This was our 15th Getaway since 2000; we've missed only once, last year. It's so refreshing to see our friends again, to drop everything and -- literally -- get away for a weekend of music and chat.

Thanks to John LaPrelle and a nice guy named Rocky for unpacking the political situation for me. That was educational as well as fun, and I'm grateful.

Thanks to Alaska Mike and Tawmmie for the music and good company.

Thanks to Art and Jennifer Brooks for being great cabin neighbours. People who know how to avoid slamming doors are people to treasure. Also, great conversation -- another treasure.

Tami Bill gives the best sneak-up hug-from-behind, a manoeuvre that normally makes me feel threatened, but not when she does it. It must be a ranger thing.

Edmund and I both noticed how familiar certain spots in the States are to us now, after bombing to the Getaway and back so many times. We have landmarks in places we would otherwise never have visited -- the First Bank of Rising Sun, on the way to Ramblewood, for example, the BP station on the corner of Muddy Creek Road, and the ever-present construction site around the Park View Hotel in Syracuse.

Gotta go practise the guitar, now ...