Catching a breath & catching up.

Another two months have slipped by, since I last posted. Life can get busy. It’s about to get really busy for me again. But first, I’ll try to recall 2 month’s worth of memories.

Merlefest was a blast. Seeing my boy, and the band he plays for, take the main stage with Tony Rice was an experience, to say the least. Just 2 years prior Aaron was out in the tremendous field, with me, watching Tony play with Alison Krauss & Union Station on the same stage. This time, I viewed it from the side of the main stage and got a few pics of that as well.

May seemed to be a blur, filled with lots of rainy days and some good BBQ on Memorial Day weekend. When rainy periods come our way, I hear lots of people complain. Not me. Just last summer, up and down the Catawba River (water source for most towns between Marion, NC and Charlotte, NC) you were hearing about drastic measures that may have to be taken to insure that folks would have enough water to live on. Mikey don’t complain about rain. You die without water.

Kate finished her third year of college in mid May and found out in late April that she’d have to attend a summer semester in order to get two classes under her belt that her advisor hadn’t told her about. These were classes required to be at a full Junior status, prior to her beginning her Senior year of college this fall. So, immediately after Memorial Day, she had to traipse back up the mountain to Boone, to begin 2 classes per day, 5 days a week for 5 weeks. After about 2 weeks, though not happy about being in a 4 bedroom apartment by herself, she told me she wished all her classes could be like this. She said she was retaining what she was learning easier, due to doing the same classes every day. She comes home later today. Her only requirements remaining are 10 hours of volunteer work to be ready. She’ll get that next week.

Since Merlefest, Aaron has traveled to GA, VA (2x), PA, NC (3x), TN, KY, CO, and he will play in SC tomorrow. One of the NC dates was here in our hometown of Morganton, NC, when Mountain Heart played a show with Tony Rice AND Terry Baucom. There are videos up on YouTube. He is continuing his efforts at getting his newest recording finished when he is not traveling. His is a hectic life. I think they have 9 or 10 dates in July alone.

My wifey has been home for the past couple of weeks trying to get her house back in order. The end of each school year is so full, she gets to a point of giving up on tending house after finishing folders before the end of a school year, becoming informed about new students for the upcoming year, doing EOG testing for about 2 weeks, along with other duties. She’s catching up house stuff now.

My little Momma spent about a week in the hospital, coming home 2 days ago. Breathing difficulties are hard to live with and much harder to witness it happen to your Momma, for me. She’s doing much better and back at HER house.

Next week begins The 6th Annual Red White and Bluegrass Festival. Since last year, I have stepped out of the performance part of this event and have fully stepped into the role of event co-producer. I’ll have 4 solid 12 to 14 hour days in a row beginning next Wednesday, July 1st. There will be volunteers (Kate is one of many), many City Rec personnel, vendors, artists, sound crew and others that will contribute time and effort in July heat to pull this event off. We are expecting a great crowd and if advanced sales are an indicator, we’ll have a TREMENDOUS bunch of folks visiting our fair city to experience bluegrass.

Speaking of bluegrass, I’ve also had the wonderful opportunities to see Earl Scruggs in Charlotte, NC and his hometown of Shelby, NC since my last post. He turned 85 in January of 2009 and is still hammering the banjo. A very humble man, it is truly and honor to be able to be in his very gracious presence and see other folks travel from across the entire country to share in his talents. His boyhood home still stands in Cleveland County and I’ve also been afforded the very good opportunity to visit it myself. From such humble beginnings, greatness sprang forth.

I hope to be able to do a recap of the festival in a couple more weeks. I may have to catch my breath first.

I had a dream last night……

….well, actually, I had a dream Monday night, for real.  In the dream, I was having a conversation with Del McCoury (for whom I have the greatest admiration).  Something sort of like this:

We were talking about how bluegrass has changed.  We also talked about how we loved the earlier sounds like Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley’s etc., etc.

The gist of his conversation to me (and I remember this part a clearly as the ringing of a bell) was, “I love all that stuff, but people just need to get over Flatt & Scruggs.” 

In this dream, he didn’t disrespect them, and had the greatest admiration for them (and he still does), but he was trying to convey to me that music has to evolve.  F&S made their big, deep, cut to the bone mark on bluegrass from the late 40’s to the late 60’s.  A 20 year run.  Monroe did the same thing, partially involving F&S and Carter Stanley in the process, as well.

