I moved out of my apartment in New York City on July 1st. I haven’t been able to find the appropriate/suitable/proper words to express/articulate/encapsulate all the things I'm feeling. The city has done and defined so much for me and of me. Ultimately, the one undeniable truth I keep returning to is that my time in New York would have played out very differently if it weren’t for these six titans of friendship. Now that’s not to say that I didn’t meet many many many other people who inspired, influenced, and mentored me. Who I loved and, at times, was loved by. But I met nearly every single one of them through the lens of PigPen. And so I will always remember the last 9 years in New York through that lens. Looking back, I can’t help but think of who we were in 2011 and all the learning, growing, and changing we were doing right up until a surprise pandemic in 2020 somehow hit the fast forward button on the VCR of life (we really gotta upgrade that thing).
This footage was taken before we moved to the city. Our show (The Mountain Song) got rained out (it took place outdoors in a park) - so we put up a makeshift tent next to a nearby barn and did our puppet play in the mud for a handful of audience members, including Dan’s dad (prominently featured here). The song we are singing is the first in a long line of failed PigPen experiments with “curtain call music”. And yet, I love it. So much. It’s been stuck in my head for days. This moment says so much about my time in New York. Even though it took place before we got there. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I do know we will keep on keeping on. I know many people are going through their own personal version of this. I still can’t find the words. In some ways it feels like we’ve come so far. In some ways it feels like we’re still standing barefoot in the mud. And honestly, that’s all I could ever ask for.