Concert on the River

The Snake River runs through the heart of Idaho Falls.  That river is the reason Idaho Falls is where it is.  The Snake River is a tourist attraction to many people who travel through this town as they visit many nearby natural wonders of the west.  We are only a short drive away from West Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole Wyoming, Sun Valley Idaho, and many other less famous places, which are just as beautiful.

The Snake River is known as "the river" by those who live here.  The river is a peaceful reminder to all of the people who live here that our water supply is adequate.  Farmers draw water from this river to irrigate their fields and water their livestock.  Many people boat on the river.  They find places where the water runs deep and smooth.  Many, many people fish this river.  Kids fish from the bridges, men wade the shallow banks and fish, and other fish from boats.

Idaho Falls has spent the past few years in making the river a beautiful place to walk, ride bikes, jog, and a place to gather.  The city has groomed the banks and yet left the natural wonders for us to see the water in its natural state.

As part of this development the city council and the parks and recreation has organized events to be on the banks of the river.  One of those events that I love to attend is the free concerts.  Each week there is a free concert put on by local talent in the area.  They are usually held on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm.  However, if there is an event during the week, such as an art show on the river, the concert is changed to coincide with those events.

This week the concert was changed to Thursday evening to coincide with an art showing.  The concert was to be the sounds of "the big  band" era.

We planned our day accordingly. We got our check list completed early.  We bought Chicken and packed our dinner.  We put our lawn chairs in the car.  We got the camera, our water, our "pop" (also known as soda in other parts of the country) and a blanket and drove to "the river".

The sky was getting dark, but we were sure the little clouds would not produce enough rain to interfere with the concert.... it might delay it, but that would be all.  We had faith.  We know the weather in Idaho changes every 5 minutes so we were not giving into the negative idea we could be wrong.

We arrived at 6:59 and parked our car.  The sky was dark.  We carried our picnic, our chairs, the camera, the blanket and walked just a short distance to the place of the concert.  As we walked we could hear the artists warming up their instruments.  There were trombones, saxophones, clarinets, flutes, trumpets.  Each made its distinct sound through the trees, with the water of the river in the back ground.

We felt a few sprinkles of rain just as we reach the location.  We were not discouraged.  There was a wonderfully large pine tree that we put our chairs under.  We sat down.

POW!  Lightening and thunder, and the sky opened up and let the rain come down.

I grabbed my camera, and got a few shots of the band....here are just a few.

Did you know that shinny instruments don't like water to be on them....?

And band members run for cover when it rains?

But spectators don't mind the rain.  They come prepared.

However, the band members run for their cars, and safety, and dry ground.

And I send my dear husband for my car... while I wait under the pine tree, in the rain, with the lightening.

I am no fool.

I wait.

He carries the chairs and the picnic.

I carry my camera and the blanket.

He picks me up at the curb.

I am dry.

And we hope the Big Band Sounds will be rescheduled because I really wanted to hear it.

Maybe next time my mom and dad can join us.

Maybe next time we will be earlier and get front row.

But either way..... there will be a next time.

Every week I will be on the river listening to the free concerts.

Life is GOOD!