What they accomplished can’t be reproduced.  It was them, their current band members, the current state of affairs going on in the world at that time, the current or recently current other musical influences happening then, just a myriad of information/influences that helped them shape their music into what we remember as representative portions of their musical catalog.

We live in a differing time, with differing influences, both musically and socially, so the music should change, to a certain extent to represent what we face or are exposed to NOW.

That’s not to say that there won’t be music that I won’t like, but there will also be stuff I’ve never heard before, that I WILL like if someone is brave enough to experiment with the formula, to come up with something NEW.

If anyone has an argument with this thinking, then argue with Monroe, F&S, the Stanley’s, Jim & Jesse, the Country Gents, the Seldom Scene, Al Wood, The Paisleys, the Lundys, Hot Rize, Doyle Lawson, The String Dusters, Del McCoury, Mountain Heart, Alison Krauss and others, because that’s what they did.

They were ALL thinking outside the box of what had happened before.  Through the process, they developed their OWN sound and that’s why we discuss their musical efforts and know who they are.

Shew….there.  Now I feel better.

Mountain Heart w/Tony Rice in Morganton, NC

You know how good it smells when you walk past a doughnut shop and they’re all HOT’n'ready? A feeding frenzy can quickly get out of hand. I know I can eat warm doughnuts so fast that I don’t really have time to taste them.

 That’s sort of what it’s like at The CoMMA about these Mountain Heart & Tony Rice tickets. There’s folks coming from far and wide to see it. Tickets are selling like hot doughnuts!  The show is on Friday, May 29, 2009, in Morganton, NC.  The CoMMA is a 1058 seat house with wonderful acoustics.

Here’s a link to the page with the details.  On that webpage, it’ll tell you approximate distances to Morganton from points north, south, east and west of town. It’ll even draw you up directions from YOUR town if you enter your zip code into a Google Map generator.

Good music, good show, good seats (reserved), good room and all for a good cause. College scholarships for deserving individuals by The Men’s Club of Morganton.

Box office hours are: 10 AM 5 PM (Mon-Fri eastern time)

Phone numbers are: (800) 939-SHOW or (828) 433-SHOW NC RELAY-711

 Oh, and before I forget it, a little bird done told me that there’s been a big order for SON!!!!!! stickers.

Did I say something about Tony Rice being there? If you listen closely to his original recording of Me & My Guitar, you’ll hear him say during Jerry Douglas’ dobro break, “Break it off, SON!!!!!!”

Music for today

Folks,

If you read my post from last June about the end of The Linville Ridge Band, I think it speaks of being involved for 25 years in music.  The making of it, the promotion of it, the business end of it, the whatever…..so far.

At the time, it was a love/hate thing to have to do.  Make that choice.  But the end result demonstrated that it was the right move to make.  I’ve picked with my buddies from that band in jams and we’re still all good friends.

Now, since I’ve had that break, my creative juices are flowing again.  I’m interested in song writing again and feel I have some spare time to devote towards that.  I have one song started that, hopefully, will end up being co-written with one of my songwriting heroes. I helped another known Gospel songwriter write parts of 2 songs last week.

I have collaborated with my son on several songs over the past couple of years.  Aaron will include some of them on his upcoming recording.  Most of the time, I write lyrics and he comes up with chord structure, rhythms  and melody.  I like to be there during that process, seeing and hearing him invent music.

One of my main problems is that I like too much stuff!  I like fly fishing, camping, bike riding (I need to do more of that), bluegrass, watercolor painting, photography, reading, writing, songwriting, other forms of art including pottery, Japanese woodcut prints, so, you see part of my problems is that I have too many interests.  I wish I could participate in the making of the Japanese prints and making pottery.  Their both beautiful, to me, at least.

But the festival in my hometown now sort of takes precedence.  I never dreamed nearly 30 years ago, that a festival of this sort could ever be the hit that is, in our fair little town.  I don’t take any credit for it, but it really feels good to be able to contribute to the production of it.

When you hear that from other folks that are involved in producing events like MerleFest, GreyFox, WinterGrass, Fan Fair @ IBMA, and on down, it’s hard to understand what they really mean.

