I miss a lot of the festivals of the 70's and early 80's, those that ceased and those that became the new age equivalent of Martha Stewart. One of my favorites was the Black Mountain Festival (in Black Mountain, NC) which continues under that name. I had some of the best musical times of my life there. I met my wife there. But somehow it switched from being fun to being eco-kitsch and sometimes downright nasty. Where you could once dance all night without worrying about your technique too much, now if you're not up to snuff they throw elbows like a crazed Charles Barkley. I tried to take a lesson from this, but I'm not sure what it is except we all have more in common than we thought. It's like what Garrison Kiellor once said about his ancestors, that they came to America to enjoy religious persecution beyond what the law allowed in their home countries. Alas, here I go being controversial again, but I keep hoping I'm not alone in missing the pure Fun of music, dancing, fraternizing, and frolicking all night, before orthodoxies stepped in and turned the guillotine on us all. If anyone wants to start a "retro" old-time music fest, count me in.

Meekly, Chet