2019 Life Logs, Day 319: Happy Friday
Date: Friday, November 15, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 54, Low 28 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It’s always a good day when you get to talk to one of your children for an extended period of time. Justin called around noon and we must have been on the phone for almost an hour catching up on what is happening in our lives. Things are good for Justin and Jo and kids right now. Business is stable, the kids are happy in school, their Silver Mouse music life is going well, the house has a new ceiling and a roof that is sealed so moisture can’t seep through, and they are working on reviving the garden. Justin and Jo have an album I have never heard, but I forgot to ask how I can listen to it. When I find out, I’ll share that information with you. Recently their newest album, Earthadelik, 
was given a great review by Stickman! Justin and Jo’s response was, “How humbling – truly – to be seen, and to have our work so deeply acknowledged and supported.” For those you who might be interested in reading more about their music life, I have copied at the end of this log a description of their music history together that I found on the Silvermouse Facebook page. It definitely made my day to hear all of the good reports from Puerto Rico.
Before and after the phone call, I spent time cleaning house and listening to the Impeachment Hearings. I decided today that when I come back for my next life, I want to be Marie Yovanovitch. I read more of the material from my online puppy training course, went to the gym, went shopping for some puppy items and ordered others online, watched as the lawn guys cleared tons of leaves from my yard, Shirley’s yard next door, and the house next door to her. Unfortunately, the deal Shirley made with them years ago allows them to dump all of those leaves over the bank toward the water beside The Cottage. Right now it looks like I have a mountain of leaves, but it won’t take long for it to “melt”down and become part of the forest floor. I also heard from Alan Kanegsberg. He had his second knee replacement yesterday and came home today. Wow! Congratulations, Alan.
Our Story
SILVERMOUSE·SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2018·
Joanne Hunt grew up in the rave scene in England in the 90s and early 2000s,and spent most of her twenties traveling. Justin Handley is a lifelong musician who has been playing violin since he was three, and guitar since his early teens (as well as other instruments). They met while training at an experimental theatre in Western Massachusetts.
A year later in an old train depot in a ghost town in New Mexico (The Circus House), after a road trip to Los Angeles where they got married, Jo learned to produce her own beats, Justin picked up an instrument, and Silvermouse was born.
Starting with small shows in the Santa Fe art gallery scene, and playing independent festivals in the desert, Silvermouse grew quickly after getting booked at The Glade Festival in 2009. They bought a bus (Stella) and toured the West Coast of the US, put in an appearance at Burning Man, and spent their summers playing festivals in England for a few years.
In the middle of a move from New Mexico to Puerto Rico, their tour van in England caught fire and most of their worldly possessions went up in smoke.
Since moving to Puerto Rico, Silvermouse has been working on their latest album “Earthadelik” while establishing a small, working farm in the west of the island, raising their two children, and setting up a non-profit to help provide a farm-school experience for kids in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Silvermouse is putting the finishing touches on Earthadelik and is looking to hit the road in Puerto Rico (September to December 2018) and beyond (in 2019). They just released a live recording of their most recent show at La Primavera Surf Festival in Rincon, PR which is a glimpse of some of the new material they have been working on.
