I am so glad Rapaire is coming to San Diego. I will have a chance to present to him my collection of Ukrainian 15th Century love ballads, each of which is twice as long, at a minimum, as Bar'bry Ellen.

There are 112 of them. I have them all memorized. But in order not to fatigue him, I am trying to choose the 40 best to sing to him when he comes to visit. It is not an easy choice. "The Heart of a Birch Tree Also Breaks", for example, could not be missed, even with its thirty-seven verses. Hard decisions...

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