Taking a Stand

I'm working on a column for next Sunday and it will depart from my usual light-hearted approach. The middle school where my nieces and nephews went to school is severely overcrowded. It was built for six hundred students and it currently has almost twice that many students enrolled.
Since there is no room for them in the original building, they surplus students are housed in trailers parked around the grounds. Most of the trailers do not have indoor plumbing. If a child has to go to the restroom, they are usually escorted by an aide.
Normally trailers are used in extraordinary situations and are temporary. This school has had trailers for years and the number continues to grow. I woke up this morning thinking about what would happen if the school was hit by one of the many tornadoes that rip through our area with alarming frequency.
I've never been politically motivated, I don't want to run for office but I do fear for the lives of the children of our community. I believe that things can change with the right focus. I've stood by too long. I think it is time to act.
The next board of education meeting is September 11th so Jilda and I have marked our calendars and plan to attend.
I'll start by gathering facts and then try to raise awareness with the news media. There are a lot of things that are broken and they will stay broken until someone takes a stand. We'll see what happens.
The way I see it is I know and the school board knows the school is vulnerable. If disaster struck, and we had not acted to correct the problem, the blood would be on all our hands.

Roll Tide

OK, I'm excited...I admit it. The Tide opens the season in the Kickoff Classic against Clemson. When I look at the pre-season polls and the Las Vegas odds, it doesn't look good for the home team. But every new season holds promise. You add a lot of weight to the positives and you minimize the negatives and hope for the best.
The positives for Alabama is they had the best freshman class in the nation. We have freshmen that have phenomenal talent but they are freshmen and subject to inconsistency. We are building a little depth and our offensive line is one of the best in the nation.
So, in a few hours we'll have an idea of what all this means. I love my team, win or lose.
Roll Tide.

Cruise

We've never taken a cruise before but it's something we've been thinking about lately. Obviously with two tropical systems, Gustaf and Hanna, spinning around in the Gulf of Mexico and predicted to become screaming hurricanes, now would not be the optimal time. But when things calm down, I'd like to give it a try.
Most of our friends have sailed and come back ranting and raving. Jilda has been a little hesitant because she has this little problem....she is deathly afraid of falling overboard and drowning while I'm in the casino playing roulette.
I think I've convinced her to give it a try, but I may see if we can just get on the ship and hang around while they are fueling up just to see if she feels comfortable enough to sail away from the dock. We'll need to take this one step at a time.
Have a great holiday weekend.

Down to the Wire

Tonight I wrote the blurb for my book jacket and the Acknowledgment page. Those were the last two items to complete for the printer. I plan to meet with Roxanne, the layout/design/project manager tomorrow and give her the stuff. Once that is complete, they will load all the columns into the layout software and I'll know if I have to add columns or delete columns.
The next step is when they print a draft of the book. That is my last chance to edit, change, or rearrange any of the content.
After those changes are made, it will take two or three weeks to have the finished product in my hands. Then the real work begins. This is an interesting process. I've learned a great deal already and I have a feeling the lessons haven't really begun yet.

Headache

I've had a headache for two days which makes it hard to concentrate. I rarely have headaches so I try to enjoy them when they do come alone. As much as the weather has changed in the past week, it's a wonder my head doesn't explode splattering what little brains I do have on the computer monitor but it hasn't happened yet. I did pick up an monitor saver at BestBuy today just in case.
Today was a phone day. I felt the headset I was wearing was growing into the scalp which I think actually enhanced the quality of the headache.
Anyhow, I think I'm going to disengage from the computer and rest the old eyes a bit. Happy Wednesday.

The Eagle

Jilda and I started writing a song back in 1985 called The Storm Brings Out the Eagle. I got the idea from a slogan my company was using at the time. Jilda and I worked on the song for several months and we just couldn't get it right. Then late in January of 1986 the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded just after takeoff and like most Americans and others from around the world we were stunned. A very short time later the song came together.

