Enjoy the Fall Colors...

There is a lot of people who think I went to Europe, played a gig on tuba and caught a catfish and that was just what I did today. I'm not quite that energetic but you may have seen some old blog posts, or I decided that what the world needed now was another picture of Cathy holding a catfish and I probably did play a tuba gig even if it was only to my neighbors donkey who has an electric wire strung along the fence to keep her from rushing the stage. 

Even if life was not as interesting as all those things I did get out a couple of times last week and enjoy the fall East Texas colors. You should also. I made all these photos within an hours drive of my house and I think they are pretty. I hope you enjoy them too.  

 

The Great Day After Thanksgiving Catfish Round Up...

This might be a record for time between lake trips but the last time we fished Rayburn was mid September. There has been some beach fishing and a canoe trip to Old Dam B but with so much time since we had our fingers on the pulse of the noble catfish made us have to scramble a bit for fish today. Especially since we invited a few folks over for a catfish fry scheduled for tomorrow. They said, "have you caught a lot of fish?" We said, "no we haven't caught any." 

It was slower than we like but I did not have to take any anxiety meds as we managed to put 29 cats in the boat all caught from deeper water at the edge of the old river channel. At first the fish seemed like they were going to run small but we did wind up with about half the catch being good solid fish.    

I note from looking at the old fishing record that this time of the year has sometimes found the fish in the shallows and sometimes deep. Being that the lake is low with no water around the bushes where they like to hide I chose deep but catfish live everywhere in the lake and they might have been cruising the exposed sandy banks. 

Cathy lands a good one but Matt might have caught several of the best fish today. I don't care as long as I'm on the fish fry list. 

Fall colors are doing well and some of the areas we fished exposed to the north wind were pretty cool. Maybe I am broken in enough to the East Texas winter that I will venture a duck hunt soon. 

 

Watch Movies, Do Math, I'm Busier Than You Think...

I was watching a movie on streaming services the other day. It was one of those things where an older leading man past his due date in my humble opinion was paired with a younger women, in this case two women who due to the age discrepancy would not give him a second look in real life. It was a complicated relationship explained by past events, suspended animation and one human manipulating others to their ends. The action was non stop. After each critical moment was resolved the characters were soon beset by another increasingly dangerous and intense situation that soon had me saying, "enough, enough!" 

I know some find movies they like and watch them again and again. This won't be one of those for me.  

Actually my generation must have been the target audience or maybe the older men of my generation because of a couple of old songs used in the movie. One was by Led Zeppelin. I doubt those guys noticed because they probably have so much money already the payday of your song in a movie was spare change to them. 

The other song was "A Whiter Shade of Pale"  released in 1967 by Procol Harum. A movie payday was probably more significant to them. 

I note that total Led Zepplin sales are estimated at 200-300 million and apparently still selling. I could not find Procol Harum total sales but they sold 10 million copies of White Shade of Pale, a hit that came out of nowhere and spawned 1000 cover versions. Both bands are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Procol Harum members that benefited from that kind of money are probably not working on their own riding lawnmowers or installing their own door knobs (my own morning home project) but like the sports teammates, one who makes 30 million a year and one who makes 5 million a year any surviving members of the band do not live in the same neighborhood as Led Zeppelin but baring any lifestyle mistakes they do live in a good neighborhood and I'm happy for them. 

I can recall playing an arrangement of a Procol Harum tune in high school marching band. It was done by my director but I never bought one of their records because it was pretty accessible on the radio. Same with Led Zeppelin except me and Cathy are big fans of their Houses of the Holy record. We were listening to it in different places at the same time all those years ago. 

I have occasionally bought recent releases by Robert Plant, singer for Led Zeppelin because I think he is still a creative musician progressing his craft instead of relying on mailbox money for something he sang barely out of his teens. 

 ,     My finance adviser told me if I keep installing my own doorknobs and working on the old riding mower I'll have enough money to make it to 90 years old. If we both went to the nursing home right now we might be able to foot our own bill for 5 to 10 years before we cash the medicade card which is certainly something to consider if you don't want to work on your own mower. Kids, there won't be anything left if any of these scenarios play out. 

Of course Led Zeppelin and Procol Harum members probably did not see things playing out quite like they have for the remaining members. Albums still selling, people laid back on their living room couches listening to your music embedded in bad movies and the checks coming in the mail. I mean why not me? 

So when you visit my BandCamp site and download one of my tunes do the math. 25+65 = 90 years old and my money is gone. Whiter Shade of Pale was recorded in 1967 and was in a movie 55 years later in 2022. If one of my tunes gets in a movie in 2077 maybe my grandkids don't have to fix their own riding lawnmowers. 

