Summer dwindles down.  Can it already be the end of August?  I feel like I hardly enjoyed this summer enough.  This week was out of the norm for us.

Tuesday afternoon, I had to drive down to Southern Indiana to handle some business for my sister.  The drive wasn’t too bad.  I only hit a couple of slow spots.  I decided to take my friend, Kay, up on her offer to stay with them.  Since my plans had some space in it, it would give me an opportunity to catch up with her.

I made it to her house by 7:00 (CST) and found them already settling in.  Her husband, Don, had to work the next day so he and Elvis, their dog, toddled off to bed.  Kay and I moved from the back porch to the front porch.  The full moon was blazing away out there and it was almost like daylight.  We sat out front until talked until midnight.  Then we finally called it quits and went to bed.

The next morning, my door was open a little bit.  Apparently, Elvis came to check in on me before I got up.  Kay and I went to breakfast at Budroe’s Bus Stop in Henryville and then back to the house to wander around.  The entire time, we talked up a storm.  My jaws hurt from so much exercise.  It’s really good to catch up Kay.  We’ve been friends since the 7^th grade.  Somehow when we get together, it’s like we haven’t really been apart very long.  Nice to have friends like that.

I took care of business and headed on back home.  I always stop at the cemetery to visit my Mom and Dad.  I missed a rain shower by minutes, apparently.  My paternal grandparents are in the same cemetery along with a great uncle and a great aunt.  Can’t come through without saying I miss you.

Again, the drive wasn’t too bad.  Traffic was moving and only a few crazies out.  The close calls were few and far between.  I rolled into the house about 8:30.  Then it was time to go into work the next morning.  Too bad.  Friday was proving to be a particularly trying day.  But once again, I survived to enjoy a weekend.

Saturday was Little Bear Rib Fest.  You know the best part of that?  Trampled Under Foot was in town!  Yeah!  Rich ended up with a sinus headache and probably coming down with an allergy attack.  He stayed home to make sure Sascha wasn’t lonely.  I drug Rick out with me.  We got to the venue, parked in the mall lot, and walked down to the sounds of blues in the air.  Our first mission was to scope out a good place to sit.  We got about three rows from the front and just a little right of center.

Then we wandered off to get some BBQ.  This event was bigger than the one in our town.  There were about 6 booths set up from area BBQ restaurants.  That gave you a pretty good selection.  I scoped out the beer tent hoping for some good brews.  However, I was disappointed to find out it was all Miller products.  Well, water would do to wash down the BBQ. What happened to the Revolution from the McHenry event?  Someone should tell them that they were missing out.

The first band up was called Red, White, and Blues.  It was a pretty loose and dressed down group.  The sound wasn’t bad, but they weren’t as good as I had hoped.  Then came 7:00.  Indigenous took the stage.  The name has been around for a while.  Mato Nanji, the leader, is a Nakota Indian from South Dakota.  The original band started out with Mato, his brother and sister, and a cousin.  Over the years, it’s come down to Mato and a couple of other guys.  I’ve enjoyed the music produced by Indigenous.  I think their current lineup is missing some of the quality and strength from earlier on stage presence.  I still enjoyed watching Mato play the guitar.  He is a Jimi Hendrix style player and can do it well.

Then came TuF.  That’s Trampled Under Foot.  The Schnebelen Family Band, if you will.  We first saw TuF last year at the Cincy Blues Fest.  Since then, they have become my favorite blues band.  Danielle can sing so beautifully and has one of the strongest voices I have ever heard.  Nick is an award winning guitar player.  Kris is a rock drummer who carries the blues to a strong beat.  What can I say?  It is my favorite blues band!

Rick hadn’t heard them live before.  He is forced to listen to them around the house since I blast their music out while I’m working.  He has a new appreciate for the band.  Of course, it does hurt that Danielle is easy on the eyes in her short dress and heels.  They played many of my favorites and then came the encore.  Since the band takes their name from their days as a Led Zeppelin cover band, it is fitting to pay tribute to the name and sing a Led song.  They did “Rock and Roll.”

We gathered up our stuff and headed to the both to have them sign my copy of “Badlands.”  I convinced Rich to pitch into their Kickstarter to help produce the album.  We went down to the listening party in Kansas City back in June.  It meant we got to hang out at their home base, The Trouser Mouse, and listen to the tracks with a select group of people.  It was kind of cool.  Reminded me of my days in Louisville with the band I used to follow there.

Danielle, Nick, and Kris signed the cover.  With no more reason to hang around, Rick and I headed home.  It was a pretty cool evening.  Sitting out under the stars on a clear and warm evening was great.  Listening to TuF and Indigenous were priceless.

Oh yeah, and we worked on the front door this week.  The weather has taken its toll on the door.  It was faded and beat up.  Then we found out we had bees nesting in the cracks under the door.  This meant that Rich had cut and take apart the siding and wet wood.  He finally got it all cleaned out and the bees exterminated.  Then he put in the filler pieces and gaps.  A new face was put over all of the hard work and he sealed up any gaps.  Now it looked great.

I sanded down the door and stained it a nice Pecan finish.  After that dried, I applied the urethane to protect all the hard work.  It really glowed like new again.  All it took was a little elbow grease and some great products.  Now my door is a thing of beauty again.  It’ll look better with a front porch, I think.  But that’s coming down the road sometime.

Back in the spring, I had some petunias starting to come up in the cracks of the patio stones.  I hadn’t planted them, so it was a surprise to see what was happening.  I left them all to come up.  It turned out to be plants from last summer’s petunias that I had put into the deck boxes.  With some leftovers, I had filled in a couple of bowls that I placed on the edge of the patio.  Somehow, seeds or sprouts got out of the bowls and got into the cracks of the patio.  It was a great surprise and they have added a little something out there.

I guess my summer hasn’t been too bad.  We still have Labor Day weekend and then one more vacation.  Rich and I are taking off for the Smoky Mountains.  A little hiking, sightseeing, and trying to catch up with friends in the area.