Some time later our friend Skip, who was working on a political campaign, mentioned the song to George McMillian who was running for Governor. George liked the song so much that he paid for recording time, and a local bluegrass band recorded the song in Nashville. The Eagle was used a various functions throughout the campaign. The candidate did not win the election and I choose to believe that it was NOT because of our song.

Several years later, our friend Ray Benson, who was the lead singer for the bluegrass band who had recorded the song, got a record deal and one of the songs on the project was The Eagle. He would be singing with a Trio and one of the members of the trio was Tracy Lea Reynolds. We became instant friends and co-writers with Tracy.

For one reason or another, the trio didn't happen and Ray backed out of the deal. Tracy went on to get a record deal of her own and she too recorded The Storm Brings Out the Eagle, along with four other songs we co-wrote with her.

During the promotion of the album, she sang live on The Grand Ol' Opry. The song she sang was The Storm Brings Out the Eagle. I have a tape of that performance. That was in the mid 1990's.
The song is still getting a little air play here and abroad.

A year or so ago, we played the song for Don Early who is another friend of ours. He has been playing music since the late 50's and he has an incredible voice. He said he loved the song and asked us for a copy of the words.

Last night we got a call from him and he said he had rearranged the song and played it for a team of movie producers this week, who were filming a "made for TV" special here in Alabama. He said the song blew them away. He thinks if he can get a good recording of the song that it may make it into the movie.

We went over there tonight and he played the song for us. It made chills run up my arm. Now we are scrambling trying to put all the players together to help record the song....Fred, if you are reading this....I need to talk to you about helping us do some recording.

I am constantly amazed by our friends. Whether this song makes the movie or not, we are flattered and humbled that our friends have believed in us and did what they could to help us be successful. The truth is, when you have great friends like ours, you are already successful.
Here are the words to The Storm Brings Out the Eagle.

When the horizon fills with clouds of the storm

Small Birds seek their refuge

When thunder rolls and the wind is born

The weak await the deluge

CHORUS

But the storm brings out the eagle

To challenge the wind and the cloud

Yes the storm brings out the eagle

Soaring high and free and proud

Defiantly facing the fury

Determined to see it through

May all the storms of your life

Bring out the eagle in you

When your trials are many and your triumphs are few

And your fire is down to an ember

When your spirit grows weary, and your lost and confused

There's something that you should remember

CHORUS

Fay

Fay has been something. She's been an interesting tropical event that came on and offshore in Florida like a boatload of drug smugglers.
She arrived in Alabama several days ago with wind gusts and torrential rain. Yesterday afternoon I started getting calls from people all over the state telling us to take cover that a tornado was headed for Empire. Now Empire is not that big so we ALWAYS get concerned when they say a storm's headed this way.
We kept a watch out and you could see sunshine out the front windows but when you looked out the back doors toward the south, it looked like nightfall. There was no lightening or thunder which is totally different than spring and autumn storms. I could hear the rain coming from about a mile away and our dogs went berserk. But the storm stayed up high and all we got was another inch or two of rain in a matter of minutes.
A while later, the sun was out again. Jilda went out back to put some scraps in the composter and noticed our tomato cages had been blown over. When she walked through the garden to straighten them up, she sank up to her knees in mud. I could hear her hollering through the open doors and I ran out to see what was going on. When I got to the fence, she looked like a miget. I thought I was going to have to get the truck and a tow-rope to rescue her but I managed to walk around the edge of the garden and get close enough to pull her free. I should be able to retrieve her shoes next spring when I break the garden up again.
As I sit here typing, I can hear the rain on the roof. Fay should help get the water tables back to normal after a year or so of near drought conditions.
I've heard some people complaining about the rain, but I consider it a gift.