For me, seeing the festival being a success is sometimes nothing more than seeing that throng of people come to listen to music and a lineup that you had a hand in putting together, seeing a young kid getting up the nerve to get his/her instrument out in front of total strangers and feel like he’s their new best friend due to music, hearing a jam cranking up as most of the listeners are leaving the festival grounds at the end of the days stage schedule, and having people come up to you that you’ve never met before and feeling like you’ve known them all your life when you start to talk about that day’s music.

If I have any advice to offer to anyone, it is this. If you want to contribute to something that is of great interest to you, TRY or get involved.  Participate.  I know I’m not guaranteed to live to see the sun come up tomorrow.  So, I’ve got to be busy, doing what I can do, TODAY.

Now, if we’ll all get out our hymnals and turn to page…….

MAJOR catchup

October 2008:

I went to Nashville for a week at the end of September/first of October.   This was to attend the IBMA.  Banjos, mandolins, fiddles, dobros (I don’t buy into resophonic guitar), guitars and basses galore.  Music 24/7 for real.  Bluegrass music.  Much business was attempted/accomplished, much sleep was lost. 

November 2008:

Thinking about how high heating oil was going to go.  The election.  I voted.  Did you?  My baby did for the first time, which means she’s probably not considered a baby, technically.  Going through the emergency room with a migrane on Veteran’s Day.  Thanksgiving.  Suffering with the worst sinus infection I’ve ever had.  Finally going to the doctor to get some meds.  Getting a bit of relief and then feeling it begin to creep up on me again.  Picking with David Wiseman, Perry Woodie, Aaron and Aaron’s girl, Rachel Johnson.  Sort of a Linville Ridge Band reunion, in my living room.

December 2008:

Getting another round of anti-biotics for the sinus stuff.  Gathering funds for Christmas presents.  Spending funds for Christmas presents.  The tree.  BTW, I picked it out (along with Aaron) not too big, not too small, just right.  Putting on the lights and then helping the wifey-mae decorate it.  Sort of sad, but no children involved in decorating.  But they came in for the real inspection.  To see if there were any presents under the tree FOR THEM.  CHRISTMAS.  Wii consoles for my big old young’uns.  Boxing on the Wii until I thought my arms were going to fall off against Aaron.  But at the end, I was standing in the room, he was on his bed.  But on the screen I think I was OUT and his figure was still standing, so it is NOT real life people!  Folks moving in to stay with us for a while.  It was all good.  A new digital camera.  Lots of new pics.

Going to the doctor again, this time to start checking up on blood pressure.  Trying to eat right.  Losing 20 pounds shortly after Christmas.  And actually a 4th round of anti-biotics along with some steriods to finally clear up the sinus infection.  IT WORKED!  YAY!  I CAN BREATHE!

January 2009:

We had the biggest New Year’s blow out we’ve ever had at our house.  No, Dick Clark didn’t show up, but, if he had, he would have enjoyed himself.  Fireworks, hats, racket makers, food, music, the whole works!  The first Sunday of January was spent watching Aaron begin his new recording.  I hesitate to call it a CD, since it may only end up being a download.  Who knows?  I’m sure I’ll be sharing more on that later.  Going to Knoxville, TN, on one of the coldest nights of the winter to hear Mountain Heart play a show with Tony Rice.  Monitoring blood pressure as it starts to lower.

February 2009:

The only 28 day period of winter that takes 6 weeks to pass.  Or so it seems.  Hearing of the passing of a musical friend, Bruce Moody.  He was Clyde Moody’s nephew.   Clyde Moody played guitar for Bill Monroe.  Riding with Aaron to Walhalla, SC, for a Mountain Heart show and getting back home about 3:30 on Sunday morning.  Going up to Bluegrass First Class, in Asheville, NC, talking and visiting with Ron Block and others and laughing as they spelled Clay Hess’ name wrong on his name badge.  He is now known as Clay Hell.  That’s what happens when you have a band with folks whose last names are Hull, Eller and Hess.  More BP lowering.  That’s a good thing.

March 2009:

Doing time studies at work.  Writing (with a pen on paper) and documenting a ton of information so the Dept of Labor don’t throw our facility in the jailhouse.  Trying to figure out the economy.  Scary, ain’t it?  Feeling the creative juices beginning to flow again.  Maybe beginning to get the itch to play some music again, but not yet.  Keeping up with health problems of some of my local musical heroes, who just so happen to be my friends.  Going back to Asheville to listen to The Dan Tyminski Band at The Orange Peel.

