Pictures from Winfield, I

Above, you see one of the three pictures I took at Winfield this year. This is sunrise on Sunday morning, Sept. 19. I have one more sunrise, which looks very much like this shot, and a picture of the grand stands.

My other pictures are mental. Some could not have been taken with a camera.

Arrived in Winfield early Tuesday afternoon. Mercedes helped me pitch my tent, and made me a turkey sandwich. Later, we were joined by Joe (camp founder) and Mary T. Went to the fair grounds to register for a songwriting workshop on Wed. Spent Tuesday evening in relaxed visiting.

Wednesday's workshop was scheduled to be lead by Crow Johnson, whose work I've come to admire. Unfortunately, her father-in-law is very ill, and she had to cancel. The songwriting class was lead by Alan Thornhill, who has worked with Chris Hillman (one of the Byrds), among others. Mostly, the workshop was a mutual encouragement time. The theme was "Don't let the music die inside you," which I may yet wrestle into a song. On the whole, I felt it was time well spent.

A woman named Sophie sat behind me at the workshop. She's written a lot of songs; she's sort of an average musician, but has an excellent ear for a tune. One of her songs is due to be recorded by the Farm Couple (a regional group) in the near future.

Sophie is a chatty soul. She's one of those people who seems to ask about you just so they can talk about themselves. I put a lot of store on being polite, and not cutting people off, so I let her jabber. But it wore me out.

I had ridden a shuttle to the workshop, which was near downtown Winfield. The workshop was from 9 - 4, and I rode the shuttle back with Sophie. The shuttle, by the way, was actually a 3/4 ton van with seats. Just as we were pulling into the fairgrounds' entrance, I saw Sarah and John driving out in their old green stationwagon. That station wagon holds heavy petting memories.

Wednesday evening, there was a pre-festival concert sponsored by Taylor guitars. Performers were Beppe Gambetta, Dan Cary, Doyle Dykes, and Tony McManus. On the way to the stage, I ran into Nancy C—. I had hoped to run into Nancy, so we could possibly arrange to see some concerts together. Not because I have any romantic feelings for her, but because I enjoy her company, and would appreciate the companionship.

Nancy and I know each other from a folk music organization, but we have another interesting connection. I dated Sharon for several months; Nancy dated Gary for a year or more. Sharon dumped me, and picked up with Gary shortly after. You can imagine the animus Nancy and I share towards Sharon. Well, it's a frequent topic of conversation, anyway.

So, Nancy and I sat at the right-hand side of the stage, on a slight slope. We enjoyed the music, and visited during lulls. As performers were trading out, Nancy went to the lady's room. She returned with a slice of home-made quality cherry pie from the 4H booth. She shared it with me. It was a sweet moment.

She asked whether Elsie was coming to Winfield. I replied that, due to her pastoral duties (as a Methodist minister), she was not able to come. It was not the whole story, but the situation was such that I could not tell her the whole story.

I will tell you the story, but later.

Nancy and I didn't see any other concerts together. We just didn't seem to the make connections to coordinate our schedules. I saw most of the concerts on my own.

I say most. Thursday proved to be an interesting day, and evening....

To be continued.