A bird, a canyon, a day of wonder and sorrow

I was traveling out west in March 2008 with Groovemama pals Jane Rothfield and Max Cohen. On the way to Phoenix from Albuquerque, we visited the Grand Canyon. It was a sad and beautiful day, clear, glorious and and majestic with the ravens soaring overhead as we walked the trail at the canyon’s edge, sad because my father was dying in Florida. As we left Hermit’s Rest, one raven landed in our midst. Fixing me with a beady eye, the bird whuffled its throat feathers in and out, clacked its beak and seemed to speak to us. We were enthralled - I even snapped this photo.

The long moment ended and the raven took flight. Stunned, we all just stood, silent. Then Jane and Max and I piled into the car. Just as we left the Canyon, the call came through. It was my brother and my father had just passed. On March 17, in memory of my dad, Rodger E. Hinds, I wrote a slow air with Max Cohen and called it after the raven.

In an uncanny twist of fate, Julie Beaudoin, 87-year old widow of Louis Beaudoin and a band member in the Beaudoin Legacy, was visiting the Grand Canyon a month later when she died suddenly. As “Mémère Julie, she had adopted the band members into the Beaudoin clan and we miss her presence keenly. Dedicated to her as well, Max and I tried to take ”Raven’s Wing” soaring like its namesake over the canyon rim.

The story has even more layers. Upon hearing the about the bird and listening to the music, my mother told me about my father’s World War II airborne unit, the Ravens (301st Bombardment Group, Army Air Corps).

This was new to me, as was the the photo of his insignia with three ravens on a blue background. Their newsletter is even called “The Raven.”

Last summer I visited with Jane and her husband, Scottish singer Allan Carr. I gave the tune and story to Allan for him to work his Celtic magic upon. The lyrics are below.

As the months have gone by, a raven comes often to visit in the yard. Not a crow, much bigger. Not the same raven, of course, but a relative. I greet him as if he were a a relation of mine. Who knows?

UPDATE 6/09

Max and I made a new recording of Raven’s Wing in D major with fiddle, viola and guitar on my new “In Full Bloom” CD. I’ve taken down the old free file in E major. I invite you to listen to a sample there and perhaps buy the tune or the CD. The tune is also included in the companion tunebook.

This entry was posted on 1 December 2008 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Fiddleblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.