If there are riding lawnmowers which is something Led Zeppelin or Procol Harum probably don't think about. 

         

 

M5 Mexican Brass...

Once again the Angelina Arts Alliance brings a fine show to the downtown Lufkin Pines Theater. Performing was the M5 Mexican Brass. 

Some may have expected something like the Tijuana Brass and the venue did not seem as well sold as it is for country music shows but if you are interested in music that usually plays world wide, at the Kennedy Center in New York City, and dedicates a large portion of time to schools, workshops and master classes to educate children you were not disappointed at the Brass's style mix of south of the border classical chamber style music including Bach, opera and St. James Infirmary Blues.    

There was also a lot of understated comedy and they let you in on the eye brow lifting in jokes of the group playfully making fun of each other. 

This photo is a little blurry but it catches the group jumping into the audience. 

Just in front of the trumpet player is my friend Norma who attends all Pines concerts. I sit with her daughter, Karen, who plays bass clarinet and Bethe on bari sax to form this wall of sound bass ensemble for the Angelina Civic Band  Norma comes to all rehearsals (she's a retired piano teacher) and tells me that I'm the best and at this show she said "he's good but you are better!" Nice to have a fan. That tuba player was very good and given about 5 years to rehearse the material I might be able to play some of it. 

Cathy did tell her to stop saying that because my head was big enough already. 

Catch the M5 Mexican Brass. I recommend it. 

 

I Take Music Workshops...

Decades ago I had picked up the electric bass and was getting to where I could play a little bit on it. A friend tells me he has a friend who plays bass and is coming from Shreveport to jam this weekend. I immediately think of the rich rhythm and blues history that springs forth from that part of Louisiana and I think, "I bet that dude is good." 

   The dude came down and jammed. I don't think he played a right note all weekend. I don't think he even knew it. He was happy as a clam playing music. At least at the time if I could not play a right note I didn't play a wrong one and I reverted back to that strategy this past weekend as I got totally out of my musical element taking workshops in old time music at the Old Mill Music Festival this past weekend. It was energizing to learn something new and like that Shreveport bass player I was happy as a clam. 

Cathy and I both took a shaped note sacred heart singing workshop. This kind of singing developed when someone decided it would be easier to sight read a song if the notes of the do, ri, me scale were each assigned a shape such as circle, square, triangle and so on and you used a four part staff for sopranos, altos, tenors and basses all singing different parts. 

Here's the class singing in some kind of old sawmill apparatus called the burner where the acoustics we very good. Other workshops on this were sometimes held in an open field where it also sound good.     

I enjoyed this class and by the end of it I was at least recognizing the notes. As far as staying on my part that's hard because I kind of sing the part of next as I singn whatever the person standing next to me sings. I they are singing melody that's what I sing but if they suddenly switch to harmony don't expect me to stay on the melody.  

I took a mountain dulcimer class from Stephen Seifert. He travels around the country playing these festivals and giving workshops. I took this photo during his performance of him playing with Lloyd and Elijah Wright. I did not get a chance to take a photo in the class as I was sitting between Stephen who plays with symphony orchestras and Margaret Wright who is probably some kind of national dulcimer grand champion and I had sweat running down in my eyes trying to keep up. 

I have owner a very nice McSpadden dulcimer for years that was a gift from my parents but have only strummed it in a way that amused my self. It was amazing that at these jam sessions you could often find a a group of 6 or 8 fiddle or dulcimer players all playing the melody of some old reel in unison.      

It was the old fingerpicking guitarist Brownie McGee who claimed his dad never let him play slide guitar because he said if you start sliding you never go back. That's what I did on discovering open E tuning. For this workshop with Gary Mortenson of the band Rosebud teaching I got away from the bluesy and rock sounding E tuning to the more country G which took away all my licks from the places on the fretboard where I found them and and forced me into working on little two note grabs and pull ons and offs Those are techniques I have wanted to learn and can use on lap steel as putting everythng in open E is what makes me sound the same whatever instrument it is I'm sliding on. 

Cathy sat in on this class on rhythm guitar playing tunes like I'll Fly Away and Life is Like a Mountain Railway giving us something to sol against.     

Gary and a local player, Josh, I met who works in Lufkin. 

Cathy took the recorder class offered by Don seated on the left. Somehow I did not snap to this and I had a pile of recorders at home I could have brought but Cathy bought one and is well on the way to learning to read music. They had so much fun the managed to work in one unscheduled workshop and she has practiced every night since the festival.  

