There are only a couple of festivals I go to, because they're close. The San Francisco Free Folk Festival, which I just got home from, is one. In two days I spent several hours in volunteer work, which is an unbeatable way to generate instant cameraderie among strangers. I spent several hours in song circles with people like Faith Petric, chanteyranger, and radriano, singing old songs and learning new ones, and there did not seem to be any distinction among performers, wannabes, and passersby in those sessions. I spent some time jamming in the parking lot with friends and strangers. The plain old garden variety happiness I get from doing these things is right up there with getting a phone call from one of my distant daughters.