Jerry & folks,

This is a lovely thread. And would you believe I missed the first one. Gonna have to go find it. Most of what Jerry says is true about our long correspondence over the years. Then E-mail came in and we rarely correspond. So what's that all about, huh? I suspect it's just me and Carol being preoccupied helpin' each other make it through to the next day one day at a time. I must tell you that Carol is doing better than anybody ever hoped she would. I always hoped these tratments would work for her---but they are doing the job so good that I simply can't believe it quite yet!!!

Sorry for the thread creep --- but I do have my uncle's pocket watch and his pliers also. We've always had small places to live but the dwelling has never been as small as our present location. But that's cool. It gave us a chance to get rid of everything (potlatch) and only keep those books we'll actually read again. The records (LPs) are mostly gone. So is the turntable. But musical friends have filled the place with CDs and cassettes to the extent that HUD thinks we are stressing the floor we live on but I doubt they'll toss us out for that.

Those are the main things I've got---my uncle's watch and pliers. All the rest of the stuff has been passed on. My 9-string Martin D-76 guitar went to our son, Chris, when after 5 years of denial it finally sank in that I'd never be able to play the thing again. If there is a huge turn-around in my situation, and I CAN pick once again, I'll know right where the big guitar is hanging out.-----------But I've digressed again. If I think of any other stuff I kept as keepsakes I'll sneak back into Jerry's good thread here. (If anyone starts a thread about how folks might've saved your life, I can tall ya 'bout the time Jerry pulled me off a water tank out in the badlands ----- or the time I was stuck in New York City a captive of Bob Rodr...... who was telling me a 2 year long story about how to survive at folk festivals with no money. He was threatening to make it a 5 year story. That was truly a harrowing time. Again, thank you, Jerry, for getting me out of that one !

Art Thieme