Even though I forgot recorders I managed to use every instrument I brought, the resonator, the dulcimer and I used the acoustic bass (plenty of string basses around here) backing up the ukulele workshop. Cathy plays a bit of uke and I'm going to bang a couple of these around here into shape for her.   

Playing the old time music was maybe not totally out of my comfort zone but I definitely spent the weekend not only enjoying listening to good music but getting my hands and fingers it also. Seems like I might have kind of developed myself into a stunt guitarist over the past decade or so and it might be time to search the roots of things again. 

I don't remember that Shreveport bass players name and I never saw him again. I'm headed out for some woodshedding so no one gets us confused.      

 

Weekend at The Old Mill Music Festival...

For our third Rpod camping adventure we spent the weekend at the Old Mill Festival In Kennard, Tx. We arrived on Thursday for three nights of camping fun with the days filled with old time music, jam sessions, work shops on various instruments and techniques, square dancing, a tornado watch and concerts. It's also about the people. You meet people, talk to people, play music with people and then decide which festival you will see them at next. 

It seems in the hustle and bustle of the last few years of life I have gotten out of the habit of sitting and talking with new people or trying my hand at some different musical thing. It's been a constant beat that guy to a seat on the plane or pack the gear up for the next gig kind of run and gun and maybe I need a new attitude. Old Time music combined with the RV lifestyle go hand in hand with bringing people together so they are not worrying about the price of gas or what Trump done last night.      

 We usually call our get away sets ups Camp Catfish so we may have to come up with a new name. Maybe this was camp guitar. 

There were lots of areas to relax and you could wander the grounds looking for a jam session to fit in with. I'll write more on the music and workshops later. 

Here you see the Cajun Prairie Tri-eaux driving the dancers with Louisiana accordion and fiddle tunes. I wanted to call this a bluegrass fest and there was some bluegrassy/country kind of music but it was old Americana at it's best with sounds of banjo and fiddle reels heard everywhere.    

Lone Star Feed was the square dance band. This stage was about 60' from my camper bunk and I fell asleep last night, like a baby I might add to the sounds of a square dance. 

The Wright family are the organization behind this festival. I think this was number 11. I have had this on my calendar for some tome but it was always a work weekend for us.  

I think I sleep better in the camper than I do at home. Maybe when I'm out and about in the camper I'm busier, more engaged with life or something. I know our new hobby of maintaining and improving an 11 year old camper keeps us busy. 

Get the Old Mill Festival on your schedule. It's fun. 

 

Things That Go Bump in the Night...

I started using one of those cpap machines. I think I've mentioned before that I snore loudly and according to my brother I did so as a child and I don't mean to infer that I've slept with everyone in town but a lot of people know about the snoring. A few months ago on a doc visit he put two and two together and asked me if I snored. When I said yes he asked if I would do a sleep study. He's a nice guy, he askes if you will do things as opposed to when I was practicing as a physical therapist assistant and I would tell patients that if they did not do what I said they were going to die. Smart patients already knew on arrival that to get through the situation they were going to have to do hard things and people that either were not so smart or had a resistance to doing hard things died in piles. I told my doc I would do a sleep study.  

Sure enough the sleep study showed I had what they termed mild apnea. I mean I know people who play gigs with guitars mildly out of tune without ever addressing the issue but they went ahead and ordered my machine. Apparently anyone who takes a sleep study has mild apnea because those machines are in short supply and it takes a bit to get one. 

The deal is that if you use the machine three months for at least 4 hours a night my insurance, Medicare, pays the rent and then I own the machine. They know if I'm using it because I scan it with my phone ever so often. I have driven the machine across the country, flown it on an airplane, slept in the camper under the east Texas pines and used it while cooled by gentle ocean breezes to fulfill my obligation.      

When I check in person with the rental company or my doctor with an occasional issue they check the reports from the phone and say "oh, you are doing so good." Then they write a note in my chart that says "PATIENT TOLERATED TREATMENT WELL CONTIUE TO FOLLOW MD ORDERS AS MEDICALLY INDICATED" and Medicare says , "well good, here's the money." I'm not complaining about this because I did the same thing, got that money and retired early and comfortably. 

I am complaining that I have not consistently slept well for several months now. I look at the clock and do some quick tuba player math on when four hours is up and then if I awaken and I've done my time the mask comes off.  Usually it's by then what Chuck Berry called the "Wee Wee Hours" which for me is between 2 and 6 am. I often have trouble going back to sleep so I get on up. Cathy, who has her own sleep problem of not being able to go to sleep says that the machine does keep me from snoring. A gag probably would also and might actually be more comfortable and a possibly a little bit sexy.     

