Just East of Eden : SATURDAY SHENANIGANS ~ Daytrip Jam Session

Saturday, October 30, 2021

SATURDAY SHENANIGANS ~ Daytrip Jam Session

A few days ago, I was invited to an upcoming Jam Session.

I really wasn’t sure, until this morning, whether I would go or not.

I hadn’t been to a Jam Session since 1974 – before I met Bob 😉

Heading out of town, to a Jam Session. FUN!

I have good friends: they don’t like me to be alone/alone; they make sure to include me in activities they know I would enjoy 😊

So, I set the alarm clock; showered, dressed, and hit the road for a new adventure.

Georgy Girl song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sthC7hS_Ebo

I’m not going to name Names, give the location of the get-together, or share pictures … because of covid mandates. All I am going to post is that we bucked the restrictions, and met in the country.

But, I will say this: the building was 108 years old (a nice building), and it was at the end of a road that inclined – that’s {it}; that’s all you’re gonna get 😉

I saw a handful of people there that I knew; the rest were strangers – new to me, in the moment (we became fast friends by the day’s end).

Some of the people gathering were locals; some came some distance to gather. I learned about a place I did not know existed: Dallas, Oregon.

A new song was born this afternoon 😊

It was fun to watch, and enjoy the process.

A potluck break gave opportunity to learn a little more about each other. I still did not talk about my growing up years … but I did throw out some insightful tidbits to various queries.

Everyone was swapping stories about small town life. One question asked was, “Did you grow up in a small town, and how many people were there, if you did?”

I believe I took the prize when I said, “Yes, I did. The name of the small town was Togo, Minnesota … with a population of 20 people. I’m serious. There was a store-tavern-post office all together in one small building, at the junction of the main road; miles from our house. And a one-room schoolhouse, where grades K to 8^th Grade were taught in marked sections of the large room: the Teacher taught all grades, moving from “class to class” from the start of the school day to the end of it. We shared a party-line-phone; it was an antique phone with a wooden wall box, a crank handle connection to an operator – who would then {plug in} our party at her end: we spoke into a horn mouthpiece. Once a week the women would hold hour’s long chat sessions … and occasionally throughout the week, my mother could be heard saying, ‘get off the line Effie, this is a private conversation.’”

The population has since increased to a considerable count; the old school building is now a private residence, and the phones have been updated.

My family eventually moved out of Togo … to Cohasset – and then to Coleraine, Minnesota; before moving to Washington State, where I have lived most of my life to date (and 44 years of my life with Bob). But I never forgot Togo: it was an isolated life, there, but it was also wondrously magic in its own unique way 😉

I am thankful for my small-town background 😊

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaDt6HAqT4M)

I would live that small-town lifestyle today, if I could. But, Elohei has other Plans for my life: I’ve tried to sell and move back to the country, He has always put the brakes on. So, I’ll build a life here in Longview – but my heart and thoughts will always reroute back to the countryside.

The Jam Session lasted 3 hours – and those hours were filled with inner circle shenanigans (not snotty inner circle snobbishness, but a secret gathering of friends sticking it to the government tyrants); music that fed the soul; laughter that filled the rooms; and friendship strengthened/forged.

That was a BLAST.