a heart with a twist of lemon

thunderstorms are a weird thing. the sky is filled with chaos. and yet it puts my mind at ease.

a thunderstorm following an intimate performance by jon foreman is like a double dose of mind ease pills. if there were such a thing.

jon foreman is the wonderful voice of switchfoot. a band that i have seen on a number of occasions. every time i saw them, they packed large venues, like the quest club, the state fair grandstand and probably the most random of them all, a college gymnasium.

he writes lyrics that inspire me. they lift my spirits and offer hope, even in downer times. so when he put out 4 solo albums for the past year, one for every season, i bought each and every one.

then this morning i received an email. jon foreman was playing a free acoustic set. not at a huge venue like he does with switchfoot. but at a small coffee shop in st paul. it was nice that there was not hundreds of screaming girls. i think there was probably less than a hundred people. it was like i was back in high school, watching a friends band at a local venue. only jon sings much better than any high school band i could remember. and he's a little more successful.

but this huge rock star is one of the most humble guys ever. it was just jon, his guitar, his harmonica and a cello player. the set list was written by the people sitting in the front row. and he was the opening act to a couple local bands.

it was all very beautiful. much like this thunderstorm that i'm going to go finish enjoying now.