The wide veranda hardly proved wide enough for the Sometimes Sunshine Porch Band on a seventy-five degree February Wednesday. Often enough comprised of just a couple of enthusiastic amateurs, the band suddenly had two guitars, two mandolins, two fiddle/violins, and two harmonicas. Jeff Bartch brought his harmonicas and his friend Dick Nugent, himself a purveyor of fine harmonics and a talented player. A pair of back forty-fence neighbors picked the mandolins and the fiddles bowed by an opera singer and the bright light of Red’s Slice and Scoop. The General flailed one guitar while the Whetstone Kid played rhythm and lead and learned some music theory from a violinist. Old waltzes and gospel tunes, bluegrass and country songs filled the air. It was a red-letter day, also a red-flag day. We are cautioned to take extra care when it comes to burning. The woods are dry. The humidity is low. The danger is high.

Ruth Fish Collins has a lot of twos and fours in her birthday: 02-24-42. We hope it was a good one for her. Ruth has a beautiful voice and sings, “It was colder than a well-diggers ankle in Cut Bank, Montana” and “Buelah Land.” Skyline sixth grader, Ryanne Harvey shares her birthday on March 3rd with Dennis Schumate, who wears a t-shirt sometimes that says, “Mandolin players fret a lot.” Linda Heatherington may bid a grand slam in her birthday bridge game on the 5th. Sue Murphy’s birthday is March 8th. Hopes are that she is still strumming her mandolin, singing “In the Gravel Yard” and “Jesus is Coming Soon.” Every culture across the world seems to have music of some kind–good medicine.

J.c. Owsley cut a wide loop through Douglas County Wednesday. He lives up in Cross Timbers on a beautiful cow farm where he often photographs the stunning sunrises and sunsets. He always likes to chew the fat with his cousin, The General, when he is this neck of the woods. He enjoyed the music and made sure to secure his copy of Katilyn McConnell’s “Ozark Pie Project and Diary” and his cow bell. He says, “Where else can a person buy a cow bell these days?” His growing collection has mostly been sourced in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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