Having really fine weather made it seem a bit dreamlike. (Or is it just that I had so much fun with late-night singing that I kept falling asleep in the workshops?)

We have gotten so used to suffering cold, rain and wind in order to have Getaway music and great company. This year with the sun shining on the river seemed almost too good to be true.

Ever since my second Getaway (1978? I don't know), part of the magic has been all the people who travel long distances to come, and somehow are already old friends when you see them again.

How can so many people we only see once or twice a year, if that, have become so important in my life and so dear? Tinker, Janie, Dani, Joe, Mick, Barry, Jacqui, Kendall, Andrew and Carole, Dan and Geeta and their little superstar Kiran, are just a few of the people whose faces, smiles, hugs and songs are coming back to me now. There was excellent music almost nonstop -- except at mealtimes, when food is only served for half an hour -- but that's not the memories that come to mind first.