To Azizi, from whom I have learned much over the years: Thank you.

I first picked up a banjo just about 50 years ago, and I've acquired several other instruments since then, but the closest I ever got to playing in public was to sit on a porch or in the back of a farmer's market booth and play quietly to myself. Or occasionally stand at the edge of a jam and chord along. I would like to be able to play better on those instruments, but I find that I enjoy being part of the singing audience than a member of the jam. I have no desire to be a performer.

So I play for my own enjoyment in my own home. That's good enough for me. Perhaps I lack the discipline, but as long as I'm not inconveniencing or annoying others it shouldn't matter.

I'm most interested in the song origin threads and in threads that connect with pieces of my own life. There have been many occasions when a thread has touched on some experience I've had and helped me to relive it, sometimes even share it.