Okay, it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything in my blog so forgive me if I ramble just a tad.
Yesterday I was inspired to work on a new banjo instrumental in the kitchen while I paced back and forth from the oven to the dishwasher. This morning I found myself sitting cross-legged in our little hallway with no lights on singing an unfinished love song . . . Would you marry me before you’ve kissed me, Would you wait for me before I’ve even gone, Would you celebrate all the things I should have won, And start a brand new day with me . . . before the old day is done . . . Later today I’ll probably be jumping on the roof with a tambourine making strange yodeling calls to the neighborhood squirrels. I’m inspired to just play music right now so it’s hard to settle down to the hard work of writing a song. I’ve got all these little pieces of songs and tunes in my head and I love the possibilities. Right now, I’m enjoying playing them over and over and imagining how wonderful they all could be. Tomorrow I’ll make it happen . . . or maybe the day after.
I had a great time in Tampa and I’m excited to go back in early February. I was busy making music most of the time but I did get to enjoy 
the Gulf a little. The water was gorgeous and Clearwater Beach was beautiful. And here I am in Nashville - no beach, cloudy skies, 40 degrees and I can’t finish one song. This is not what I signed-on for 
Maybe if I finish one of those songs they’ll be a big hit and I can enjoy more time at the beach . . . ah, that’s incentive now to get busy writing.
Before I totally get lost in a new train of thought let me take a few minutes to thank some of the people in Tampa that booked me and invited on their radio programs:
Shelley Eckert – Gloria Holloway - John Kelly of The Hideaway Cafe – Cameron Dilly, The Florida Folk Show, (and everyone at WMNF) – Erik & Doris Anderson of Sacred Lands – Lee Wolfson of Vinyl Fever – Carl & Beth Ann vom Eigen – and my loyal, wonderful listeners and watchers that supported me! THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Y’all know I had a wonderful time making the Big Red Barn music video – I can’t say I’ve had that much fun shooting any kind of video EVER! Most of the fun came from three little baby ducks. Well, the baby ducks aren’t so little now, but they are still adorable! And I’m still having fun! My mom, the overachiever, made them a home, complete with their own swimming pool.
They enjoy it so much. They’ve finally ventured out into the yard where Mom has a small outside swimming pool for them as well. They quack like crazy! It appears they are all girls – we still don’t have names for them but they come running when Mom yells ”Come here, Babies” – with high-hopes she has a treat for them. No, they’re not spoiled. 
Anyway, some people gave me some very good suggestions for names – here are just a few:
Winkin, Blinkin and Nod
Larry, Curly, & Moe
Chico, Harpo, & Groucho
Faith, Hope, & Charity
Quacky, Smacky, & Wacky
Huey, Dewy, & Louie
Since they’re all girls I’m thinking Dolly, Loretta, and Emmylou – this is Nashville after all
Well, that’s all I got. Thank you so much for reading this far. I’ll keep you posted with all the details of my upcoming shows and projects
I vote for naming them after the Trio!
I also think Dolly, Loretta, and Emmylou is perfect. Feeling tingly just thinking about it.
I don’t know about names for ducks but I’ve recently been introduced to your music by a fellow banjo player and am totally smitten. You really must give some thought to crossing the pond ( ducks-swimming-travelling… get the connection? ) and come to the U.K. I have been telling all my friends, musical and otherwise, about you and demanding that they watch your videos, such talent should be given all the exposure and support possible considering the vast amount of total dross that gets promoted as ” musical talent ” , most of whom could never sing as long as their a—hole points downwards.
Dear Mean Mary,
Try verbs.
A Japanese friend was nicknamed “Duck” at her year-abroad college in the USA because she failed to one day on a canoe, but instead said “Where?” and looked about for the kamo (duck/s) rather than the overhanging limb ahead that knocked her into the water!
How about Nod, Bob and Duck?
from your new fan who only heard one-minute of your improvisation on the fiddle saturday last and knew you were the cat’s meow!
Flying Tofu
Oops, i did not read far enough to see the ducks were all girls! And, of course, verbs were included in other suggestions, though mostly gerunded.
I love your unfinished love song which by its very nature should allow you to sing before it is finished. Years ago, i started something less interesting (as lists of unlikely or impossible things is old hat), though the melody is good = wish i could write that but i cannot = and here it is and you are welcome to finish it, too. I think that “When Penguin Play Where Cactus Grow” should be the title.
When the sun comes up in the west and the starlight we see is new
when right is wrong and bad is good and false is always true
when circles have four corners and squares have none at all
when every river flows uphill i guess i’ll forget about you
When mirrors flip us over and one times one is two
when piranha turn vegetarian and gandhi eats beef stew
when the ocean forgets the moon and a skeptic bends a spoon
when roses are blue and violets red i guess i’ll forget about you
When fire is colder than snow and nothing lasts longer than dew
when babies walk before they crawl and children hate winnie the pooh
when water, freezing, shrinks and gold rusts overnight
when whales and drunks no longer spew i guess i’ll forget about you.
When cats bow-wow and dogs meow and owls ask ‘why’ not ‘who’
when quacking ducks and honking geese go cockadoodledoo
when cactus grow where penguin play and all flesh turns to clay
when flowers bloom after they fall i guess i’ll forgive about you
When atoms are larger than icebergs and the universe fits in a pea
when we are all immortal for there is no entropy
when love and hate are dead and christ was not a jew
when hair grows in instead of out i guess i’ll forget about you
When a poor man is respected and farmers bless the weed
when cars are good for gaia and greed is less than need
when the last fire-ant is gone and the whole world knows this song
when nothing nowhere is nohow no way i guess i’ll forget about you
you ever perform in Columbus, Ga? I am in the Army stationed here at Ft Benning, originally from TN and play the banjer myself. I would love to see you play.
Thank you! I will be in GA – Murrayville, and then Hartwell – the first weekend in Nov. Don’t know how close that is to Columbus. Hope to see you down the road. Keep pickin’!