Hi, Neighmond:

Memory is a filter. It is wonderful to look back once and awhile to be thankful for what you had. But, it's a good idea to remember what
it was realy like... the bad, as well as the good. What you can't see in those photographs is as important as what you can see. Those were good times, for sure, but they weren't without their price. While I am thankful that I was there at that historic time, I realize that many of the people I knew back then are long gone, and for most of them, life was a brilliant burst of light that couldn't be sustained. Many died of drug overdoses, few thought of anything but their own pleasure. At the time, it seemed like the world would have an indefinite love afair with folk music. Or more accurately, there was no thought of the future at all. I imagine that people like me who were around at that time, if they're honest with themselves, can remember how confusing life was. Everything was colored by Vietnam hanging over our heads, just as Iraq is, now. It's no wonder that we didn't think alot about the future, because we couldn't see our way forward.

I remember those times for the excitement of walking down McDougal Street, running in to friends I knew, or stopping in to play at a pass-the-hat coffee house. At the time, everything was exciting. Now, when I look at the boxed sets of music that was popular at that time... one called Bleeker and McDougal, I have no desire to hear most of the music. The things that I am thankful for are having a chance to hear the old-timers, like Reverend Gary Davis, and Mississippi John Hurt, and friends like Tom Paxton and Dave Van Ronk when they were first starting out. Those were indeed exciting times.
But, I wouldn't swap one of those nights for a night I had two weeks ago, when my group was part of an evening of music that had every bit as much excitement, good music and friendship as any I've ever known. Now, I'm more thankful for what I have, while it's happening. The trick is to recognize what you have, when you have it... not looking back through the filter of time.

"How many good times are taken for granted, and only remembered when they've passed away." Enjoy now, and be grateful for the good times in the past. The music that I hear at folk gatherings now is far better than what was being made in the 60's, and the excitement of being discovered, or being the next "someone" has more than been replaced by the good times of just sharing music together for the fun of it.

Enjoy these days. Some day, someone may post photographs taken in 2003 and kids will be saying, "Wow,Man! Were you really there?"

Jerry