Greenbelt Harvest Picnic 2012
Christie Conservation Area
September 1, 2012
The lineup was as follows:
Missy Bauman, Dinner Belles, Lee Reed, Brady L. Blade Sr. and the Hallelujah Train, Jesse Cook, Sarah Harmer, Gord Downie and the Sadies, Mix Master Mike, Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Feist

We warmly referred to the many vendors we encountered as 'the hippies' selling home grown everything - from sunflower accessories to flavoured hemp seed snacks. The atmosphere at the park that day was peace, love, and save the environment - specifically the Niagara Escarpment.
We met a young lady selling natural remedies and teas which she told me she foraged herself. I had to make her repeat herself, as I had never heard anybody say they had foraged anything, before. I was starting to feel like I was in the movie "Wonderlust". I was particularly surprised and impressed when a very pretty lady raised her arm, while telling us how tall the trees she was selling (native to the area and now endangered) would grow, because I caught a sight that I thought only existed in France - she had unshaven armpits! I'm not talking stubble either, I'm talking as hairy as Victors underarms hairy. I found myself in awe of that woman- she's the real deal.
The entire day had me wondering what a 'hippie' lifestyle must be like, it was exhausting to even imagine how hard it would be to make my own clothes and food and forage for....stuff. I could stop shaving my armpits, maybe, but I think that's not enough to say I live a carbon footprint-free lifestyle. Buying one of those pretty flower halo hairpieces that some of the girls were going around with wasn't going to make me feel any better about it either, so I signed a petition to help save the escarpment from a landfill (I think), shoved a few hemp seeds in my gob and moved on to the food trucks. Gorilla Cheese, by the way, has the most gewy and delicious grilled cheese sandwiches in the history of grilled cheese sandwiches.
We sat down in time to see Brady L. Blade Sr., a preacher from the deep south of the US take the stage. Incidentally, he is also the father of Danel Lanois' drummer, that fact provided by Victor in a side note between sips of Steam Whistle beer, the festival sponsor this year. Rev. Blade and his band, along with Daniel Lanois, played some knee slapping soul that almost had me reaching my hands up to heavens like those people you see on TV.


Mix Master Mike, half of the infamous Beastie Boys, got everyone out their seats during his set. I mean the crowd really went crazy, putting their hands up in the air, putting their HANDS UP IN THE AIR, as instructed by the Mix Master on stage. Again, a perfect interlude before we all chilled out to a great set from the man himself, Mr. Daniel Lanois, perfectly timed as the sun went down and Miss Emmylou Harris joined him on stage.
The temperature dropped as we donned our sweaters,wrapped ourselves in blankets, and waited while the stage was completely reset for Feist. Then we waited some more as the air got colder, apparently it was going to be quite the production. Victor wanted to leave, but I wanted to see Feist. I have a bunch of her songs on my play list and I couldn't wait to see her live. She was quirky and cool as expected, and it was cute to see a tiny thing like her, in a little white dress, rocking out on an electric guitar.

Good luck out there,
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