Where Would You Be

Where would you be if you weren't here? I don't spend a lot of time reflecting on what might have been, but it's a valid question to reflect upon now and then.
You are the decisions you make and for the most part I'm very happy with where I am. But sometimes when I see a very creative movie, read a book or hear music that absolutely blows me away I find myself wondering how our lives would have been had we settled somewhere else? Somewhere closer to "the action."
We watched a movie that we both love called "Committed". It's an odd movie staring Heather Graham and Luke Wilson. It's very quirky, but it makes me smile. The screen play is eclectic but I fell in love with the characters. I find it creative and stimulating.
I sometimes wonder "what if we'd decided to live in LA instead of Empire, Alabama? Would it make a difference if you were surrounded by creative and stimulating people?
The reality is that there are a lot of creative people in LA that spend their time and energy just getting by just like everyone else on the planet. I believe that there is something down deep inside that makes you want to do remarkable things and it doesn't matter if you live in New York, LA, Nashville or Empire, Alabama. It's a matter of focus, and determination and time.
It's OK to wonder, but I think it's better to spend your time working on your chops rather than worrying about what might have been.

Mother Nature

The rain moved in early this morning. I could hear it falling on the Rose-a-Sharon bush just outside our bedroom window. I got up silently and went to make coffee. I opened the back door and then sat at the table looking down toward the barn.
The apple and pear trees are bending down from the weight of the fruit. Like weary peddlers packing their goods to market. I'll have to do some pruning when the weather gets cold and the sap goes down.
This is the best year ever for the pears. They are huge and when you bite into them, the juice runs down your chin. I walked down to gather some tomatoes and I picked a pear the size of a softball and ate it there under the tree.
The apples still have a few more weeks before they come into their prime. I'm not sure what kind of apple they are. I planted the tree a long time ago. The fruit gets fairly large and when you bite into the, they are very sweet but they are somewhat tart....very crunchy.
Some years it's too dry and the fruit falls off before it's ready and the birds get the benefit. But this year, was a perfect combination of hot days with frequent rain. So we've had a bumper crop.
I'll be eating jelly and fried pies all winter. Thank you Mother Nature.

High School Football

The football season kicked off tonight at Dora. This was an exhibition game against the Sumiton Christian Eagles.
I'm not really sure how they kept score as both teams got the ball five times in a row and then each team got to try to score from the twenty yard line three times. And that took it to halftime.
I think the game would have gone better had it been straight football but hey, I didn't make up the rules.
Dora had a dismal season last year winning only one game all year. The team looks much sharper this year so my hopes are high.
I'll post the photos tomorrow on www.dorahighschool.com
Have a great weekend.

Sounded Jes Like a Tornader

Someone told me a story about a train wreck down in old Dora. I have no idea if it's true or not but I love the story so I'll tell it here.
There was an old guy that lived in Frenchtown which is a community near Old Dora. The railroad that runs through Dora, is cut into the side of a mountain and Frenchtown, which is a sleepy community is situated on level ground about a hundred yards down the mountain from the tracks.
About twenty years ago a freight train loaded with produce and new Fords jumped the tracks near Frenchtown and the momentum pushed the engine and several cars down the embankment. The engine came to rest only a few yards from the old guys house. The news reporters from all around rushed out to the scene, to interviewed the old guy. "What was it like," they asked. "Hit (that's the way he talked) sounded jes like a tornader coming."
OK, here's a joke for you - Do you know what a redneck divorce and a tornado have in common? Somebody is going to lose a trailer.
I grasping at straws tonight, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Buy a Ticket

One of the action items I had from my meeting with the printer was to get a decent portrait made. I have a lot of pictures of me, but when I need a good photograph, I call my friend Don Fewell and his wife Gay.
We went down this evening and he shot about a dozen pictures that were just what I needed. As a bonus, we got to sit around and talk to our old friends for a while.
I'm excited and almost overwhelmed by the book project. All kinds of thoughts are racing through my head. Is the layout right? Is the title right? is the work good enough? Your mind is really good at this stuff. It knows where the cracks are in you armor and it picks away relentlessly.
Well, I'm going to do this thing. If it falls flat, then I'll pick up the pieces and move on. But it's like the old saying goes - you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket. I'm buying a ticket.

