I'm supposed to be sleeping, while Bill takes Noreen and Stewart shopping. Haha. This is much more fun. And with Bill and Noreen gone out, I can get within typing distance of the computer :-)

All Getaways are wonderful, but some are more wonderful than others. This one wasn't just fun; it was mostly sheer happiness where I'm concerned.

Some thoughts, in no particular order....

I think my most treasured memory is the hour I spent talking with Brett and Wakana. What beautiful people. I'm really glad to know them. Wakana's smile lights up the room.

My mind keeps presenting one lovely image after another, it's impossible to organize it. And besides Bill accuses me of being "effusive." Well of course I'm effusive -- I'm Italian.

Guess I'll start with the Sunday late night singing, because in a way that sums it up. The music was wonderful, but it wasn't as wonderful as the company. I couldn't bear to leave and go to bed, because in the morning we were all going to head for distant places. I was so happy surrounded by people who have been very special to me for a long time -- or had become very special to me in the space of 3 days.

Late in the session we got into a series of unaccompanied chorus songs, one after another, the room just rang. What I think Dan Schatz called "Fat, Juicy Choruses," mostly songs from the British isles of course. Ahhhh.... lovely. I decided I wanted to lead something before I gave up & got some sleep, so talked David Scheim (harp) and Ron Davies (viola) into doing "Rose of Allendale." What a joy! Teresa Tooley, Colin K, and Keith Baldwin were singing along on all the verses (and Teresa saved me on the third verse when a Senior Moment overtook me). And the choruses! Definitely fattening. Rich. Ron and David and I have done that song together at Getaways, parties and events; dozens, maybe even hundreds of times. That time was the best.

The Saturday and Sunday concerts were stunning. It's a sign-up concert, and it can be a mixed bag. This year it was mixed in content, but uniform in being an amazing series of absolutely splendid musical offerings. As I said. Sheer happiness.

I need a new word. "Singer-songwriter" frequently has overtones of "bad." But in this year's concerts we had the finest collection of songs sung by their authors that it has ever been my privilege to hear. Splendid.

As usual I ended up napping away much of the afternoons. Frustrating but at least I got to both hear the evening concerts and join the late night singing. But I can't comment on lots of stuff because I was out of it at the time.... Cold sober, too.... Sigh....

Skarpi, you really outdid yourself in your Sunday concert set. Glorious music. He ended with a beautiful song he learned from Elvis Presley. Beautifully sung! And amazingly, the American accent was quite perfect. There were huge smiles and long loud applause, you bet!

Another joy was having Barry Finn back with us again, and watching him regain more and more of his old feistiness as the weekend went on. And finally meeting Justine! We've talked on the phone several times and of course I've listened to Barry praising her to the skies over the years. Barry, every single thing you said was true but she's even better than that! Boy, Justine, I hope you can come back soon!

The "newbie" contingent was (were?) a spectacular bunch of folks. Absolutely a privilege to meet you all.

Hope to put in several cents' worth more later, but I think I'll get a short nap now so as to sit up later with Noreen and Stewart, chatting and maybe even swapping a few more songs.

Oh, but I do have to add one thing. I brought Tannywheeler (Cynthia) home, we helped her ship some of her gear back to Austin, then she went to Joe Hickerson's birthday party with Janet and Fred Stollnitz and they took her to the Metro today to get her train. We had such a good time driving home from Ramblewood. It is great to have some time just to talk. And to have visitors, so you can sort of stretch out the Getaway just a few days longer.

Rita