I heard a bit of discussion this weekend, from the stage about the Fenian movement - and Canada, et al. My friend Jim Flanagan introduced "COME TO THE BOWER" and told the story behind the song.

But, as in all good threads; we've digressed!

My original comment was not so much a comment on style, songwriter and finger finger pickin' techniques. I was talking about the spirit of the music. The soul. The magic. The muse. New Englanders and their northern neighbors, it seems to me are closely aligned.

The first time I'd been away from New Engalnd for more then a two years, as my plane was landing and I could gaze out the window at the early summer, rolling hills, shiny black ponds and green pines, oaks and maples - I just had this feeling that said to my heart, "Oh yes! I'd forgotten. That is what the world is supposed to look like!"

When I sit and pick with Paul, Joanne, and in days gone by, Rick. I had that same feeling. "Ah yes, that's why I love to hear and to sing these songs!"

I can't describe why. It just feels like home.