One Step Closer

The air was hazy today as we drove into Birmingham. I took a vacation day today so I could meet with the book printers. This is the second meeting and we discussed specifics today. We talked about cover design and layout. I took some graphics that will be used on the project.
We talked colors, fonts, types of paper, glossy/matt finishes and schedules. I handed over 48 columns and within a week or so, I'll have the first proof. This is where I look at the initial designs and layout. Once the basics have been approved, they will provide an entire proof copy of the book. This will be my last chance to make any significant changes to the project. After I give final approval, it will take about two to three weeks to get the finished book in my hands.
Once I get the finished product, then the work of marketing and promotions begins. Jilda and I have some experience with this because of our music, but promoting a book is different. You have to do book signings, speaking engagements, and a lot of gorilla marketing. If you are unsuccessful, you wind up with a trunk full of books.
I have had a lot of people contact me asking when it will be available and I am grateful to these folks because without their support and encouragement, this project would remain just that - a project....a dream that has no way to come true.
The ball is now rolling and I'll keep y'all informed as to the progress.

100,000 Miles

It seems like only yesterday I was on the car lot shopping for a new truck. I got a good deal and dumped a SUV which was like yen without the yang.
The new truck has been great. I've never owned a black vehicle before and it took some time to adjust. During the summer, the interior heats up enough to smelt iron ore. I think U.S. Steal wasted a lot of money buying coal. They should have bought a fleet of black vehicles and put the ore in there during the summer months.
Other than that, the truck has been great! Today on the way to work, it turned over 100,000 miles. Car manufacturers should program odometers to ding, blink or otherwise herald milestones. "Hey Bubba, you've driven the circumference of the earth...or you have spent a year sitting in the driver's seat of this vehicle." The S-10 Chevy pickup I had before I bought the Ranger, had 280,000 miles on it when I sold it. I would have put fewer miles on it had I driven it to the moon. My brother-in-law has had the vehicle for the last five years and he put another 100,000 miles on it. He thought I was crazy to sell it. I probably was.
Anyhow, I have never had one minute's problem with the Ford until this afternoon when I was leaving work. When I hit the starter, all it would do is click. I checked the terminals and they were corroded. I could not tell with a cursory inspection because the battery terminals have covers on them. When I looked under the covers, there was green coral looking acid/corrosion/something strange and as toxic as the ooze off plutonium.
I was standing there with the hood raised scratching my head when an old friend stopped by and gave me a jump start.
I made it over to the super-center and bought a new battery as well as new terminals which I installed in the sweltering heat outside. When the job was done, I turned the key and the Ford sprang to life.
There were people at the super center complaining about the repairs they were being forced to make to their cars but I didn't see it that way. My truck has taken me around the world almost three times. I think it deserves a new battery.

Chicken Day

Jilda and I went up to Lacon, which is a flea market up above Cullman, Alabama. It's one of the oldest flea markets in the area and is a very interesting place because you see everything from great antiques, to cheap imported tools, electronics, and domesticate rabbits.
We got there about 10 a.m. and the sun was already warm. When we got back to the live stock area, the critters were not happy about the heat. There were pot bellied pigs, ducks, geese, Guinna fowl, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, and every kind of chicken you could imagine. I never realized the variety of colors, sizes and shapes of chickens. I wanted to buy them all and take them back to the farm.
I had been looking for a nesting box for the chickens at home, but we came home empty handed, except for a big ol' bag of parched peanuts.
This evening, I rebuilt an old nesting box we acquired when our neighbor moved away. He raised game chickens that are used in chicken fighting completion. I never actually saw him fighting the chickens.
When I mentioned to a lady co-worker who was raised up north that I once had a neighbor who fought chickens, she exclaimed "well that's not very fair, a man against a chicken!" I explained that it was actually the chickens that fought each other. I don't think the neighbor would have stood a chance against a good game rooster. They would probably have pecked the guys' eyes out because he was "bad to drank."
Anyhow, I got the nesting boxes repaired and hung in the shed so that they can do their setting out of the weather.
One of the new peeps that was born the 4th of June was a rooster so we should be able to raise all the chickens we want. We're taking pre-orders for WatsonRed Chickens.