April 8/9 2009:

We’re here.  It’s either really late or really early, since my watch says about 15 minutes after midnight.  But the month is off to a good start.  I’ve written parts of 2 songs with a buddy from Gate City, VA.  We don’t know if the lyrics are finished or not, but there has been no melodies assigned yet.  So, they probably are just poetry at this point.  Oh, I bought a book titled, “The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe.”

My Daddy’s middle name is Poe.  He got it from his maternal Grandmother.  I called her Mam-Maw Medford.  Her maiden surname was POE.  She was borned in the late 1800’s.  Edgar Allan Poe had no children.  That’s what we’ve all been told.  He died in 1849, I think.  He did have a brother.  Ed’s wife’s name was Virginia Clemm.  She was 14 years his junior.  My paternal Gramdmother’s name was Virginia Mae Clemments.  It was her Momma whose surname, before she was married, was POE.  Weird ain’t it?

I like to write scary songs…..

My word……

….it’s been since Labor day of 2008 that I’ve posted anything. What a shame. Life is crazy, so I hope you can at least understand a little bit. I’ll try to do a 6 month synopsis, maybe later today.

Labor Day..

…was spent cooking pigmeat.  A Boston butt to be exact.  I used a good dry rub mixture given to me by the fishin’ bud, Gene, and I labored over a bed of charcoal with some hickory strips thrown in for 8 hours on Monday.  that don’t count the hour or so I spent mixing the dry rub on Sunday night, wrapping it up in tinfoil, inserting a meat thermometer and so on.

So, I was up at 7:15 Monday Am, starting the coffee pot and lighting the charcoal in order to begin cooking at 8 AM.  This Boston butt was a bit over 8 lbs in weight and Gene said to give it one hour per pound.  He was right.

Then, I was back in the house, drinking coffee and waiting on the sleepers to awaken.  Aaron’s sweetness, Rachel, had come down with him Sunday night, after they had visited with his sister Katie in Boone, watching movies, eating popcorn and hanging out.  My wifey-mae awoke, smelled the coffee, got up to get some and then a bit later in the AM the 2 young sweethearts emerged from their respective beds.  Naturally, Aaron was the last to get up, as is his usual custom.

I finally convinced Katie that she and Chaz should come down from Boone to partake in the BBQ that was to come.  They arrived about 3 or so, as Aaron & Rachel returned from Hickory.  They fiddled and played guitar, checked email and napped, as I was getting the meat off the smoker.

The house filled with the aromatic (that means good smelling) scents of the masterpiece of BBQ grilling, by yours truly.  Just as I had taken the meat into the house and was allowing it to rest before beginning to cut it up, Gene, the grillmeister, arrived on his new Ducati motorcycle.  He even parked it up on the porch.  His poor little wifey-mae had to work a long day at KMart and there was nobody cooking anything at Gene’s house for supper.  So, he had invited himself.  That was all fine and good, since he was the one who had supplied the dry rub recipe and the vinegar-based BBQ recipe.

Now,  mind you, I’m 6′5″ and about 270 lbs (in clothes) and eating has made me what I am today.  I have eaten my fair share of BBQ in my years and have eaten it from here across North Carolina, sampled the SC versions, the Texas versions and even the mutton version of Owensboro, KY.  And it’s all good.  Some people hang up on the vinegar vs. molasses based sauces, dry rub, mustard based, etc., etc.

I’ve eaten a ton of good BBQ but I have NEVER eaten any as good as what i ate at the house on Monday.  AND I COOKED IT!  The dry rub was applied very liberally and I throwed much hickory smoke to it as well.  And it wuz guuuud!

Maybe next time, I’ll pick a time to fix the one that is in the freezer on a weekend when there ain’t going to be too many people at the house.  But that was fun, hearing everybody’s compliments and seeing them enjoying the BBQ pigmeat.

A quarter…

…of a century has passed since me and the wifey-mae ran through a hailstorm of rice.  Yes after the wedding.

We were married on a Sunday, August 7th in 19 hundred and 83.  The prior century.  The 20th century.  It was hot and it hadn’t rained in about 6 weeks prior to our wedding.  After the cemony, it came a shower of rain.  Janee’s Daddy said of he knew it would rain on our wedding day, he would have helped us move it up a bit earlier.

