concidence, fortuity: you made me life so rich, you know you should've been some money, baby, you're so sweet you know you should've been some honey

- just glanced out the window while typing here on a beautiful spring-break mountain morn & saw andy noise from bk hiking up the hill! i knew he was planning to bring a group up here sometime to hike, so talk about coincidence! they might swing back by, if time allows before the bus back to bk. it's the best deal around - $3.50 one-way, $1.75 for seniors/disabled... a huge savings compared to driving it!
- oh, to type while looking out pic window @ pine- & oak-covered mtn topped by baby-blue sky, heavenly clouds wafting along their journey... wow! for the 100th time, i'll say it's difficult to get discombobulated up here, not just cause of lack of poisonous air (was sick last wk & up til yesterday bc of too much bkfld time), but bc of the calming beauty & ever-changing weather. who needs tv? the nature show's unbeatable!
- what's on your gratitude list? here's some for me on this lovely morn:
1. dogs curled up @ my ft; 2. pb&j sandwich w/coffee; 3. good fri dd rehearsal, tho al hendrix did not make it; 4. trip to trout's to see brian lonbeck w/the blackboard playboys, a rock-solid country band w/fabulous banny bannister on piano! this is top-notch "country" musicianship, people, every fri-sat nite, just $5 to two-step or study the pros on their instruments all night long! brian did a cool version of "16 tons" & i got to yak a little w/rockwell about how to turn bk into the next branson & then have a heart-throbbing slow dance that thrilled me to the bone! i realized i haven't had a slow-dance like that in a public place in over 20 yrs!!! sad? mebbe. i was just glad to have it at all. then i took a moonlit drive & had a late-nite super-nosh on the edges of town & my heavens, what a nice time!
5. visited my folks, who, like i hope you feel about yours, are the best; 6. had very short practice w/al @ scotty's cool NE pad; 7. then really fun show w/family, many, many friends, & laughing, dancing ppl!; 8. met super-nice geri boyd, musician w/friendly drawl & twinkling eyes, who is not just a) female; b) keyboard player; but c) a professional in a helping profession; & d) athletic (tho geri does team sports & i pretty much eschew competition)... however, geri trumps me in cool bc she plays SAXOPHONE!! wow!!! i was flattered on break when she came up & wanted to know how i played some piano pts. she said, "when you kicked that messaround off, i jumped to mah feet!"
9. the dusk devils kicked butt! highlights: phil's blistering guitar, creative, spot-on genre melodies, & good-natured hip-shaking during "whole lotta shakin'"; rick, in fine form, catching every beat, that tho he never even got to practice w/al!; scotty adding two tunes, his nice stage thing adding more humanity to dds. western-swing hall of famer, drummer jimmy phillips (late of the go-daddies) sat in for some songs, & original dd's guitarist brian paxton even came in & did a set! his lovely wife lisa provided these pix, from which i learned i need to burn these light-reflecting, unflattering pantyhose!! (oh well.) lastly, @ end of ea set, rockabilly hall-of-famer al hendrix, a fun, friendly senior, came up & sang... "georgia kate," one of al's originals, naturally soars, but it really did as we played & i looked over @ phil & he @ me & i knew we were sharing a hair-raising moment of happy musical thrill! (congrats to phil, too, who AT THE SHOW found out he is a grandfather. what a nice, nice moment for p & his family.) :)
10. a long-time friend, csub prof, emailed to say she's lost 30 POUNDS listening to "let it roll" while on her treadmill. wow!! she showed up, slim & smiling, w/hubby & friends. i didn't see alicia & doug, nor sincere & soulful, devoted-to-the-band john k & lovely wife susan, dance, but the beams from their tables really lit up my heart, as did smiles from gita, danny, aunty rita, mom & dad, vita, eric, hoss, henry, kim, franky, kirby, & so many others whose names i might not know, but whose friendly faces definitely are familiar... if i didn't list you, well, thank you so much for being @ this quite-special show, as well as thanks to al & ethel's for having us. :)
11. tho i was ill sunday & missed lunch w/the hendrixes due to lingering valley allergies, the day was nice, allowing rest & a gorgeous sunset walk on bluffs. friends watched tv basketball & i did not have to get uncorked bc competition & spectator sports -- like chuck berry, like hotdogs, like road trips, old motels, labor unions, honky-tonk & the blues -- are simply pt of our american culture.
(actually, tho, probably roman culture.)
- & when one basketball team represents NOLA, the lovely lovely crescent city where i hope to one day lay my head & also put fingers to keys, well, i sure can back that.
- spring is here! easter is near! happy season of rebirth & possibility to all! "a fonte puro pura defluit aqua!!!"