Another Saturday Night

I've been toying around with enhancements to the blog. Unless you are design guru, this stuff is kind of hit and miss. I have a zillion photos but I'm having a hard time deciding on just the right one. So you'll probably see changes and if there is one you like, feel free to comment.
We play tonight so I'll be getting home past my bedtime so I'm posting a little earlier than usual.
Our friend Fred is going to ride up to Local Color with us and critique our show.
I put new strings on the Taylor for tonight. I haven't changed strings in some time and they were beginning to sound flat to me. There is nothing like a new set of strings on a good guitar. They seem to ring forever.
Signing off for now. Have a great Saturday.

Deer

A small deer has found our apple tree. Jilda called yesterday to tell me about it. She said it was a very young deer about the size of our big dog. She said he ate apples off the ground and low hanging fruit from the tree.
Today she called to say he was back. I really can't blame him because the apples are really scrumptious. Our pairs are coming in too, and there are some as big as softballs. He'll probably find them if he keeps coming around.
I have a lot of friends that are hunters and I respect that. They all are mindful of the environment and they eat what they take. But I'm not a hunter.
I guess I'm a wuss because I just cannot bring myself to shoot an animal. I did hunt for a while when I was growing up, but it just wasn't right for me. It never felt right and so I leave that pastime to others.
Tomorrow evening The Overalls play at Local Color in Springville. If any of my friends are out and about, feel free to come by. The food is good and we always strive to put on a good show.
Have a great weekend.

UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My head hurts, but butt's sore, my eyes are tired and I have gas. It has been one of those days. It would have taken very little to tip the balance today and I would have tossed the laptop off the top of the building and called it quits. As a matter of fact, I'm just in that kind of mood and I'm going to quit...............................................................................

Skiing

The first time I ever put on a pair of snow ski's was in Watertown, New York. Rick Flanders, an Army buddy, invited me home with him just before Christmas. We had a long weekend and we caught a bus at Port Authority terminal in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon and rode for hours through the darkness towards upstate New York.
We camped out on the back of the bus and there was a bunch of young folks our age heading home for the holidays. I had the good sense to take my guitar with me on the journey. I wasn't that good then, but I could play old country standards, Dylan, and some Peter, Paul & Mary songs. As it turns out, that's all it took. We sat on the back of that bus and sang until we got hoarse.
It didn't take a lot of sleep back then to get by, so we were off to the slopes by early Friday afternoon. Rick gave me a few cursory instructions and said "it's easy, you'll love it."
I put on the boots and clamped on the skies. So far so good. We headed to the lift and I watched for a while as little kids and old folks hopped on the lift. It looked simple enough, but it took a few times to actually get on board. I didn't realize that the lift didn't stop when the get to the top. You're expected to hop off and then ski down the slope. When I got to the top my exit was less than graceful....I hit the snow face first.
I finally got up and started stomping my way over to the beginner's slope. A kid took pity on me and showed me how to start and how to slow down when I started going too fast. She was a good instructor for a ten year old, but I was not a very good student. I spent more time on my face and on my rear than I spent standing on ski's.
At one point I got to going pretty good and then I felt like I was going too fast. I used the braking technique which is to point the front tips of your ski's together, but the move was to abrupt and I almost snapped both legs off at the knees. I limped for a month.
I decided then and there that if I did any more skiing, it would be on the river. I kept that promise to myself.

