Well I walked the dog up to the highway and then down to the old aerodrome but found nothing, so I took a drive out to the old town dump, which has been closed to the public for about thirty years, but is still used for demolition material. Not the sort of place you could reasonably expect to find baize, but it has been the scene of some of my greatest successes so I thought I'd give it a go.

What I found there was not baize, it's too plush. Billiard balls would not roll well on that stuff. It's soft and plyable, and get this: It's purple! It's perfect for what I want.

So what can we learn from this?
I went out looking for baize and didn't find it.
OR, I went out looking for something to line my violin case and found something better than baize. I was looking for the wrong thing, and found the right thing.

Wolfgang, I trust you will not be impressed, and I don't blame you, but my perception of my place in the cosmos has not been shaken.