Three Friends

Babs outdid herself with the weekly Michigan Pic. If you click it for a fullsize view I believe you will be able to count the feathers.

Looks like a real harbinger of spring to me. So then I got to thinking about what a satisfactory weekend it had been, braided with friends and small adventures, and I found myself humming gently. There was the Roundup Roadshow at Pearl’s in Elk Rapids, where Miss Betty Jo revealed a whole new side of her personality. Who knew that The Dean loved country music?

There was breakfast at the Torch Lake Cafe with half the Township. (I wonder how long it will take us to start saying “I’ll meet you at TLC for breakfast”?) I was back there for dinner, too, along with neighbors Bruce and Karen Bigelow, who told me all the news from along Michigan Trail. I believe I have been living in a cave this winter. A nineteenth century cave at that. Good to get out and about. Good, too, to hear Leanna Collins singing. It turns out the Cafe has fine acoustics.

On Sunday Bill Staines was at his finest at Sleder’s in Traverse City. Bill singing anywhere is a good time, but Bill at Sleder’s is a family reunion. An astonishing array of Northern Michigan music makers turn out every time. A person who might normally warble away during the singalong parts tends to hush up and listen to the harmonizing all around her, not to mention the excellent storytelling. No photos, as I was busy listening to my betters (Mary Anne Rivers, Louan, Patrick Niemisto, on and on, great waves of music). Bill’s website has some nice photos and much more. He says he’s drawn to “songs that are bigger than any one person who sings them.” It shows. I believe I will adopt that as my definition of a good story, too.

Gotta go. Carol McCarus is headed north from Traverse City on her way to Charlevoix and we are going to meet at TLC. I like the sound of that.