Finally to get around to what this is really about is while I am up during those wee wee hours I hear things bumping around on the hot tub deck right outside my bedroom door. I have heard it before usually in the cool months of the year it seems. It's a sound like running, jumping, or scampering. I went out with a flashlight as I have before and I didn't catch anything in the act. Last night after a check I came back in and the noise started again after 5 minutes. I slipped out quietly, stood in the dark waiting and eventually flicked on the light but still no sighting of the perp. 

So what is it? Possum? there have been some sightings lately. Coon? Occasionally I see one out here. Rats? There is evidence that the cat is controlling this population. Cats? He does have friends. Aliens? I'm not saying it's aliens but it could be. 

So I don't know what goes bump in the night out on my deck. If I stay awake enough maybe I'll see it. The doc did ask if I thought the machine was helping me, making a difference. I am not sure at this time. I guess helping could be helping to catch a critter of some kind.

There is a show business story about the great singer song writer Roger Miller. When a band member was asked how long Roger had been awake he replied "I don't know, I've only been in the band a year."  

When I retired I thought about how life would be if I just slept when tired and got up when awake. Since I babysit grand kids who take an afternoon nap I usually join them so I guess I am kind of doing that.  

 

Halloween, Marching Saints, Tuba, It's Some Kind of Doctrine...

 I don't think anyone has invited me to a good Halloween party in a long time. I'm talking about a party like the ones they used to have 45 years ago at that big old house out in Woden, Tx. There might be reasons for that lack of invitations and after all the house did burn down but it has not keep me from costuming. Maybe the last real Halloween party I was invited to was one I threw myself.  

Halloween is kind of a high holy day for us and I have written about all that stuff before. I asked Cathy to marry me this day. Granny Wallace was born on Halloween as was our daughter Rose, Cathy's brother John, cousin Tommy as well as several of our friends. 

Oct 31st this year as I was invited to zero parties but we did play at the Anticipatory Mass for Nov. 1st All Saints Day. Every year Cathy lets me play tuba for the Saints Go Marching In. Actually this year she also let me play tuba on "Dos Esta Aqui." I really appreciate my Pastor Father Denzil. He's unflappable when he comes into the church and sees a guy sitting there with a tuba. Instead of  being concerned that things are going to get out of hand Liturgically he says, "where's Mary with the drums?" I promise next year to work on adding a little more swing to Saints. 

This past weekend I played at another local church. The music was good, the people are my friends and I got to eat a good meal and socialize afterwards. 

I did see something yesterday that reminded me to forgive and keep my mouth shut which is what I did when the visiting pastor who gave the sermon got things all wrong about Catholics, Saints and relics. I mean there might have been some confusion a few hundred years ago on these subjects but failable human mortals who usually have more things in common than things different keep moving forward and trying to get things right. Who am I to get in a contest on who has said the right thing and the wrong thing. I might win. 

Just for the record, for All saints Day I'll borrow something my friend Deacon Gary whose birthday also happens to be on Halloween wrote:

Why do Catholics ask the saint to intercede for them? Isn’t this just a false doctrine created by man? Why would we ask a “dead” person to pray for us, instead of just asking God directly? Jesus is the only one who saves us, so why do Catholics do this?

Many non-Catholic Christians believe that it is wrong to pray to the saints, claiming that our prayers should be directed to God alone. True worship (as opposed to veneration or honor) does indeed belong to God alone, and we should never worship man or any other creature as we worship God. But while worship may take the form of prayer, as in the Mass and other liturgies of the Church, not all prayer is worship. When we pray to the saints, we’re simply asking them to help us, by praying to God on our behalf, or thanking them for having already done so.

Now some may take this as a grain of salt being that the good Deacon also thinks that the Dallas Cowboys are the best football team but anything you want to know about what a major faith or religion believes is on some kind of official website that just sits there ready to educate and inform with out making big headlines or lots of noise. Even if you are a non believer it will not hurt you to know stuff.

November is a month that the Catholic Community traditionally remembers those who have died. My mom has been gone three years this month. Undoubtedly she is a Saint in Heaven. My dad, a pretty good guy even though prone to occasionally do what we called "cussing and rarin" is probably in Heaven and who would not want a guy "cussin and rarin" on their behalf to the powers that be. Cathy's parents, Linda and Bill were people of faith and despite all Bill's banjo playing they did good things all their lives. There I said it. Banjo players are good people.

I didn't get invited to a party last night but I got away with playing tuba at Mass. With all that's going on in the world I think we should work on swinging our tunes a little more, getting Mary playing drums for Father D and find out why in the heck there is a town in east Texas named after the The Germanic chief god, distributor of talents and god of wisdom and war.