Friends and family came, lot of them.  A church full.  Many of them bearing gifts.  About 250-300 folks.  We did things a bit differently.  We had a cake cutting on the night before, after the rehearsal.  It would have had to been a big cake to feed 250-300 or be cut into really small tidbits.

My Daddy was more nervous than I was.  I remember waiting in that little choir room and him asking if I was nervous.  I sad no.  He was.  Daddy and Momma left and drove to Gaffney, SC (about 1.5 hours from home) and got married down there.  Then, they came home and didn’t tell anybody for almost 2 weeks.  Times were a bit different in 19 hundred and 59.  Daddy was almost 19 and Momma was 15.

My preacher, Ralph May, saw my keys in the pants pocket of my tux.  He asked what that was prior to the start of the wedding.  I showed them to him.  He said he would keep my keys so they wouldn’t make any of the wedding pictures look funny.  So I gave them to him.  Thought no more of it.

The ceremony was underway and I saw my Paw-Paw Powell sniffling.  He was the bomb.  Both he and Paw-Paw Ramsey were very big contributors to my big streak of ignorance and having fun.  Anyway, when I saw him, I about lost it.  I can contain most of my emotions and keep a clear head in toublesome times.  As I have aged, I think I have lost some of that ability, especially when it come to the affairs of the heart.  There are times when the death of a loved one or a friend can affect me and my composure, but when it comes to somebody realizing the richness of life and the blessings of it, that’s when I can start the sniffling like Paw Powell.  But that’s a good thing, to quote Martha Stewart.

After we were wed (meaning the ceremony was finished) we shook the hands of all the guests as they exited the church.  Then we took pictures inside the air-conditioned building as they waited on us outside in the heat.  I just now realized that part.  No wonder we got pounded so hard with the rice.

All the sweetness of our love was captured in the photos by Andy Hern.  Then we moved out to the porch for the bouquet toss and the garter gathering.  There’s one really devilish pic of me as I found the garter on my wife’s thigh.  It weren’t no put on.

Anyway, we got pelted with rice and ran down the sidewalk to my waiting truck.  The only vehicle owned by either of us.  It was all decorated and we ran around to get in.  No keys.  I looked for Ralph.  His requirements for pictures were taken care of pretty early in the proceedings and he had left the premises.  With my keys.

Now, mind you, this was in the days prior to cell phones.  So, Janee’s Daddy loaded us into his big Cadillac, only the second time I had ever ridden in one.  The other time was in a funeral procession.  We have a pic of us beside the truck with no keys and one of us in the backseat of Burl’s car.

After riding to Janee’s Aunt Nina’s place, we changed clothes and were preparing for our trip to Gatlinburg for the honeymoon.  Daddy tracked down the preacher at a local restaurant and retrieved my keys, brought the truck to Nina’s, losing a hubcap in the process (it was later located).  Just about the time we were to leave, Nina came up with the bright idea of opening all the wedding gifts that were brough to her house after the cermony.  About a hundred of them.  It all had to be acknowledged, a list written down of the gift and the giver and so on.  That’s Nina and she’s still the same.

I was afraid that with all the delays our room would not be held.  But, eventually, we satisfied our requirements (what requirements, it was OUR wedding) and made our way to Tennessee.  A newly married couple, with my bride in the MIDDLE of the seat, in a pickup truck.  Luggage in the back.

I knew everything was as it should be when we got to the room, turned on the TV and saw The Osborne Brothers singing Rocky Top on Nashville Now.

Last Thursday night, we went out to eat a nice steak and celebrated, in our own diminshed way, the 25 years spent together since that first night.  Man it’s been good.  If the next 25 go by as fast at this first 25, I better start preparing NOW!

Young’uns (that ain’t so young)

My children will always be my children. It’s just that now they are adults (well, the second one is almost an adult). This will be her first Presidential election. Mine was in 1980, when Ronald Reagan went into office.

One child will go fishing with a bunch of pre-schoolers today. She will eventually become an elementary-ed teacher, assuming some responsibility for sharing knowledge with young students. Some of that responsibility rests with their parents. What an awesome responsibility and opportunity to help young minds learn.

One child will be playing music, donating his time at the MACC festival in Columbus, Ohio. This festival is a benefit for St. Judes Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. Musicians will have their needs covered (hotels, food, gas receipts) and their efforts will draw festival participants who will buy tickets to see said shows and then a portion of the proceeds will go to Memphis, TN, to the hospital. Last year a bit over $40,000 went down to St. Judes.

