Today I’m in chemo… no, wait, I would’ve been, but my neutrophil
number wasn’t high enough. No Biggie - I’m
set to sit on Thursday. The thing about
nuetrophils – the only thing that can make them better is time and a bump in my
protein intake. Thursday’s treatment
will be #5!! I can see the finish line from here!
In the meantime, I had a couple of shows in the lovely
hamlet of Trempeleau, Wisconsin this past weekend. If you’ve never been you should. There’s an historic hotel that comes complete
with ghosts, a lovely view of the Mississippi
(and great fishing if you’re into that) a nice little winery and apple orchards
galore. This time around I played the winery
and an apple farm. Both of these venues featured
perfect autumnal settings and the only thing missing was perfect autumnal
weather.
The sun was shining on us Saturday at Elmaro Vineyard and a brisk breeze
kept the bugs away. (Okay, the bugs were
already gone cuz it was 45 degrees out and the breeze was blowing in from the
north at a steady 15-20 miles an hour.) For all that, the patio was filled with happy
campers enjoying charcuterie and Chablis. And speaking of campers - just before
my last set my wonderful friend, Sue Dickey, and her faithful companion,
Gertie, showed up… in an RV!
Since this was an afternoon show it gave us plenty of time
to enjoy the evening together. We headed
over to the Historic Trempeleau
Hotel for scrumptious walnut burgers and hot chicken pot pie. After dinner we listened to The Box Band for a set (rootsy
folk with a little Grateful Dead thrown in for good measure) then headed back
to the campground to sit by the fire catching up, drinking beer (in my case,
sipping beer and spilling most of it on the ground) and playing ukulele for
each other. Now, that’s what I call an
evening well spent!
Sunday morning she surprised me with a trip to a local attraction,
the Kinstone Circle. Just a few minutes from Trempeleau is this
amazing place filled with standing stones, “ancient” buildings and native grass
and plants. It had been raining all
morning and when we got there it finally stopped raining…and started
snowing. Weather be damned we entered Kinstone and walked in awe past impressive
natural granite structures, pastoral water features and a Stonehenge-style
circle of standing stones – all of it tempered with the mystique of bright,
huge, wet snowflakes. It was our first
snowfall of the year – well, at least it was our first snowfall, we can’t speak for Wisconsin.
Sue headed home to MN and I headed to my show at Ecker's Apple Farm. This is a 4th generation farm and
the apple pies are made with Gramma’s secret recipe. The apple room smelled of hot cider and home-made
ice cream. (The ice cream must be really
good cuz plenty of people were enjoying it on a day where the mercury only
topped out at 37.) I played from the
loft and kept the room filled with funky folk and seasonal songs. I left there also filled with 2 bags of Haralsons, a gallon of cider, gramma’s
apple pie and warm memories of a weekend spent with a good friend.
That’s my chemo treat for the week – Sue Dickey, my “home
away from home”. Dude, thanks for being
there and for the bonus treat of Kinstone!
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