October 27, 2006 Asheville, NC
Rain! Lots of it. Had breakfast at a groovy little spot in historic Asheville called the “Over Easy” Cafe. Or was it the “Easy Over” Cafe?
I can’t remember. But it was wonderful. Biscuits with Vegetarian white gravy that was really spicy. I loved it. Asheville is one of those artsy fartsy towns that I could live in. We’re working our way home now, with the
windshield wipers on high.

October 24, 2006 Myrtle Beach, SC
It’s been windy and colder than expected. Tammy flew east and met me in
Newport News, VA (after my concerts for the great folks with the Tidewater Friends of Folk Music). Tammy and I had hoped to spend some time swimming in the Atlantic here, but it’s been difficult contemplating even taking off our shoes to dangle our toes in the ocean. Freeze warnings out for the area at night. We saw an alligator swimming in a pond. Just a small one, but still enough to get us northerners excited on our morning walk.

October 17, 2006 Vermilion, OH
$1.99 gas in Toledo! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that. I’m on my way east
to Virginia and the Carolina's, so it’s good timing for the gas prices to come down.
Maybe we should have elections more often?

Dar and I did a couple of shows around the Chicago area, plus a guest appearance
at the noted Abbey’s Pub. It was good to play at the Maple Street Chapel again,
for my friend George Brown. He has one of the best concert series in the Chicago area.

I started reading Eckhart Tolle’s latest book, “A New Earth”. Wow! I loved his
“Power of Now” and think this might be just as good.

September 15, 2006 (Branson, MO)
Last night's show in the beautiful Botanica Gardens in Wichita, KS was a lot of fun. It's a treat to play an outdoor show in Kansas when it's not 100 degrees out. A perfect night.

On my way to Arkansas, I took a detour tonight to Branson to see my friends Jeff Vee, Tommy Vee, Jeff Olson and Bobby Vee at the new Dick Clark Theater.   The show is called "Stars of American Bandstand", or something like that, featuring Bobby Vee, Fabian, The Chiffon's and Chris Montez.   Jeff, Tommy and Jeff are in the backing band.

They had comp tickets for me, front row, dead center. Perfect, except that someone else was sitting there! They had purchased their tickets on line and something got screwed up. No problem as far as I was concerned; I'd sit wherever there was an opening. Well, there was an open space also in the front row reserved for wheel chairs, and the usher said he'd bring me a chair. I was picturing a metal folding chair. The usher comes down the aisle with a huge stuffed lounging chair like you'd find in your living room, probably taken from the big bosses office. The crowd applauded as he set the comfy chair down in the front row just for me. After taking my bow, I asked the usher if he had an ottoman for my feet.  I was only joking. Okay, halfways joking. Anyway, I never saw the usher again.

It was an awesome show and I recommend it.   Rock n' roll in Branson!

August 10, 2006 (Warroad, MN)
The summer tour is officially over. This last stretch included 15 shows in 16 days.

A few miles to the north is the Canadian border. I have the inflatible kayake along, so after the show this afternoon I took it out on Lake of the Woods. I paddled by a campground that was wiped out by a tornado last week. What a mess. Somehow, all of the campers got to safety.

Tomorrow night is the peak of the Persius Meteor Shower. The sangrias are chilling in the fridge. We'll be up late watching the shooting stars. At the end of the month we'll be sailing on Lake Superior. Can't wait! This is a good time of year to be in Minnesota.

June 19, 2006 (Clearwater, MN)
This morning, my Mom and I made our way to Grayson's Berry Farm, a few miles from here. Every year since I can remember, she and I head out to pick a couple of boxes of strawberries to sustain us through the long, cold Minnesota winters. Our family doesn't have a lot of "rituals" anymore, but this is one that she and I enjoy and will do as long as we're both able to. My Mom grew up in Oregon and spent her youth picking berries. To this day, she picks fast and accurate. She must be slowing down, though, because today we finished at the same time. Usually, she would finish first then help me complete filling my box.

Afterwards, we picked up SUBWAY sandwiches in Clearwater and came to the house for a quiet lunch on the deck. When Tammy and I moved out here in 1991, it was basically a prairie with a few elms. With the help of a few friends and my Mom, we planted over 2000 pines, firs and spruce trees by hand. As Mom and I enjoyed our sandwiches, we admired how this prairie has become a forest. Like people, it doesn't take long for little seedlings to grow up and to become full fledged contributors to the world.

It was a wonderful day.

March 7, 2006 (Mankato,MN)
This was a NEW experience. I was the keynote presenter/speaker at a YOUNG WRITERS conference at Bethany College. More than a thousand students, grades 3-9 plus parents, chaperones and others. It was great to feel so much creative energy in the audience.