To get back to the original purpose of this thread, I met Dani today, swapped stories, and got info about music, hiking, and estate sales. First time I ever had a date with a woman I met on the Internet. I'm looking forward to good music.

I had been told of a music jam at High Strung music shop in Durham every 1st and 3rd Thursday, but when I got there there was no there there. I guess the jam was cancelled and they had no way to let me know. Big disappointment. The concert on the 22nd looks interesting; I will try to attend.

Charley, my recollection is that the stuff in the Mason jars tested out at over 150 proof. It was not charcoal-filtered or much aged. I recall a time when we were cutting firewood (Charley, this was on my earlier trip to Madison County) when a friend managed to drop a 100lb walnut knee on his already ugly nose. (We were pushing it up out of a creek bed.) He staggered to the house, downed two aspirin, and washed them down with a clear liquid in a handy water glass. It was not water. He said, "Damn that was good!" and had another glass. Then he slept for 16 hours. On MY couch. The one I was supposed to sleep on, at least. I slept on the floor, and had to start the fire in the (cold) morning.

The moonshine phase lasted only a few months, but the musical inspiration I collected on those trips sustained me for years of lonely closet banjo playing. I worked out my own version of "Rain and Snow" based on my memory of Obray's playing, but mine is nothing like his.

Anyhow, I feel proud just to be in a town that has been home to Elizabeth Cotten, Tommy Thompson, and Dave Lippman.