Getting It There

This little post is way overdue: This humble bandana was destined to make it to Maine, and with a little help from me friends, it did!

The Weight

A deeply personal post from Your Humble Blogger. This is something I wrote months ago about my own struggle with Muscular Dystrophy, but never intended to publish. I'm posting it now by request.

The Bobsie Bums and the Appalachian Trail - The Naked Truth About Old Friends and Thru Hiking

This weekend I had the pleasure to visit with two of my old thru-hiking buddies from the eighties - Bruce and Melanie Thomson - trail name The Bobsie Bums. We hadn't seen each other in nearly 20 years, and the weekend was full of great rememberances, reading of old letter, etc.

I brought along my digital audio recorder to do a little interview with them about their thru-hiking experiences on the Appalachian Trail as well as the Pacific Crest Trail. I haven't gotten everything spiffed up for an official podcast yet, but I'm going to provide the links below to the two segments for now. Expect this post to be much more fleshed out in the near future - Your Humble Blogger

Bobsie Bums Part 1
Bobsie Bums Part 2

Boise, Not "Boyzie"

Your Humble Blogger is far from the only musical

member of his family - and certainly not the most unique. Here's a nice podcast interview

with my bagpiping cousin, Brent

Uncle Jon's Guitar

 This is the guitar that started it all for Your Humble Blogger - my Uncle Jon's 1962 Hermilio Salinas.  Read on and see a few pics!

Reece Hirsch - The Kid Next Door

An old friend  publishes his first novel, and Your Humble Blogger is
lovin' it!

Grandma Kay Wood - A Life Well Lived

I was a just shy of 28 and she was just shy of 70 the day I had to hike like the Devil to beat Kay Wood into camp. "Grandma Kay," as she was known to her trail family, was in the early days of her 1988 Appalchian Trail "thru hike," and while the trail was taking every bit of physical energy my out of shape bones could bring to it, Kay was  meeting the challenge with grace and ease. That morning as we all set out from camp I knew that Kay and I would be aiming for the same shelter that night. When, during that days hike, I'd stop for lunch or whatever, Kay would catch up to me. "Dang," thought I,"I can't let a grandma out hike me!" So I would saddle up and turn on what little reserve I had left to again take the lead. I was crowing to the other hikers as I approached  Cable Gap Shelter that evening that I'd bested Kay! Which was my joking way of paying homage to a grandma who could give a twenty-something a run for his money - beer gut notwithstanding! Thing was, Kay was never aware of any race. She was just out for a nice walk. Before I had even eaten my first handful of raisins she walked into camp.
Kay was a marvel to all who met her that year, and I count myself as lucky indeed to have made her acquaintance. Here are a few of my personal memories of sharing the trail with this true to God AT luminary.

Ol' Hoss - Home To Stay

              Doc Watson's Gallagher G50 Comes Home

Happy Birthday Norman Blake

Today is Norman Blake's birthday, which is not hard for me to remember since it's also my son's. In any case, I thought I'd seize the occasion to pay homage to this incredible musician and relate some of my personal experiences.

Custom Fretted Instruments

This Old Guitar

My oldest guitar gets some TLC

Planet Of The Apes Tag

Back to Bluegrass - A New Technique Saves Blogger From Jamlessness

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Guitar Archaeology - unearthing treasure from beneath the bed

Grandpa's old guitar brings an jaw dropping price. Follow this '46 Martin D28 Herringbone from discovery through appraisal by one of America's foremost acoustic instrument experts.

Marble Riot

    The day my teacher lost her marbles 

Hesitation Blues

Sorry about the singing!

You had me at "Hello Thar" - Doc Watson and An Afternoons Epiphany

Author's teenage introduction to the music of  Doc Watson triggers seismic shift in his world view.

A great old fiddle tune: Goldrush.

This some great friends and bandmates and I on New Years Eve 2005. Robin Bates - Banjo, Larry Bunn - smokin' hot flatpick guitar, Betsy Blankenship - bass.

A Tribute to Hugh Jackson McLaurin, USAF

 Originally published May 24, 2007

Two Brothers

You've read about the infamous Andersonville Prison. Now read about death in Northern Prisons during the civil war.