I'm in Cle Elum, Washington this morning. Eating grape-nuts. In my underpants. Soon I will drive to Anacortes and take a ferry or plane to Lopez Island and play a show with the Jesus Chords tonight. I've been in Cle Elum since Thursday. Yesterday I had a day to kill so instead of driving back to Olympia, I volunteered for Project CAT (Cougars and Teaching), which is a state sponsored research project combining education in the Cle Elum school district with cougar research. The component I helped with is the cougar habitat vegetation mapping project. For eight hours my friend Aaron and I tramped through the woods taking inventory of plantlife and swatting mosquitos. I earned $10. We found some fresh bobcat scat and saw tracks but didn't run into any mountain lion. I saw five elk and Aaron saw a coyote. At day's end we skinny-dipped in a cold, clear river along the way. I plan to swim, again, when I reach Anacortes' Cranberry Lake, this afternoon.
Wednesday's show in Spokane went well. I opened for Little Wings and Bobby Birdman. I felt scattered but the audience seemed to enjoy themselves except for the parents of a teenage girl who I think found my lyrics and gestures innappropriate. I got a surprisingly generous writeup in the Spokesman-Review by an African American columnist (Isamu Jordan) who defended my artistry by appreciating the way I mix rap and country in a non-joking sort of way.
Uh-oh, Aaron's computer just told me that it's batteries are about to run out... I'll quit while I'm ahead. (To be continued.)
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