An Evening With Claude

If you have been following me on my vacation, you may have been thinking that the only activities to be enjoyed were outdoor related... fishing, camping, fleeing from bears and snakes... but, 'au contraire, mon fraire' (my feeble attempt at French here, maybe the Parisienne Farmgirl can set me straight). Translated; 'on the contrary, my friend', or to put it more bluntly, 'not true'.

Brother had been previously invited to a friend's and neighbor's house nearby for one of their 'porch concerts'. He asked Terry & Teresa (from here on out, known as 'T & T') if he could bring me along since I would be visiting at that time. The friendly and hospitable T & T graciously said 'oui'.

So, late afternoon on Sunday, Brother and I traveled through the woods towards T & T's house that is built high on a hill. They built their all wood home themselves, taking seven years to complete it.

We drove down into the valley, passing open fields and some beautiful horses.



Turns out, T & T hold these small, intimate get-togethers for friends, about 4 times a year. Teresa invites well-known singers to their home to provide some much needed 'artistic' culture for people who love and enjoy something a tad more cosmopolitan than what the immediate area offers. Great idea, I'd say. Teresa also loves to cook, using natural, organic ingredients and all the veggies and herbs from her garden that she can. She provides the entire meal, and this evening, lasagna with mushrooms and asparagus were on the menu along with warm cheese puffs, and a delicious and refreshing salad of greens from her garden, tossed with sunflower seeds and candied walnuts.

Our group was comprised of 14 locals, and one 'foreigner', our entertainer for the evening...Claude. Claude Bourbon.

Claude, a tall man, strode out onto the large, open porch that runs the length of the top story of T & T's home, and introduced himself and shook hands. (His voice reminded me of the actor George Depardieu, in 'Green Card'.) I was somewhat taken aback. A French person, here in the Ozarks? Here, at T & T's house? And I'm here too? Is this a dream? When I had accepted Brother's invitation to visit him in Southern Missouri, I never imagined that an event such as this would, 0r could, top off my vacation. Icing on the cake, shall we say?

But right here, I must inform you, I did not personally take any photos. I know that might be hard to understand, but I just felt that it might not be right. I did have my camera with me, and I could have asked T if I could take photos, but I just did not want to intrude, or 'spy' on people I did not know. I just did not want to make a 'show' of the event, as I was a guest, and I did not feel the freedom to be so...forward? I felt it was my job to be sociable, friendly and grateful, and not bring attention to myself in a way that I thought the use of a camera might do. I do have one photo that I swiped from Claude's website: http://www.claudebourbon.org/. It is of Claude and another person sitting on T & T's aforementioned porch, enjoying the Hummingbirds surrounding the feeder. Claude is on the left. You can see T & T's garden in the distance, and their first house in the background. They built their current home because they were often flooded in the former location.

So, after a leisurely meal, we were all invited into the house, to the upstairs landing for an evening of amazing guitar playing and singing. The landing is quite large and open, as all 14 of us sat on one side, and quite comfortably. Claude had set up his equipment and microphone on the other side, and as T turned on the overhead ceiling fans and dimmed the lights, our magical night began. Claude, a Frenchman now living in England, has trained as a Classical musician, but his music was an intriguing mixture of Blues, Jazz, Folk, Classical, and Spanish. (I have placed his widget on the top left hand side, so if you want to hear a variety of his songs, first turn off the sound on my play list at the bottom of the page.)


Claude opened up with 'Summertime' by George Gershwin. But it wasn't your everyday 'Summertime', as it had a catchy, fun beat, but relaxing at the same time. As I listened, I was transported to another place... certainly, I was not in Southern Missouri in someone's home... I felt as if I were in a large city, mayhaps in a darkened coffee shop with wooden floors, tables and chairs, and surrounded by interesting strangers and unique decor. My own, personal, private concert. Now this was a vacation. After a half hour of playing, we all took a short break (Claude deserved it the most) and stepped into T's homey kitchen where she was serving thick slices of her poppy seed cake--absolutely studded with poppy seeds and totally delicious. Then, after a bit of socializing, back up to the landing, where Claude once again picked up his guitar and sang and played for at least another 45 minutes. Several of his songs spoke to me: 'Somebody's Missing Tonight' (Handyman?), and 'Ghost'. Two, rather haunting melodies.

It was nearing 9 p.m., the concert was over, and people began to depart, including Brother and I. But, T twisted his arm a bit, so we sat out on the long porch, and visited with the others. I had to leave for home the next morning, so when it became so dark that we could not see other's faces, I took advantage of the opportunity and closed my eyes...

In due time, we said our thank-you's and wandered back to the pickup. Fireflies were dancing in the dark, and we could hear the song of the Whippoorwill, who only sings at night. I had experienced one of the most memorable evenings in my life, and was thankful that I had heeded this earlier prompting from God to trust Him for this adventure.

Enjoy 'Ghost' by Claude Bourbon. (scroll down a bit.)