Pickathon

My parents drove out to Boring, Oregon for the Pickathon folk music festival. Not boring!


Beautiful!


Good old friends the Cave Singers and company were out there too. They were camping up in the hills with hundreds of other campers. The real deal of folky fun was found up in those hills in the night time. There are twinkling Christmas lights that light the path to all the tents and to the stage in the middle of the woods.


Bands played for 3 days at across three different stages and two barns.


Pete and Derek and Marty Cavesinger fit right in.


They just built up a festival right around the farm of Mr and Mrs Pendarvis.


And it was clean and eco and not a plastic bottle in sight. You got a tin cup that you used all day for beer or free water. You write your name on your cup and hang it up on a peg when your done. Simple. Portland philosophy at its finest.


Mom and Dad said there were a lot of kids there running around dancing and hula-hooping and doing archery so maybe we'll all go together next year.


They stayed the night out there and I spent the weekend fishing with Bobby. And, I don't have fancy pictures of my trip, but I will tell you that I now can cast and fish all on my own, no help, and this day I caught a BUNCH of little fish and one regular sized rainbow trout that grandpa says "anyone would be proud of". It's on.


But I would have liked to have seen our pal Michael Hurley play in a rustic old barn, talking about the songs and answering everyone's questions.


We have about 8 of his records and play them all the time and I know all the words so I could've asked him some good questions about when he was a puppy dog and stuff.


As you can tell, my mom was sort of transfixed by the billowing sails overhead and the gorgeous sky peeking through.


It was good for mom and dad to get out, into the world, into the world of freedom and friendship and song.


Good ole Justinee Wienee was out there trippin the light fandango.


And then the night came, and Bonnie Prince Billy took the stage. He's one of both mom and dad's all time favorite men.


And they sat on the grass with their arms around each other and the music played and the breeze blew and the people whistled and sang.