An Ironic Evening of Rusticity



Sunset over Sandbridge, Courtesy Checkered Flag

07/03/2026
Recently I was reading on a forum an interesting thread about the funny times we live in. It was an excellent discussion of connectivity, connectedness, smart house features, high technology, and presuming to be modern. Right after reading the thread I had a gratifying evening of guitar rusticism, but in light of the thread, there was some irony involved.

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My wife is visiting with her sister this week so it's just the cats and me. You know, "two cats in the yard" and all, except modern city ordinances ban free-range cats so mine have to live inside the house with us. The three of us are doing just fine alone, thank you. Last night after dining on an excellent Marie Callender frozen chicken pot pie I was thumbing through Amazon Live, looking for some movie to blow my evening alone with. Failing anything interesting to me, I decided to pull out my new guitar and just play to entertain myself. I did so as summer's shadows grew long outside and dusk approached. I didn't chase away the dark with lights - I simply bowed to the lovely changes that the sunset brought. I pulled one of my grandmother’s Federalist style dining room chairs into the living room, grabbed my new guitar, and spent the evening visiting some of my favorite familiar songs. As the stars came out through the skylights, the cavernous living room sunk into the gloaming, adding a lovely calming atmosphere to the procedings.

That evening I played comforting tunes well into the night until the cows came home and it became time for the cats and me to head upstairs to bed. I knew it was time for bed because our female cat, Henrietta, has taken on the role of town crier and insistantly announces bedtime every night, on schedule. Cats are creatures of routine and she is a girl who won’t be denied, but I will admit that having an organic alarm clock like her adds its own little touch of rustic charm.

Now, before we get too cozy with all this rusticism, I must admit that on this balmy summer night I was sitting in automated air conditioned splendor that is energized by a nuclear power plant up the James River in Surrey and control via the "Internet of Things". Also, I was playing a brand new acoustic guitar model that was designed by Taylor's new president, Andy Powers. It is Andy's latest acoustic guitar design, one of the Gold Label Series "Grand Pacific" slope-shoulder dreadnaughts that seeks to combine the best of Taylor, Martin, and Gibson, and hint at the best of the 1930s, 1940s, and 2020s. It has the interesting new high-tech "Action Control" long-tenon neck joint that allows you to do a neck reset without even detuning the strings, as well as the latest "C-Class" top bracing technology that allows Andy to tune the guitar’s response however wants. Though actual assembly of the guitar is done by hand, most of the parts are cut by CNC machines and the high-tech UV cured finish is buffed-out on a fully-automated machine fondly nicknamed "Buffy".

But wait... At some point I even presumed to plug in my guitar to an acoustic amplifier. I did so via the guitar's LR Baggs Element VST pickup. It is basically just an under-saddle pickup but the preamp has been refined with a compressor/limiter out front to kill (most of) the quack. It sounds quite nice. As the sun slowly hid itself and the room’s features disappeared into the dark, I added a little reverb to my guitar’s sound to enhance the atmosphere and I drifted off into my own little world, entertaining myself.

So, though my rustic bubble might have been slightly pricked, at least my evening was more rustic than the ones spent surfing the net or streaming a movie. Despite the prick, I didn't let the little touches of modernity spoil my feeling of hominess. Maybe in the winter I can add another homey touch with a fire in the fireplace. Perhaps the lesson from all of this might be: Don't be afraid to attempt a rustic evening yourself, even with a few modern conveniences to make it more comfortable.


Stars over Virginia Beach, Courtesy Sandbridge Blue





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