I Credit the Rain

Today was a perfect day for working from home. I started early so I could knock of early. I set up on my screen porch before the chicken started pecking the ground. And before I finished my first cup of coffee, I heard the rain ticking off the leaves of the water oak in the front yard.
There was not thunder and no wind, just an old slow rain.
I don't recall the last time we had an all-day rain. Everything in the yard looks refreshed, except for the birds which all look like wet socks.
Had I been at my regular desk I would have described the day as hectic, but today I didn't get cranked, I just handled one thing at a time and moved through my workload. I don't think it was an accident, that I accomplished more with less frazzled nerves - I credit the rain.

Balance

There are a lot of gadgets and other stuff today that are so engaging, so entertaining that they can steal your time like a pick-pocket snatching your wallet. Time you could and probably should be spending more wisely. The one thing that most folks don't realize is that you time is infinitely more valuable than your wallet. Oh sure, it would be a pain to cancel your credit cards and replace your driver's license, but the older you get the more you start to realize those hours you wasted paying solitaire can never be replaced.
One problem that I see (because I struggle with it) is that you lose sight of your goals and your purpose in life. Why am I here?
I watched Peaceful Warrior recently and the spiritual teacher appeared in this young gymnasts life. The gymnast became frustrated with the teacher, who worked in a gas station doing routine work there. "Why are you doing this?" the kid snapped. The teacher said "there is no higher purpose than to provide service to others."
This one statement caused me to do some self examination because it seems so often in my life, my priorities have been backwards - what can you do for me? Not, "what can I do for mankind?"
I'm afraid when the final tally is in, I will have spent too much time gettin' and not enough time givin'. It is my intention to turn this equation around.

Back to School

School starts back this week. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday to grab some charcoal and starter fluid. I thought it would be a quick stop but the place was buzzing. There were kids of all ages with their parents buying school supplies.
These days there's all kinds of stuff to consider. Clothes, backpacks, pens, theme binders, mp3 players, cell phones, and calculators.
It used to be a lot simpler buying school supplies - a pair of dungarees, a couple of flannel shirts, a Hopalong Cassidy lunch kit, some paste, a writing pad, a couple of fat pencils and you were set. The only calculators we had was the ten fingers on our hands. I still use my calculator. It's easy on batteries.

Funny

Jilda got verification that her medications were being shipped today. As she read the email I could tell she was visibility agitated. "They are shipping my medications from Mexico! Why on earth would they be shipping drugs from Mexico?" She asked in exasperation. "There should be a law against that. How can they monotor quality control?
I heard what she was saying but it didn't make sense. I stepped over to the computer to see if I could solve the mystery when she said - Oh!, it's not Mexico, it's Medico. Medco is our medication vendor since I changed jobs back in April. She laughed so hard she almost lost her breath and I thought it was pretty funny too.
The older I get, the more tricks my eyes play on me too. Here's a "funny" about growing older. One old guy was telling a friend that he had just purchased a new hearing aid. "I can hear like a baby now," he bragged. His friend, who was getting a little hard of hearing too said "what kind is it?" The first man looked at his watch and said it's 4:30.
This joke has nothing to do with age but it's pretty funny none the less:
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic? He doesn't believe in Dog.
Have a great Saturday evening.

The Oak

I walked down to the barn after dinner tonight. The air is much cooler this evening. A band of rain raced through yesterday afternoon and brought with it a change in the weather. I'm sure there will be more hot days to come, so we'll enjoy this cool spell while it lasts.
I sat on my turning plough and soaked in the last remnants of the setting sun. There is an oak tree in the barnyard that I cannot reach around. In fact, some of the limbs of that oak are bigger in diameter than the trunks of most of the younger trees around here. It is a magnificent thing to behold. In the heat of the summer, it seems cooler. And just sitting in its presence makes you feel a part of something much bigger and more permanent.
As I've said before, people often ask me why we live out here in Empire. "You're spending a fortune on gas and the time you spend commuting is lost." But usually when people come to visit we wind up taking a walk down to the barn and once they stand under that oak tree, they begin to understand the appeal.
I'm grateful for that old tree and all the other blessings in my life.
Y'all have a great weekend.

