I think we all recognize that the 'Cat has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Over the years we have discovered the lyrics to and discussed most of the better-known songs (and many of the obscure ones as well). This has the effect of curtailing many "music" questions that newbies might have wanted to ask. Now we are getting to songs that perhaps only a few of us have ever heard of. That has a way of limiting discussion as well.

This is what keeps me out of many of the current music threads. I will admit to knowing absolutely nothing about the music of the U.K.. Discussions about songs in Gaelic or whatever other languages besides American English exclude me as well. You just won't find me posting to those.

On the other hand, I truly love the threads about the meaning of songs, of phrases within songs, or words. The two recent threads about salt pork and cas(t)tle bloat are two examples.

I don't always have much to add to what has been said sometimes because many of you have far more "folk knowledge" than I. But I have never felt that I couldn't jump into a discussion if I wanted to do so.

So, since many of the music threads are about things I can't relate to, I am grateful to have the other threads to read (and participate in) while I watch for the coming of a new music thread that I can sink my teeth into.

In another thread I likened us to the bunch who sits around the stove in the general store and discusses various things until somebody comes along and asks for directions. Then we fall all over each other trying to describe the best route. Then, after each has submitted a comment or two about which landmarks to look for and which turns to make, we return to our cracker barrels and our discussions.

I suspect that some of this may change a little when we get the MudChat thing working. I will admit to being irritated at a few recent threads which were little more than an exchange between two posters. Such discussions were far too exclusionary to be posted in the forum. Just my opinion. Perhaps the MudChat will take care of that. And maybe SOME of the non-music threads will find their way to the chatrooms as well. I certainly hope that not all will disappear.

My very first post here was on the "The shortest definition of folk" - not, strictly speaking, a music thread. It was the first thing I saw here that peaked my interest. I think this is the sort of thing that keeps some of us "lurking". And, after we get a chance to see the lay of the land, we feel comfortable enough to actually post something. This was my own experience. I imagine it is the same for many others.

It was not just the music threads which kept me here at the start. It was the threads like, "Does Anyone Know How Shula Is Doing?" and "ARRGH! (not pirate songs)" and "Why We Gravitate To The Mudcat". These, in their various ways, let me know what kind of people were gathered here.

I think such threads still continue to define us and let newcomers see who we are. And it is the thread drift (which I like a lot better than "creep") such as this one, that make things so very interesting.