Looking back over last year, It was a hard one for many friends. Not many had a harder year than Animaterra or Kendall, but there are many other Catters who I've shared PMs with who have struggled through trials that might have discouraged Job. Some are going through them right now. Us being folk singers and all, it's part of our makeup to look back, through songs and stories. Some folks morn the passing of the "Good Old Days" and see life as a slippery, downhill slope.

When you're going through a painful time in your life, it's like being in a deep well. You can't see out of it. After you've come through it, you can often look back and see the good that came out of a hard time. And, it's sharing the hard times that creates the strongest friendships.

Many years ago, when Art Thieme and I were sharing our own hard years,
I realized the goodness that came out of seeing things through together, and I wrote a song about it. At the time, I was fed up with the constant bemoaning of the passing of the "Good Old Days," and in frustration told a friend, "The Good old days are yet to come."
I guess now, if I added a verse to the song it would be that some of the "Good Old Days" were the hardest.

This is for all of my friends who are struggling to get out of that well.

FIELDS OF CLOVER

One thing certain we all know
All things will come to pass
So when the darkness blinds the light
We know it will not last

CHORUS:

   For the good old days are still to come
   Though the hard times are not over
   For we must wear that thorny crown
   To walk the fields of clover

Count your blessings while you can
For blessings soon may pass
And though we know not what is to come
Let us toast the half-filled glass

Be your fortune good or bad
There is hope in every day
So for the burdens that we share
Let us lift our voice in praise.

Jerry