I was sitting out on the back porch this AM with Faulkner and a cuppa tea. I looked around and saw the mess of winter waiting to be ordered, and thought next, "It's cleaner than it was when we had our first Mudcat Gathering."

That was after our housefire. That same porch held me then, as merry Mudcatting took place all around me, and as Hardi came and went in his clergy clothes on a busy schedule. I was wrapped in blankets and still in fireshock. I sat out some of the fun-- a lot of it-- and focused on keeping the kitchen cleared up.... That was about all I could handle. I remember laying out on the LR couch at one point and having a good boohoo, while I heard Catters singing right outside the adjoining window in the sunshine. I think it was Bert who came looking for me and (dear soul) left me to it, with a soft pat. Well, the Mudcatters who'd come were pretty self-sufficient. They'd organized themselves, had a good time, and were kind to us.

I remember another mini-Gather (couples only), that turned out to have been right after some of my strokes. I could not remember any songs! They didn't push me, either, but were great company. I hope I was not too boring!!! Another time one of these couples drove hours to mini-mini-Gather when I had a biz stay in Harrisburg, and by that time I'd started to get some song guts back (lyrics in hand even for spirituals). No pix, but I remember.


So, sitting on that porch, finishing my tea-- I decided: it's time for another Gathering, here. I decided to make a montage as an invitation (I'm still learning how to make a good one), and post it here. It's almost done. I should add a few pix of me and Hardi and the lawn....

While I worked on the montage, I started to recall all the other Catters I've met on my travels. Sometimes with Hardi and sometimes on my own. Sometimes just to meet a Catter, sometimes for a warm bed in a long trip. So I pulled THOSE Catters' photos off the Members section here. Then I added the ones who had been here but I didn't have a photo of them here, handy.... I even added Joe Offer, a sometimes-antagonist/friend, in memory of the time he drove two hours to sing with me at an airport because I didn't know he lived so far from SF. So I'd scheduled a layover there! (But he came, and we sang, and I almost missed my plane!)


As I type I'm remembering others whose pix I can't seem to find. If you have been here or met me/us in person, hey-- send me a pic by email, eh?


So the Dorm has changed. So we're all older and fatter or skinnier. I bet we're wiser, though, and I'll post the montage and Gathering date soon.

It seems like it's time. Time can be short, eh.

It's a great montage for my office, though, to remind me of all my MudBuds.


~Susan