Ten brief thoughts from the Kerrville Folk Festival, which I attended penniless thanks to the kindness of (friends and) strangers:

1. heat, rain, humidity, caliche, hummingbirds, hawks, tarantulas, cicadas; water is essential, shade is important
2. such widespread, organic respect for other people and for the environment
3. staring at the night sky, and the Little Dipper suddenly shining clear
4. sitting alone in my tent one night and being rescued by a real-life clown with a bottle of white wine
5. loaning my watch to somebody else, and almost forgetting the concept of time
6. a song from the swordmakers' daughter, 18-year-old Maia Archote, a song so unexpected and beautiful at a campfire that I remember the passion but not the lyrics
7. a young gypsy bluegrass band, Green Mountain Grass, creating a long-lasting circle of positive energy under a streetlight on both sides of midnight, and hearing a teenage girl say, "I never knew bluegrass could be so cool."
8. saying, "I need a hug," and getting a good one; and sharing a hug with somebody else who needed one
9. a stranger walking past, saying, "I wish all of America was like this, man."
10. so many songs, including one with this lyric from Brian Cutean: "Where I am is everywhere I need to be"

Tom Geddie