
I am working on a children's book, Let's Go Walking, based on the performance piece I created with a wonderful cast of musicians and dancers and performed at Classic Pianos in Portland in September of 2018. Below is a poster for that event with a painting by Christopher Shotola-Hardt. That painting was featured on the back cover of my 2006 children's album, Here Comes the Band. I will use this painting, and more, in the book.
Here is the text, with some paintings and drawings (more to come). The music and videos you can hear and see on this page will be included in a digital version.
Let’s go walking down the street, to see what we can see.
There is nothing quite so beautiful as waking up to bird songs and sunlight through your window. Time to get up and walk!
Let’s go walking down the street, to see what we can see.
There is nothing quite so beautiful as waking up to bird songs and sunlight through your window. Time to get up and walk!
It isn’t long before we come upon some sidewalk dancers.
Two walking elephants join us for a while.
And, lo and behold, here comes a band, walking through our neighborhood.
The band comes and goes. We then come to a street fair. The fair is full of animals.
We walk over a bridge. We see the river below and the mountains in the distance.
We walk over a bridge. We see the river below and the mountains in the distance.
We walk into a tunnel and come out into a baseball park. We hear the crack of a bat hitting a ball. We hear the roar of the crowd. We see the green grass and the infield clay.
The game is done. As we begin to walk home, we suddenly see dark clouds in the sky. We see lightning. We hear the roar of thunder. We are walking in the rain.
The game is done. As we begin to walk home, we suddenly see dark clouds in the sky. We see lightning. We hear the roar of thunder. We are walking in the rain.
We walk in the cold rain and think of all the people who need a warm house of love. We sing as we walk. We see a rainbow. The clouds lift. We're almost home.
We see a little bluebird fluttering above as we walk. We think we may have seen this bluebird before.
We've walked and we've walked. Now we go to sleep and walk in our dreams.