My Guitars, and a Story About Kevin Bacon

I'm back in Canada, cozy in our mountain nest. These guitars hang on the wall in the den here, ready for action. I love sitting in there with my morning coffee, playing to the creek out back. The electric was bought on a Covid whim, never gets played, but it's pretty. The big guitar and the uke do though, all the time. And the Martin Backpacker will be coming on my upcoming travels with me.

Fun story about the backpacker; We were in Thailand years ago. At the airport, I was pondering if I needed to detune the backpacker if I was bringing it into the cabin with me. I knew the pressure if it was down below could damage the guitar if I didn’t loosen the strings, but I wasn’t sure about having it up top. I spotted another traveler in the line with the same guitar and went barreling up to ask him. Right before I tap-tapped on his shoulder I realized it was Kevin Bacon! He had on dark sunnies and a ball cap, and I figured he didn't want to be bothered, so I backed off. Later, during our flight to Tokyo, Greg ended up chatting with him in the bathroom line up. Super nice guy. When we disembarked in Nayarit we walked up the ramp. There was an attendant with a sign waiting to greet him. She looked at Greg; all tall and movie star looking, and tentatively said 'Mr Bacon?'. The real Mr Bacon was about two steps behind us. I looked at the attendant and said “that's Mr Bacon”, thumbing towards the real one, ‘but no worries, I get them mixed up all the time” ;-). Got a laugh out of Kevin and his companion.

I did this sketch about the whole experience in my watercolour journal on the next leg of the flight. I pulled that journal out today to check it out.

Here’s the sketch:

I know, terrible sketch, but the memory is fun. That trip was in 2010; 13 years ago. And on the first page of that old sketchbook was a watercolour of that same backpacker guitar, along with my suitcase, drawn pre-trip. I had to laugh. Here I am 13 years later still sketching my guitars and suitcases.

Pulling out that journal I was reminded of so many details and stories that i’d forgotten all about. Flipping through of course it all came rushing back. It reminded me of the real beauty of keeping a sketchbook journal. It locks things in the old memory bank in a different way when you sit and sketch a place. Here’s another page from that journal, hanging at Kata Beach in Phuket. If you can read the small print it tells the story of how we’d encountered a shark when we were wading chest deep in the sea that morning. Greg was a total hero, stepping between me and the shark, telling me to head to shore as he walked backwards to make sure it didn’t go after me. He’s a keeper.

Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand 2010

This all just makes me even more excited for the upcoming adventure we’re going on. Tonight I organized all my teaching gear for my watercolour and printmaking classes. Not long now until we hit the road. Can’t wait.