Music for a Rainy Day

I few weeks ago, I spent a blustery day wondering around Penn Quarter. It was one of those days where it couldn't decide if it wanted to rain. There'd be maybe a half hour of grey skies and heavy winds, followed immediately by half an hour of torrential rain. You could mark time by raining-not-raining cycles. I was taking a rare day off, so when I heard a trumpet echoing over the cutting wind, I just followed the sound until I found it. I went over between songs and spoke to the man, as he sat on his bucket, graciously thanking whomever dropped a few coins into his bag. It didn't really matter to him if some people dropped change or a dollar bill or two, while others passed by. He knew he was performing for the whole neighborhood. His lips were raw and blistered from hours spent playing his trumpet, even in inclement weather. "I just want to share my music," he said, in a husky voice reminiscent of Satchmo himself.

For the past few days, it's been raining so hard that most of the Mid-Atlantic to North East coast is just a sea. There's so much devastating flooding all around DC, and my heart goes out to everyone who has lost their homes, after several weeks of pounding from earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and now flooding. Thankfully, my area of DC doesn't flood, but I could use a break from the rain. So I thought it might be appropriate to share a few mournful brass notes to get us all through the day.