Slacker

Today zipped by like a shooting star. I had a desk full of routine work that I wanted to get done today, but shortly after arriving, I had a computer down and it was "all hands on deck."
Before I knew it, the clock had wound around to quitting time.
I'm going to be a slacker tonight. I'll do better tomorrow.

Dreams

Have you ever dreamed you were awake and woke up asleep? I know, it's weird. I used to dream about a giant chasing me. I had the dream a lot when I was younger. It always ended the same. I was fleeing the giant and when I crawled under a barbwire fence to escape, I would get caught. The giant would stomp ever closer but before he got to me, I would always wake up with my heart pounding. I'm not sure if it was a phase I was going through or what, but the dreams stopped.
Now when I remember my dreams, they often involve music. In some of my dreams I played an entire show with my guitar out of tune. Every time I'd try to tune a string that was flat, it would get flatter and the rest of the band looked at me crossly.
A few nights ago I had a dream about playing a harmonica but no sound came out no matter how hard I blew. Even with the weird instrument malfunctions, I'd still rather have a music dream than one about giants. It's a matter of scale (pun intended).

It's Not a Stretch

A friend of mine told me today that he has DirecTV and last night when he was channel surfing, a pop-up came on the screen and told him the batteries were low in his remote and he might want to consider installing new batteries. I found that interesting. Technology is getting smarter and smarter.
I could almost see the remote saying "while you're out getting batteries you might want to consider buying some eggs and a fresh carton of milk because the carton in the fridge is six days past the "sell by" date." Further recommendations would include - "don't use the Bank of America Visa, it's maxed out. Be sure and return the overdue library book the air is low in your left front tire."
The remote knows all this stuff because of an artificial intelligence chip installed by the phone company. The device has gotten smart enough to link up the the Department of Homeland Security and it will rat you out to the feds if you don't report the hundred dollars you made selling some old tools at the yard sale; or if you burn a music CD for a friend; or you tear that warning label off your mattress.
I'm telling you, it's not that much of a stretch.

Strange Twist

Saturday evening after the gig, we had wilted like a head three-week old lettuce. We came home and parked ourselves on the couch. I must have drank two quarts of water and I still felt thirsty. I read where the weatherman said that the temp and humidity teamed up to make the air feel like it was 113 degrees in the shade. It felt more like 212 degrees to me.
Just before dark a thunder storm slammed down from the north making it sound like we lived under a bowling alley hosting a tournament for drunken Shriner's. I'm not knocking Shriner's because they do incredible work, but they know how to have a good time.
I was working in Mobile back in 1980 putting the town back together after Hurricane Fredrick had his fun. Jilda joined us mid-summer at the Howard Johnson's and she brought our German Shepherd Duke to keep her company at the hotel while we worked.
Somehow I managed a rare weekend off and we headed west down the coast. Our original plan involved us going to Biloxi, Mississippi for a swim in the ocean, but one thing led to another and by 10 p.m., we found ourselves on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
If anyone has ever walked down Bourbon Street at night, you can see almost ANYTHING. We passed a guy on stilts that was about twelve feet tall. He had on a pair of pants that came all the way to the ground so if you had slammed down one too many Hurricanes, you'd think he was actually that tall. He was ambling down the street dancing to music we could not hear. We passed a bar with a picture window. When you looked inside, there was a woman on a swing and she was butt naked.
Now here's where it gets weird. Since our original destination was the beach, I had on a pair of swimming trunks and a tee shirt. Jilda had on a cut off tee shirt and a bikini. We didn't raise an eyebrow with Bourbon Street revilers, but when we tried to enter Pat O'Briens to get one of those world famous Hurricanes, they wouldn't let Jilda in. I it wasn't because of Duke, our German Shepherd, it was because Jilda was wearing a bikini. We were dumbfounded. We had to stand aside to let a woman walk in wearing a pair of short overalls made entirely out of black electricians tape, but Jilda could not enter.
"OK, I'll stay out her with Duke, you hustle in and get the drinks" she snapped. Stupidity make her snippy. So I went in and ten minutes later when I came out, she was totally surrounded by Shriner's who were apparently in town for some kind of convention. They were asking - "How much for you? Another said "how much for the dog?" Another ventured "how much for you and the dog?"
It is fortunate that she was unarmed, or she would still be in Angola Penitentiary...or worse yet, could have been fried as crisp as a spring-fed catfish by Gruesome Gurtie, the state's legendary electric chair.
I never know when I sit down to do a blog entry where the stories will end up. I think some of insightful, some are poignant, and some are down right strange. It's obvious this one falls into the latter category.

