St. Patrick's Day in Chapman

Chapman, KS is a teeny, tiny rural community, 1 hour southwest of Olsburg. Steve Fansler, our mandolin player, lives there in his family's 150 year old farm house with his family. The town is predominately Irish, and the high school's mascot is The Fighting Irish, so it seems natural that they make a big deal of St.Patrick's Day. We were invited to ride on a float (flatbed trailer) while playing a few Irish tunes. Unfortunately, it was cold, windy and rainy and our tractor driver wimped out. If he hadn't, I would have! The parade went on, but without us. It was a very small parade. When it finished, we played a 2 hour Irish show in the local diner, appropriately named The Shamrock. Since it was such a small venue, we just went with one mic and took turns jockeying for position. It sort of turned into a funny dance between the 4 of us. We had a good time, ate from the Friday Lenten seafood buffet, and got invited back for this summer to do our regular music. Rumor has it, we may be doing the same Irish show, this coming Wednesday, St.Patrick's Day proper, in Manhattan...

It's still cold, rainy and windy here, feels like winter again! Gene is off to Hope Ranch for the day, hope his foot doesn't bother him too much. For those that didn't hear, he came off my horse, about 10 days ago and injured his foot, arm and noggin, and his foot was very swollen and bruised, so shoes or boots don't hold much appeal just yet. And yesterday was his birthday, so he's older.

Have a good weekend everyone, and Happy Birthday Neller Belle! You're older too!

Joan

My California Trip

I've been home for a week now, but got sidetracked by a nasty cold. So I'm just now getting around to this...I flew into Ontario and spent a night with mom and dad, then headed to Cheryl Thom's house in Torrance. Maureen was delayed by a day and a half, in DC due to the snowstorms, so we cancelled our Anaheim hotel and opted for Cheryl's casa (all her family were out of town for the weekend, so it worked out fine and saved us some money). Maureen finally arrived late Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we headed to Disneyland and attempted to hit all the thrill rides. Ryan told us where to stand so that we'd get the best view of his parade performance, and it was great! What a pro! Maureen and Cheryl were mighty impressed, and surprised when Ryan had us come out into the street and dance with him. Disneyland really is the Happiest Place on Earth! Then Monday was the end of our Girl's Weekend and I dropped Maureen off at her daughter's campus in Claremont, then spent another night in Riverside.

Tuesday, I flew to Sacramento and was picked up by my friend Lynne, a recent Kansas transplant. She and her husband were spending some time in Calistoga, so I did too! We had a lovely time shopping and visiting some Rainbow friends of mine that I hadn't seen in 17 years! Then I spent a couple of days with my friend Casey from Davis, the first day visiting with her daughter Kyri, in San Rafael then a day in Davis. And before I knew it , it was Saturday and time to fly home. Next day, a cold! Gene and the critters were happy to see me, and I was very happy to be home. California is a nice place to visit, but I sure couldn't live there again...

Since these photos didn't appear in the order I had hoped, I'll give you a quick rundown...the first one is taken in Sonoma Valley and that's wild mustard. Next is Kyri and Casey, then Lynne and myself, Cheryl and Maureen and finally Ryan.

That's it for now, hope everyone is well and it's March already!

Love, Joan