reading "The Misadventures of Sherock Holmes"

I finished "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes", oh, I don't know, about a week ago. In the meantime I haven't had a chance to sit down and review it, so many of my thoughts are lost to the lethe of five endlessly busy days. The stories I most enjoyed in this collection were the absurd ones. Holmes is so stiff and perfect, it's fun to see him lampooned. Overall, the collection didn't wow me, but it was a pleasant read.

45. "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes" edited by Sebastian Wolfe

a scattered summary

Despite sore throats and exhaustion, derien and I went to the 30th Annual Thomas Point Bluegrass Festival this year. Part of the impetus was that this is supposed to be the final festival at Thomas Point. I went for one day last year, but I really wanted to experience the late night picking, so we spent Saturday and Sunday at the festival.

The field picking was a lot of fun. There were groups of pickers forming and changing all around the picking area. You could just wander from song to song and group to group. We wandered around listening to that for a couple of hours. When we were finally done they were still going.

My personal favorite bands were "The White Mountain Bluegrass Band", "The Doerfel Family", and "The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band", but there were lots of good bands. derien's favorite was probably "The Bluegrass Diamonds", but they still couldn't teach her the deep mysteries of harmonies.

There were many striking things about the festival. This year the area was much more full than last year, the campers were packed in like sardines and our Saturday morning arrival put us out in the way back expansion field. At this Maine festival, more than five hours from Canada and less than three from Boston, there were as many or more Canadians than Americans. The generosity of the crowd and of the performers was amazing: youth are encouraged and nurtured, elders are honored and respected. That's not just talk, they actual walk the walk in very real ways.

The campground has been operating since the 1950's. In ways it feels like a throwback: the trees are mature, the buildings were built back in the days of camps and campgrounds, electricity is provided to sites via massive volumes of extension cord. There are no full hookups, level cement pads, and easy interstate access. It is a truly beautiful place in the old style. I hope it continues, despite the odds to the contrary.

"We sang the songs of childhood,
Hymns of faith that made us strong,
Ones that Mother Maybelle taught us,
Hear the angels sing along."