Beat the Odds

We played for the Beacon House kids again tonight. The Beacon House is a temporary home for disadvantaged youths. Steve had a small stages show tonight and couldn't join us so Jilda and I played some old traditional songs. Some of the same kids were there from last time and they actually remembered (and requested) songs. We convinced some of the girls to come up and sing and I was blown away.
We always weave some motivational stuff in with our songs. Not sure if any of the words hit the mark with these kids, but we always give it a shot. The child care workers always ask the kids to stand and say their names, tell their ages and say where they are from. I asked them to include what they want to do when they grow up.
As they went around the room, some wanted to be nurses, one kid wants to be a welder and construction worker; one wants to play football; and a few wanted to be singers/performers/actors. I love to plant that seed whenever I can. It's never to early to get kids to thinking about their future. I think it is important for them to visualize a better life.
Jilda, who should probably be a motivational speaker, encourages them to dream big but to work each day towards those dreams. I was inspired myself.
I closed by saying that my prayer for them is to go out an do something remarkable. The cards are stacked against them, but chose to believe some of them will beat the odds.

We Survived!

By the time we took the stage today, my shirt was soaked. I drank about a gallon of water. After we played, we sat out front and listened to other performers. There were some really good players there and what was nice is that they were all folkie's.
Usually when we play we play we get thrown in with rock, blues, R&B or groups with banjos and cloggers. I don't have anything against banjo's and cloggers or any of the other kinds of music for than matter, but usually when people come to hear the blues, they aren't ready for singer/songwriter folk music and they look at us as if we were airlifted from Botswana and dropped at the festival by mistake.
The Birmingham Folk Festival, except for the choice of dates, was a refreshing venue. In years past, it has been a private festival, but this year it went public and the choice of locations was exceptional.
Avondale Park is one of the oldest parks in Birmingham. The Park has lots of old trees and a spring fed pond with fat geese that love visitors with loaf bread.
The park also has a very nice pavilion that was build back during the depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which built parks, schools, bridges, and other stone structures. Putting people to work is what helped bring our country out of the great depression.
The WPA also built the amphitheater at Avondale Park which has been used down through the years for music performances and plays.
Hopefully next year, they will pick a festival date earlier in the spring or in autumn so that us old folk won't get heat stroke.
If you'd like to read about the festival and the interesting history of Avondale park, click on this link and read a story in the Birmingham Weekly written by our old friend Cortney Haden who is a treasure a for us who love Birmingham.

Birmingham Folk Festival

The Overalls are playing the Birmingham Folk Festival tomorrow. We play at 1 p.m. at the event which is being held at Avondale Park. I'm guessing the ambient temperature at 1 p.m. will be just slightly less than the surface of the Sun.
I'm not sure what we were thinking back in March when we got the gig. It was in the low 70's with a cool breeze out of the northwest. "Do y'all want to play the Birmingham Folk Festival this year?" "Heck yes!" I can remember us saying. Upon reflection, that may have been a hasty decision.
We played a festival in August about five years ago and I think I lost ten pounds before we got through the set. I had to use a wet-vac to mop all the perspiration out of the guitar.
Jilda is praying for a freak snowstorm to drop a foot of snow on Avondale Park an hour or so before we hit the stage. I'd settle for a big ol' fluffy cloud the size of Rhode Island to inch over the park bringing with it a gentle breeze out of the northwest.