"for a minute, i thought that was jerry lee lewis over there!" pioneer days at trout's, bakersfield's last honky-tonk

well, i can't get the dang pix to upload, so that'll come later...
-> al & laraine hendrix are the nicest people -- met yesterday at trout's 9th annual pioneer days. al will talk your ear off: he's spry (even after recent hip surgery!), kind, & upbeat, & his stories are so interesting -- elvis; ann margret; col. parker; fats domino; bakersfield's wild 50s teenaged r&r band the go daddies! his wife laraine is funny & warm as can be, & everyone at trout's was nice. 3 people knew dad from the historical society (he's pres & the country music museum is affiliated w/it) & they gaped cause i don't look like dad (the astronaut). in addition to the hendrixes, enjoyed seeing/meeting/talking w/don kidwell (annie wasn't there yet, unfortunately), bobby tidwell's (token okie's) wife angel, enid, lynda, & joyce simpson (mrs red, who used to work w/dad). & what a line-up of music!! every "living legend" of the bakersfield sound was there (except merle haggard, who is sick)... lynda took my pic w/mark yeary, whom i finally got up the nerve to go talk to. he smiled in a quiet, impish way & said, "i can teach you everything i know in 5 minutes..." i don't think so!! that's what sue palmer said, too!! these great people are far too modest!! anyways, he motioned me to come up & play, so i stationed myself behind him on the stage & watched HIM play.
-> finally, when al sang "johnny b' goode," which i DO know, mark stood up & there i SAT at a really nice roland, banging away w/hands shaking cause i was following mark yeary -- but i heard people came inside to see "the girl playing the piano." (the trained monkey effect, i say, i hope not derisively; really, i & ones like me are inherently a novelty act to some degree, tho maybe not 200 yrs from now...) after the song, mark said, "that was it - note for note, just like the record!" & al said the JLL comment. talk about generous! then they went into a lloyd price (i think) number, & i thought, i could've (mostly) done that one!! but it was really cool to see how mark voiced chords (everything's 5-fingered!), so i'm gonna call him & get a lesson, i hope. it still kills me how many world-class blues-boogie-honky tonk pianists i've gotten to meet. gee whiz!!!!!!!!!!!!
-> al rocked & the dance floor was packed! he has a great voice, & i hope he gets hemsby & any of the fests that are calling for him now. truly i hope he won't remain "the lost rocker! he said more than once, "jenny, laraine & i truly think the lord sent you to us, sent you into our lives to help us," & more such kind, kind things, & i kept thinking, i don't go for anything unless i love it like mad cause i just can't, & i loved al's songs & singing BEFORE i knew he recorded in bako & was kinda like the dusk devils' grandpa, & yet my corny stage name, the one that used to make me cringe, really seems apt at times when somehow in spite of the raging ego i get to do something nice, & boy am i lucky to get to live to see all of this, & boy is this a lot for which to be grateful & happy. :)
-> after, we all went to dave's bbq & gentlemanly jimmy phillips told some wild & scary stories about being a 15-yr old drummer for the go daddies!! seeing al triggered memories for him, & what jimmy recalled was hair-raising for a boy to have experienced! if i had been his mother, i would've been severely pi**ed, as my cousin would say! "those kinda things happen," he said, "and you can't ever forget them..." i thought how i'd never seen a person outside the fellowship talk so non-gratuitously openly & honestly to strangers. everyone similarly touched me w/their sincerity & plain-spoken kindliness. we definitely were not w/the indignant, cynical, know it all, hipper than thou, or post-anything crowd, thank goodness for that.
-> fri (art's show & r&r pizza), sat (manuel & family), & sun, i/we sure got to be w/a lot of down to earth & big-hearted people, more than ever. ciò è così bella vita. and so it goes.