prune picker

This is the blog of a prune picker. (Native born Californian) Retired oilfield. I am an old man. I blog a lot about my body and getting old. As I approach death life gets more interesting. More interesting is not good. I still drive. I attend sports, music, and civic events. I am writing my memoirs. I attend swim class three times a week. Some of my blogs might be interesting. A lot of my blogs are silly and trivial. None are very long.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Imelda and Jerry Entract

These are the names of the couple from England who were my seat neighbors at the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival. They are from the city of Leighton Buzzard, England. The city is 40 miles from London.

Today is my last day at the show. The Entracts are staying through Sunday. We said goodbye and wished each other safe and pleasant journeys.

Girls dancing.

Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration. Day three.

More great music. The sun however drove me to look for shade. I took a nap in my air conditioned car. They have golf carts and busses running to and from the parking and RV areas. It is almost always a big friendly visit to ride the bus or carts. The drivers are all volunteer and are very happy and friendly.

Traffic and attendance is growing.






Band busses.


Other scenes of the third day. 




Today is the fourth day of the festval and is my last day.  I will miss Days 5 and 6. I am driving to Ruston on Saturday.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Sitting next to me at the bluegrass festival---

were this very nice couple.


I think that this is an incredible happening. Here I am all excited about my trip to England with Nancy next June. This couple are bluegrass fans here at the festival from England! They are the only people at the festival  from England. There are thousands of fans here. The seating arrangement is all first come, first served and haphazard. We did not see each other until the festival started. Unless we move we will be sitting next to each other during the days of the show. What are the odds that we would be sitting next to each other? I think that this is weird. They know bluegrass better than me and love it. They are nice seat neighbors.

Going back to Old Kentucky.



Movie clips are not too good. But do give an idea of the festival.

Chicken Reel.



My movie clips are not too good. Gives some idea of the festival.

Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration. Day two.

The music is really good. I hate to leave to go eat. 50 bands in six days! Here are some scenes around the festival.











Some bands look like a plain old bluegrass band. But they are all good. I do not think that you are on the stage unless you are top notch instrumentalist.


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Buffalo for dinner!

This stand had buffalo brats. I had one for dinner. It was good.

The Nightingale of Kentucky. Stacy Isaac.

Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration. Day one.

This bluegrass festival is held on the grounds of Bill Monroe's boyhood home. This is Bill's 100th birthday celebration. And the 10th annual Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration. Day one was just great music!



 
What a menu! You will be able to order a delicious meal here.





Fiddle anyone?



Cynthiana, Kentucky

Cynthiana is the county seat of Harrison County, Kentucky where some of my great grandfathers roamed. The founder of the city had two daughters, Cynthia and Ana. He combined the names and named the city Cynthiana.

I will have spent two weeks in Kentucky by the time I get home next weekend. I am glad I did. My ancestors spent 200 years here. I have a much better understanding of what their lives were like now.


The city wants you to know that it was raided by Morgan in the Civil War.


Pretty black barns with symbols painted on them are popular in this area. I think the symbols are Amish good luck icons, but I am not sure.


There are many nicotine processing plants in this area. See the tobacco leaves curing in this barn?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Last grave this trip.

I started with Abraham Lincoln's. This is Bill Monroe's grave in Rosine, Kentucky.

This is really Secretariat country!

A castle in bluegrass country?


Turns out that this castle is a bed and breakfast.

Some scenes around bluegrass country.

The bluegrass is sure green and pretty. These pictures do not do justice to the beauty of this place.


 








Monday, September 26, 2011

I was so embarrassed!

Our tour went into this nice shed. It even had an observation room.


The shed was big and had a special material on the floor.



I asked what the shed was for. I was told that this is where the magic happens. A less poetic person would say that it was a breeding shed.  You can see how embarrassed I was.

Kentucky horse farm tour.

I went on an interesting tour of some horse farms in the Lexington area. The man on the right is Shawn our tour guide.


We saw horses.






This guy did not know about me.


Shawn is showing us the tattoo on the inside of this horse's upper lip.





!-- Site Meter -->