I'm home!

Left Seabright this AM. It was cold!!!!! From the motel window we could see the river icing over as we watched. Wind chills of -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Marge and I arrived just before lunch on Saturday. Anna said people started to arrive Thursday evening. At the risk of omission, I will try to outline who was there. My apologies in advance for anyone left out.

Max came in later on Saturday and stayed part of the AM on Sunday. He said he had a job to go to on Monday. Can you imagine that? I thought he did Mudcat full-time *BG*.

Bert came in on Saturday as well and brought some delicious pies that he and his wife had cooked. Very delicious. I was impressed with the amount of effort they had both put into them. Saturday night, Bert made some cheese and broccoli soup, a big soup kettle full. All who partook raved over it. I had already stuffed on ham sandwiches, so I missed out. Annap had bought a ham, Allen C. (I think) had brought one, and I trudged in later with a third. Leave it to Mudcatters to ham it up!

Saturday evening was a song circle in Annap's basement "studio" (her precious Glenn is in a surf band called the Jetty Rats, gigging 20 - 30 times a year. He's the drummer). Here is where it gets risky. Going around the circle it's: Marge and I, Susan of the DT and Dick Greenhaus, Pete Peterson, Max, Moonchild, EZ Rider, Clifton, Jeri, Bill Sables, and maybe a few more. Bert had gone to Phila. to see Oscar Brand.

Bill brought his wife Lorna (?). She is quite a humorous conversationalist, a real dear, but she does not sing. Clifton's wife came as well.

Sunday's circle was a bit more disorganized. EZ Rider left the day before. He was going to a concert, but I have blanked on the artist. MaryMc had arrived the night before. Susan and Dick were there along with Moonchild, Jeri, and Bill Sables. We talked Annap into singing a few blues numbers for us and we talked Glenn in to singing some old rock 'n roll (with me on guitar). We did House of the Rising Sun and Gloria, what a rip!

At one point the night degenerated into Bill singing what Lorna called "the bottom of the barrel", some slightly "off-color" numbers.

Let me talk about the songs. I think between them Dick and Susan know about 1,000 songs from the DT. Susan specializes in traditional songs. Dick sings whatever comes to mind. Dick says he is a little rusty on guitar, but I should only be so rusty! Either he likes some of those off-beat humorous songs which I, too, enjoy, or he played them just for me. Moonchild showed off her Gibson and sang some songs from the sixties and some from more modern writers. She's working on Iris Dement's "Let the Mystery Be."

EZ Rider played some Dave Van Ronk. Says he learned it from the video. He has Green Green Rocky Road down cold. Clifton sang a John Prine song, which one escapes me at the moment.

Jeri sings mostly traditional tunes and accompanied many of us on her fiddle. Bert sang songs by his favorite songwriter, Bert, and some traditional English tunes. He did a tongue twister that essentially builds up from a gill to a keg of booze and then goes on. The end of each verse requires you to go down the entire list. I caught him in one mistake so we took his booze away *BG*. MaryMc brought out her RUS. I think she may have caught CRS from Bert. We sang those songs anyway. Of course, Max specializes in blues.

I am sure I missed someone and something. I should let you know it was not just about singing. Maybe even better was getting to chat with Mudcatters face-to-face and getting to know them more as persons. We of course talked shamelessly about those who could not come. Lies and innuendos were widely spread.

It was near Midnight when Marge and I left. We were honored with a rendition of Bert's "There's Never a Good Time for Leavin'"

A word about our hosts. Annap opened her house to us. It is an older riverside cottage. Where she lives, the land is only three blocks wide. On the East side is a huge stone sea wall, maybe 20 feet high. On the West is the river on whose bank the house sits. It is quite broad and fairly deep. We watched a tugboat go by on Sunday.

They essentially have rented the view. Their house is modest in size and they complain that the landlord does little to improve the property. But when either of them talk about the river, their eyes glaze over and they seem to pass into Never Never Land. They were quite gracious, we wanted for nothing. There was more provided then we could possibly consume. If someone drifted away, Annap was soon over to ask if everything was allright. She's a doll.

Roger in Baltimore