GPS, cell phones, the internet all help us to stay connected. But that will never replace face-to-face interaction with family members. So, we did something about that a couple of weeks back. We went to the beach. My Momma & Daddy came down for a few days. A boyfriend and a girlfriend came down as well.

Swimming, putt putt, music & meals were all shared. Naps were very well received also. Rest. That’s what vacations are for me and mine. Not the hustle bustle to see how much we can cram into a 6-7 day period. That’s not us. Oh, there was time for fun like go-carts, ice cream underneath live oaks, seafood, a walk on the pier and the beach, but all of it at a slower, more relaxed pace. Lots of pics on digital cameras. A little bit of TV, but not too much, just enough to check the weather.

L-R Janee’, me, Katie, Chaz, Pop, Nanny, Aaron & Rachel

Young’uns are so dependent on parents when they are little bitty. Then, they start to think for themselves. Sometimes they stumble and fall in this new area of decision making. Just like everything else, hopefully they will learn from the mishaps. It’s hard not to run to the rescue as we have done in the past. They have to learn to rescue themselves, so that they can make it when their old-time rescuers aren’t around anymore. Then they will be equipped to teach these same lessons to those young’uns that usually follow.

But, for us, the parents, we never stop being concerned for them or about them. The concerns just focus on new areas.

The days are so short…

Porch wallerin’

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so here goes:  Last night was spent wallerin’ the porch of my fishing buddy, Gene Wilson.  As stated before, we’ve been friends for 25-nearly 30 years now.

We both believe in preserving or continuing old county ways of life.  That’s where the porch wallerin’ came in.  Folks don’t do it too much anymore.  A wise old owl, Clyde Keller (now deceased), once told me that he believed that folks weren’t too neighborly due to the way homes have been built for the past 50 years or so.  Older, bungalow-style homes had rather large inviting porches on the FRONT of the house.  Now we sometimes have decks on the BACK of the house.

Those inviting porches were perfect for spending the last few moments of daylight together with a neighbor, discussing the current goings-on of the neighborhood.  So & so’s been sick and maybe we need to plow through their garden to keep the weeds out until they mend.  Old so & so went up on John’s River and caught a mess of catfish the other night, maybe we need to catch a bunch of grampers and catch us a mess for ourselves.

Last night was spent with our sons who are about 1.5 years apart and have been buds since they were very young.  Me & Gene discussed his quirky neighbors, laughing out loud at their antics, as told by Gene.  Not in a mocking, down grading tone, but a purely comical way, celebrating his quirky neighbors, whom he gets along with just fine.  During this time, the boys just sat and listened to us old codgers, laughing with us.

We heard a bob white (or quail) just before dark.  Luke (Gene’s boy) commented that he couldn’t remember when he last heard one, and he’s always out camping or climbing rocks in the wild parts of our world.  Gene has an English neighbor and he demonstrated this neighbor’s way of calling his dogs in for their medicines.  That English accent was too much to take and me and Gene concurred that we need to help him adjust his way of talking with a proper, backwood North Carolina accent.

Then we talked of another neighbor who will eat anything he can kill, be it deer, rabbit, squirrel or possibly even a bear (if given the opportunity).  Gene also told of him target practicing with this same neighbor, near the road that runs in front of said neighbor’s house.  He listens for cars/trucks/vehicles, but has a hard time hearing a bicycle.  Dangerous.

We spoke of the creeks we are so fond of for swimming and cooling off in during the summer.  We have to get another session in before Luke has to return to college.

Just as we were about to leave, then Aaron (my son) and Luke began talking.  Luke is now working at the same ink factory that Aaron worked at for about 2 years.  They’ve done some of the same jobs and run into some of the same folks at work.  They both spoke of the good and the bad, sharing thoughts as adults.  We watched them shoot snakes with BB guns and eat sunflower seeds in the back seat of our old car as kids.   Gene has video of these young men as children, proging around with their idiot fathers with metal detectors and video cameras in tow.  We bought them bubblegum cigars as me and Gene smoked rum crooks (the real thing).  We’ve shared dogs, both the raising and burying of them.

Porch wallerin’.  Just visiting.  Sharing a story or just catching up and comparing recent beach trips.

The good parts of life among friends.