There are actually bare places on the ground here in Massachusetts where the snow has melted. Even in late April the snow has persisted, and now, mud season is in full force. Having lived here for so long it's actually a comfort and a pleasure to endure the mud season mess.

There's a joke that goes:
One year during mud season, an old Vermonter had to make a trip to the general store. To make it past the mud the common practice was to strap on snowshoes so as to not sink in too deep. So he's slogging along when he sees a hat in the middle of the road. When he pauses to examine the hat he sees it moving. He then bends over to pick up the hat, and what does he find underneath but the bare head of his neighbor Elmer. "Why Elmer", he says, "it looks like you could use a hand getting out of there". "No, that's alright" replies Elmer, "I've got my horse underneath me".

The last week of March I left sunny Carolina for a month of gigs in New England, and traveled back in time and season. When I arrived at my old house in Ashfield, there was enough snow to sled from the apex of the roof to the ground, which was about five feet higher than it would be otherwise due to the heavy snowfall. New England got dumped on in March. Ski resorts in Vermont were boasting the most snow in the entire United States. Jay Peak in Northern Vermont counted a record 586 inches! Massachusetts's hill towns, like Ashfield, are simply an extension of that climate.

The gigs this tour have been good, fun, and with lots of people. I have seen old friends, comforting surroundings, and familiar roads to get there. In fact, there's been no real drama to report in these notes. No car breakdowns, no cosmic revelations, no career break-through, and no new songs, except for this little thing I wrote for Kate Butler in Vermont who has been a folk angel for so long and has such a great place in Glover that she had a song coming.

Been reading a lot. I finally read the classic Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon about his odyssey driving around the country on only small state highways and the people he meets while doing so. Read a wonderful book by Betsy Lerner called The Forest for the Trees -An Editors Advice to Writers. Presently, I'm almost done with Louise Erdrich's book The Bingo Palace. It's a beautifully written book of the kind that only she can write. Last week I went to see the film, "The Ballad of Rambling Jack", about the life of Rambling Jack Elliott. Great Film! Go see it.

I've been able to do a couple of low key gigs with my string band trio "Podunk Rogue", and keep up my fiddle chops. Been brushing up on tunes with Lui Collins for a couple of duo gigs. Then this weekend I'm going home.

Geez…books, films, music, friends… sounds like a rough life. Well I've been thankful for a month like this for a change. It may be the calm before the storm, because in May I'll be off to England for a couple of weeks of concerts. I'm really looking forward to it. I should be back from that trip just in time to write another one of these road journals.

That's all the latest. The guestbook is up and working again, so you can send me a note if you like.

Enjoy the springtime!
Dana