We have been home from Toronto for a few days now.  The weather is perfect.  Emmett is running around like a lunatic, making stacks of blocks and destroying them and saying all kinds of interesting things.  Raina and I are enjoying downtime at home before the chaos of the spring starts.

This week has been spent almost entirely together.  We haven’t really left the house much, except for some errands, dinner at a friend’s house and a nice hang at the Once Over Coffee Bar yesterday.  It seems to be easiest to exist at home with Emmett these days.  He is no longer interested in being held for more than a few minutes at a time.  Running around is far more important.

Next week I will do a 6 night tour with Nancy & Beth.  We are playing Largo in Los Angeles on March 6 (opening for Rhett Miller), The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA on March 8 and the Wilbur Theater in Boston, MA on March 10.

Then I fly back to Austin for 4 nights of SXSW (overcrowded indie rock party that takes over the entirety of Austin, TX). I have about 6 or so gigs and parties to attend.  Lots of friends are coming to town to play shows.  My parents will be here helping with Emmett, which is a huge relief for me and Raina.

Then I fly back to Los Angeles for the night of March 15 to play at Largo with Nancy & Beth.  I’ll be back in Austin before noon on March 16 to play a couple of afternoon gigs and see a few other shows before SXSW closes down.  After that, throw in a quick trip to Houston, a recording session and an SF trip.  I’m already so tired of the airport and I haven’t even packed yet.

It’s going to be a pretty insane couple of weeks.  I will literally fly all over the country.  I will spend 7 of those nights away from Raina and Emmett.  That is definitely the most challenging part of my job.  It puts a strange tax on the entire family.  Emmett is too young for me to explain that I’m even leaving.  I just get out of the car at the airport and show back up a week later.  I wonder what goes through his mind.  Is he wondering where I am?  Is he waiting for me to get back?  Does he even notice I’m gone?

Raina is amazing.  She handles parenting without me like a champ.  She has high morale.  She has amazing patience.  Her comfort in the situation shows Emmett that there is nothing to worry about.  Papa will be home soon.  So he seems to go about his business building block stacks and knocking them down, eating yogurt and sweet potatoes, climbing on Hopi (our dog) and saying fascinating nonsense.

This will be a good trip, though.  The shows are at excellent venues.  The band is sounding great.  The people are some of my favorites.  But I will miss my boy and my lady.  I will think about them constantly when I am sitting, waiting for the next show to start.