to his concert, she burst out laughing. It seems that nothing short of Miley Cyrus or Hilary Duff impresses her in the area of music. “Why would you wanna go see him? He sounds like an old man…” Sara and Jim weren’t interested, either.

Dylan does sound like an “old man” these days. Perhaps it’s because he has passed his 67^th birthday. But Friday night at GM Place his voice was just as powerful and commanding as in his younger years, when he played concert halls in London and New York solo, singing and playing an acoustic guitar.

He played the guitar only during the first song this time. Then he took his position at an old keyboard and stayed there for the rest of the concert. A few times he wandered around the stage and he even did a few songs crooner style, with outstretched arms.

Dylan re-works his old tunes and sometimes adds a totally new melody line, along with a new rhythm structure. Some of his stuff Friday night had a rockin’ the cradle feel to it, with a steady, back and forth beat that comforted the nearly sold-out audience. Some even flicked on their cigarette lighters, seventies style.

But during “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” he was back in his old groove. When he got to the line “…even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked,” the crowd erupted in cheers. “Propaganda, all is phony…flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark, it’s easy to see, without looking too far—not much is really sacred.”

The Master of the Apropos Line, Bobby Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota has matured into an elderly gentleman of dignity, who can out rock many who are decades his junior. “He not busy being born, is busy dying.” By re-working his old songs constantly, even the lyrics sometimes, he ensures that he is busy being born continuously, and surprising us all in the process. He earned his standing ovation with two encores.

It was a very satisfying concert and a reassurance that a super-talent like Dylan still walks the Earth with us and helps light our metaphoric night of economic despair and panic.

Sara’s flower garden and my vegetable patch are slowly turning yellow and some major trimming is in order to prepare the beds for winter. A few cherry tomatoes are still ripening on the upside-down tomato plants, and once in a while I pop one into my mouth, straight off the vine. The burst of incredible flavour again reminds me why we grow our own vegetables.

I’ve set up a hydroponic experiment in the basement, where we’ll continue to grow some simple vegetables and fruits throughout the winter. I’ll be using Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom to continue producing 100% organic produce, since the family’s health warrants it.

More about home hydroponics in future blogs.