black walnut ... I'm sitting in my father's den looking out at the 100-y/o pecan trees in his backyard and wondering if I should change my name to "pecan."

I hope, from reading Rick and Mick's posts, you can see how this community has evolved. I've been one of the most vocal about nonsense threads, etc., yet I have traveled thousands of miles to attend mudcat gatherings or to just meet a certain mudcatter. (I'm single, have the time, and the funds to be able to do this ... and I'm a "road" warrior!)

If anyone, and I mean anyone, had told me 3 years ago that I would ever meet in-person any of these cyber people called mudcatters, I would have thought them nuts (no pun intended ... grin). The difference in this community is that it's far and wide, instead of bound by local square mile boundaries.

This is why there are non-music threads. Music is most definitely what brought all of us together ... but there is ilfe outside of music (did I say that?) and we want to share those experiences, as well. We could telephone each other, but that gets expensive (although some of us do). Email is great, especially if you want to keep something private. But posting about it allows one to share the joy/sadness/whatever, with the community, if one chooses to do that.

And, lest anyone think otherwise, I am not manic, nor have I changed my position on certain forum subjects. I do, however, value highly those friendships that have become a part of my life by way of the Mudcat Cafe. And, I am smart enough to know that, without the occasional foray into the whimsical, these friendships may not have happened.

moonchild