I just finished it and it was fun reading. A few of them have gone and a few are less active, but garg was of course rather benign as he often could be. Along with the times he was amazingly intelligent and well versed, he could also get far meaner and more spiteful. Where I do see a difference is in the overall tone of some of the moderate flamers we pick up now and again is, on the whole, a lot worse and a lot less knowledgable than garg.

We had just emerged into a light bantering period and the atmosphere was relaxed although we were still feeling our way into a different kind of cyber community than had been before and indeed one that differs greatly from other places on the net. We lost lots of good people during the next 6 months or so, but we acquired others, many of them now being part of the core group of 'Catters.

I think the evolution is interesting and it of course still goes on. The last part we have seen is the "Great Mudcat Adventure" of Bill and Allan and the way in which it brought us to a new level again. There are several significant moments in the history of this joint that have created the overall sense of family and community. Annaps first gathering for instance; there was initially great concern over her addy being given out and all that.....privacy issues and such. Now take a look....simply amazing.

I think that last year's FSGW was quite significant in the number of 'Catters in attendance and the great reports back to those who were only there in spirit. I don't recall any event before that time that was so well reported and with such exuberance, not to mention the sheer number of people who were there. Combined with annap's, the intermingling of 'Catters became more frequent with the best of it all coming lately from Allan and Bill.

We've gone through several extremely nasty periods too, but each has taught us better how to get along and how to handle the situations. Many times, one member has come to the front and shown us a way to cope, as Leej did with the first "Tavern" thread, and we have I think grown through those too. HearMe has brought another tool that has been a big part of the recent growth.

Thinking back more brings to mind other events that created large changes to the Village of Mudcat that make it so different from other places. Our new members often are amazed at the openess of the place and while at first they are reticent, most fall into the open atmosphere almost before they know it and can't believe they are doing it. If I had to pick an event that bonded the spirits of the people here and changed the tenor of the place in general, I would say it was my hospitalization. Most found things in themselves and others then that they certainly didn't expect......like the idea of dropping what they were doing and driving hundreds of miles for someone who was in essence a total stranger. But the unique thing was and is, that we are not strangers when we meet, but rather old friends....who've never met.

Some threads helped to create these feelings and sometimes they were threads not necessarily harmonius, but certainly we learned much of each other from them. Overall, we have learned a way to judge one another through our words and we are finding that our judgements are sound. I am still struck by a feeling from the Radio Show following Bill and Allan's trip. I think that then, for the very first time, Max felt the true enormity of his creation and the union of souls his work had inspired. He may have enjoyed it before, but what Mudcat was, in my opinion, came home to him that night. Maybe it came home to all of us even more.

What's next? We are a different place than we were then and we'll be a different place tomorrow. But I still relate back to something Sandy Paton once said. "I always wanted to live somewhere like this." As always, Sandy was, and is, right. I still like living here. In some ways we've gotten better and better and in a few ways, things are worse....but its still one helluva' fine place to come home.

Spaw