"Hello Darkness, My Old Friend. I've Come to Talk With You Again"

It has been a long time since I last communed in these pages with you my faithful followers.  Too long really.  There is reasoning behind this of course, which will surely in the course of the next few months become readily apparent to all who visit here.  Suffice it to say I have traveled a long road to arrive at the point at which I reside today.  It has been a road with many a twist and turn with its hills, valleys and long lonesome stretches all playing a part in the story I will tell you as we go along.  

I know that in the history of these pages the photography has been a major drawing point to attract readers who then discover the Music and More that there is to Nichevo.  For Nichevo is not just a destination, it is a journey, my journey with all the joys and wonders it encounters.   There is also the despair and pitfalls ever present in any one's journey.  Like a lot of Gay Men of my generation growing up in the South in the 50's and 60's, I was taught I could not be me. The real me.  Suppression of desire and an air of Propriety ruled the day in a lot of homes across the American South.  Some, like my Mother, perfected the art of "if we don't talk about it, it isn't real, happening or the truth".  Sadly though in most cases, it was real, it was happening and it was the truth.  The only truth we could ultimately live.  When I got to the point that my truth was the only truth I could live, my life was destroyed by the government and I was forever ostracized from my family.  Yet I have survived, despite the best efforts of the world to defeat me, I still stand here today ready for the fight.

Will is still with me and we, like many a family in America, are a Family of Choice.  We choose to be each other's family as the families we were born with basically left us for dead or tried to sweep our 'secret' so far under the rug it would seam like a feature of the floor. Will and I have been working on our dynamics in the last few months. Although the world at large has no clue as to how or why what we have works, it works for us and if they do not choose to understand, then that is truly their problem and not mine or ours.  It has been a difficult journey to get to be able to say and believe that statement.  Thanks in large part to the VA and the marvelously wonderful staff at Stay The Course Veteran's Services, I am on the road to really being all I can be.  I invite you all along on this journey.

I told you in my last post I would keep you apprised of the progress of my journey of which I have done a poor job.  However, I will attempt to rectify that oversight in the coming months as I tell you my story.  There may be a little less eye candy and a lot more prose, but always there will be the Music, the soundtrack of my life.  As the Music is the international language that speaks to all people and expresses the inexpressible in a way we all can absorb and understand.  So the formatting may change somewhat, but the standard of excellence I have set for Nichevo will never change.  Sometimes that is an awesome challenge, but one I feel up to meeting head on.  

I am not going to promise a daily post, my life today is far too busy to allow me the time for that ambitious an endeavor. I have however made it my goal to publish at least once a week on Sundays.  The will be prose, there will be an allotment of Men of course. I am not dead yet and I can always appreciate beauty in all its forms!  And always there will be the Music. I cannot live life without a soundtrack.  Music has been an integral part of my life since earliest childhood and will continue to be as long as I exist.  Life without Music is not life in my humble opinion.  I hope that you will continue to join me as I relate to you the mileposts of my journey thus far and into the future.

Now I suppose you may have wondered at the title to this post. It is a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song that happens to be the Class Song of my 1969 high school graduating class entitled the "Sounds of Silence".  I have been in the Darkness, but I wish to burst forth into the Light as symbolized by the photograph at the top of the post.  In order to do so, the time for the Sounds of My Silence have to come to an end.  I look forward to sharing my story with you as we continue on the journey that is Nichevo.

As for the Sounds of the Music today, I thought I would start with my favorite instrument and my first favorite composer. The instrument of course is the Violoncello and the composer is the "Red Priest" Antonio Lucio Vivaldi.  Today's recording features Vivaldi's six Cello Sonatas rendered masterfully by Brilliant Classics in this performance by L'Arte dell'Arco under Federico Guglielmo violin & concertmaster with the featured Soloist  Francesco Galligioni cello.  You may find the complete play list here.  The Cello has been a safe harbor for me many a time and Vivaldi never disappoints me in his brilliance as a Violinist and Composer.  So enjoy the recording during your most convenient quiet time, it is well worth the listen.

Given the thoughtful nature of today's initial volume of the Return of Nichevo, I thought I would just throw you one stunning photo that I am sure will give you plenty of food for thought.  Those readers not particularly into eye candy do not have to scroll any further than the last sentence.  You will find him just below this paragraph. That will about wrap up the blog for this week, I feel that today has been a break through day just because I sat down and the words flowed from my fingers.  That is a very good day in my book.  So take care, tune in and do come back to see me again. Thank you for the visit, until next time as always, Enjoy!